From first-person shooters to brawlers to card games, procedurally generated adventures are everywhere, and there's still plenty of room to grow; Anvil: Vault Breakers, from developer Action Square, is more than enough proof of that. Combining melee and gunplay with a never-ending string of action in the vein of Smash TV, Anvil is a satisfying sci-fi experience that ticks all the boxes when it comes to creating a roguelike that stands out in an increasingly crowded genre.
Anvil's dazzling art style gives an amazing first impression, with a slick Star Wars lightspeed effect that loads players into the game. If Destiny and its imitators were early passes on a universe of space soldiers decked out in ornate armor, Anvil feels like a refined final draft. Each of the many Vault Breaker heroes boasts plenty of personality thanks to their unique starting weapon, their personalized cooldown abilities, and their colorful armor sets. The environments they explore and the enemies they face all have that same color - a futuristic landscape of glowing metal, lava, and neon. Even with its modest scope, Anvil's style feels new enough to be yet another marker of the industry's move to a new set of aesthetics alongside new consoles.
Anvil's best feature isn't its impressive presentation, however, but rather its relentless action. There are no rooms filled with lore to uncover and no puzzles to solve; from the beginning of a run to the end, Anvil is full throttle, delivering an exhilarating pace. Anvil also brings a lot of variety to its enemy design, tasking Breakers with blazing through alien hordes from a variety of different planets. This way, even with the fast pace of an arcade shooter, Anvil never really gets repetitive. Whether it's a brand new weapon or a huge boss fight, there's always something new right around the corner, and that corner is usually just a few seconds away at most.
Anvil's character roster draws heavy inspiration from Risk of Rain 2, giving players a choice between vastly different gameplay styles that can then see further tweaks thanks to power-ups and new weapons. Guns range from basic rifles and shotguns all the way to poisonous flamethrowers and machine guns that spit frozen bullets. While the inventive weapons are a big draw, even the standard starting guns pack a punch, another vital way of eliminating repetition and keeping runs engaging. Reloads are quick and the ammo is infinite, so there's little reason to stop shooting in combat, and that suits Anvil's style.
There are also melee options in Anvil, which feel just as viable as the ranged weaponry thanks to some clever skill additions. For example, the two-handed axe has two basic combos that strike at a distance via energy projectiles and a spin attack that draws foes closer before it fires. Thanks to this range in a style that's typically close-up only, melee weapons fit into the same role as someone like Reinhardt in Overwatch. This also goes for the gauntlet and claw weapons that occasionally drop at several rarity tiers, just like all of Anvil's random loot. There's plenty of opportunity to switch between melee and firearms thanks to the frequent loot drops, but players can only bring one weapon with them past each room. This limitation feels like a missed opportunity, especially in a game where trying out what each weapon had to offer felt so fun.
From its impressive visuals to its breakneck action, Anvil: Vault Breakers already feels like a polished and refined take on procedural gaming. While the slow grind for new unlocks via a battle pass-type system could be an issue in the final release, it's hard to imagine any roguelike fan not wanting to put in dozens of hours to unlock new weapons, heroes, and perks.
Anvil: Vault Breakers is scheduled to release in late 2021 on PC. Screen Rant received an early look at the game's demo for the purposes of this preview.