Dead Cells’ ‘roguevania’ action launches August 7

Dead Cells is dodge-rolling out of Early Access on Steam and into its full release as well as onto consoles. Developer Motion Twin, which is an anarcho-syndical workers cooperative, is launching the game for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on August 7 for $25 — although you can get a 20 percent discount to $20 if you preorder. The physical version from Signature Edition Games is still due out August 17 in Europe and August 21 in the United States.

Over the last year, Dead Cells has established itself as one of the brightest standouts in the Early Access program. It features elements of roguelike games, where you go on runs through the world and make incremental progress by upgrading the weapons you find in the world. But it combines that run-based structure with Metroidvania-style exploration and kinetic combat that changes drastically depending on the weapon you’re using and the enemies you’re fighting.

Motion Twin has worked to improve and add to Dead Cells throughout its Early Access period, and it has turned a good game into something great. I booted it up again last week on Steam, and it is living up to its early promises. The fluid animation makes locomotion and combat feel tight and frantic at the same time, which gives Dead Cells this sensation that you’re just barely in control of every situation.

We’ll have more to say on the final product as it launches next month … although I really just want to go back to keep playing right now as well.

Preorders are open now on every system except for the Switch in the America regions, where you will have to wait until July 18 to plop down your $20. If you don’t preorder, the game will immediately return to $25 upon release. If you are worried about saving that $5, but also worried about buying a game before it’s out — keep in mind that Steam and Xbox have return policies.