“LET’S FUCKING DO THIS!” is the bloodcurdling battlecry I’m greeted with as the controller is placed in my hands. I’m sat in a small booth behind closed doors at Gamescom 2016 having a go at Tormentor x Punisher, the upcoming game from Joonas Turner, one of the guys behind Nuclear Throne. Other than seeming utterly batshit crazy, the announcement trailer didn’t really clue me in to what the game is about, you can watch it below but I’ll assume you won’t take away much either other than it obviously needing an 18+ rating.

Think Hotline Miami meets Geometry Wars. It’s a top down arena shooter, where you’re slaying an endless onslaught of demons until you meet your untimely demise. Progress is simply measured by your score of how many enemies you can slaughter, although the version I played is very early in development and David, the representative from Raw Fury Games who are the guys publishing TxP, mentioned there may be some form of progression added later on. Though don’t expect anything with the depth of a title like The Binding of Isaac; they want to keep TxP much simpler and more accessible.

You’re equipped with two weapons; an assault rifle and a shotgun, with each being linked to the different triggers on a controller. The only way to reload a weapon is to fire the other, so you can’t endlessly spray into the hordes, you’re required to utilise both weapons to succeed. If you fancy a really hard challenge though, you can use the assault rifle only and only use the muzzle fire once you need to reload to kill your foes. It’s short range and the spread is considerably smaller than the shotgun, but it’s an alternative in the dire circumstances or if you’re a lunatic who enjoys ramping up the difficulty tenfold.

TxP is the heavy metal of video games; it’s loud, it’s brutal, and boy does it get you pumped up. The transition between dying and respawning in again is a couple of seconds at most, so you always keep yearning for one more go to beat your high score. Easily one of the best games I played at Gamescom this year, and not just because I got over 30,000 score which is apparently very impressive. All those hours in other roguelikes finally paid off, and I can’t wait to play it again when it comes out early 2017. Check out the disturbing trailer below.