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When I think of the best space games, I imagine fast, frantic combat with missiles and lasers flying across the stars – I’ll always be more enamored by the speed of Everspace 2’s action than the lumbering weight of Starfield ships. Further distilling that essence down, Nova Drift is a high-octane roguelike that finally launched out of early access in 2024 after five years. It’s bright, snappy, and beautiful, and has earned itself the elusive ‘overwhelmingly positive’ Steam rating, with 95% of its 11,000 reviews recommending it. Now you can try before you buy, as developer Chimeric launches a free demo.
Nova Drift takes the interstellar bullet hell action of masterful arcade shooters such as Geometry Wars and combines it with the rewarding build-crafting progression of the best roguelike games. Choose from dozens of ship body types, weapons, and shields, enhance them with more than 200 modular upgrades, and then put the cherry on top of your combat cake with Nova Drift’s most powerful, build-defining super mods. Creator Jeffrey Nielson cites Path of Exile as a key influence during development, and it shows.
The results are diverse and striking, with a multitude of dynamic and distinct outcomes that would make roguelike stalwarts such as The Binding of Isaac proud. Melt through your foes’ defenses with the Thermal Lance, or whip out twin swords capable of parrying incoming projectiles. Transform into a heavy shielded carrier commanding a legion of Swarm Constructs, or opt for a nimble build that slams directly into enemies, detonating a shield that rapidly regenerates after breaking. Everything feels great, too, meaning there’s ample replayability here.
With such a resoundingly positive Steam rating, you don’t simply have to take my word on the quality of Nova Drift. Everyone’s tastes vary, however, and there’s no better way to test how you feel than by getting hands on for yourself. Fortunately, Chimeric has good news: “If you’re one of the many people who have wishlisted Nova Drift but haven’t pulled the trigger, the demo is here. Tell your friends. They must know the exaltation of biomechanical wings cutting graceful arcs through luminiferous aether. You can show them.”
Beyond that, Chimeric has some additional updates in the works for the future. It teases an upcoming, much-requested feature, gear mutations – intended to arrive around level 20, these will allow you to dramatically alter your weapons, body, or shield. Depending on the mutation in question, these might replace the existing equipment entirely, or modify its usual behavior. Improvements to the Steam Deck version are also underway, including clearer menus when playing on small-screen devices.
The Nova Drift demo is out now on Steam. The full game is priced at $17.99 / £14.99. The trial version caps at account rank 15, and lets you go all the way to wave 60 during runs, getting a good feel for what the general flow of combat and upgrades feels like. You can even get your hands on some super mods earlier than you would during the natural progression, so you can give them a try. Do so here, and discover why Nova Drift is so beloved.
Alternatively, dive into more of the best indie games in 2024 for plenty more fantastic experiences you might have missed, or try out some great free PC games instead.
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