The absolute highlight of my Steam Next Fest experience was Apocalypse Party, an initially bizarre roguelike set in a medieval twist on a zombie takeover. I've completed multiple runs across hours of gameplay - far beyond what I might have expected from a demo I'd never heard of before. I even chased after an unlock so elusive that only one character could hope to complete its challenge.
Certain characters and weapons in Apocalypse Party's substantial roster are locked behind challenges. The Valkyrie, for example, can only be unlocked by killing 3,000 zombies with melee weapons, while Ice and Fire mages are summoned by the use of elemental damage. Two legendary weapon unlocks were tied closely together; the Archmage Staff could be acquired by completing an entire run with your starting weapon, while the Wheelchair unlocked by finishing the demo without firing a single shot.
Realistically, there was only one demo character that could achieve that second feat. 'Football Player' is the only member of the roster that deals damage without firing a weapon at the start of the game - other builds could get there, but they'd need to fire a gun a few times to have the chance of getting the perks needed to do this passive run. By contrast, Football Player simply drops a shoulder and charges, doing more damage the faster he moves. Build up enough speed, and you could kill a zombie on the second hit. It would be ironically slow-going, but it would be enough to get some extra perks that would help you progress.
Rogues gallery
You get a new perk with every level-up, and I got lucky with one of my first ones. A Hades-style choice from three options granted me bonus lightning damage on collision with a zombie, dramatically increasing my DPS. That's crucial in the first few minutes - Apocalypse Party's challenge increases over time, increasing the size and health of the hordes chasing you down, and if you get mired in those first moments of a run, you might struggle to ever catch up.
In the relentless pursuit of DPS, I took subsequent perks that increased my movespeed, my lightning damage, and my armor. I charged through the crowds ahead of me, hoovering up XP but knowing that getting up-close-and-personal with so many undead was a perennially risky strategy - a single hit could slow me down, leaving me stranded in the midst of a crowd that was ready to tear me apart.
Thankfully, fortune continued to favor me. Several perks grant 'Summons', companions that join you in your fight against the undead, attacking automatically. Summon-focused runs can be extremely fun, as elemental giants, kung-fu masters, vikings, and pirates all draw aggro from the horde, leaving you free to dart between them. I drew two decent additions - a combat drone that helped thin the herd in front of me, and a mini samurai who could draw away part of the crowd.
As the run went on, my strategy became clear - I was making just enough progress to not get overwhelmed by enemies, relying on a combination of movement speed and lightning damage to keep the zombies at bay. But while the rank-and-file undead didn't cause too much of a problem, the three bosses that you have to defeat to complete a run were a far bigger issue. With massive health bars, devastating attacks, and significant melee power, chipping away at them with the occasional body slam was a terrifying prospect. I was reliant on my speed to keep them at a safe distance, but was also constantly up against the clock. Running into attack range was the only way I could win before I was swamped, but it was also most likely to get me killed.
Thankfully, I lucked out. My summons were helpful, but I had too few of them to reliably break up the bigger hordes, so when I came across a perk that let me temporarily sacrifice one of them to reduce incoming damage by 66%, I took it without hesitation. Suddenly, I could play fast and loose with my health bar, the cost of even a boss' most devastating attack reduced to a mere fraction at the cost of a drone that was dramatically losing functionality as hordes got larger. I did feel a moment of remorse for the samurai, but he would get up again after a brief respawn times, and anyway, now that I could play with reckless abandon, my DPS was so much higher that I was struggling to care.
Eventually, after dashing my way back and forth for far longer than felt safe, and taking enough hits to entirely tank an alternative run, the final boss fell, and I'd secured both of my rare unlocks. Sadly, I have no idea whether my achievements will stick - the Apocalypse Party demo has outlived Steam Next Fest, but the translation efforts of its Chinese developers are a little scuffed at the best of times, and I've not been able to work out whether progress will carry over to next month's full release. What I do know, however, is that this is one of my favourite roguelikes in a long time, and that if I'm prepared to go to these lengths to find what might be a temporary unlock, I'm already invested enough to do it all over again in a few weeks' time.
Check out our rundown of the best Steam Next Fest demos.
