Pass the Fear Preview: A Beautiful Bullet Hell Roguelike | The Gamerheads Podcast

It’s Steam Next Fest again, which means checking out a lot of cool demos. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know that I’m a fan of roguelikes. What better time to check out new games than during Steam Next Fest? One such game is Pass the Fear, and after my time with the demo, I can’t wait for the full release.

The first thing that sticks out is how beautiful the game is. The art has this wonderfully hand drawn style that looks like it should be in a comic book. There’s so much detail, from the background to the enemy design to the boss designs. Each enemy is uniquely crafted and ties directly into the level it appears in. With all the action happening, it’s a shame that I can’t take the time to take in the surroundings and appreciate them more.

Pass the Fear is a bullet hell roguelike. For the most part, the enemies within the levels aren’t too terrible to deal with, but the boss battles can be quite a challenge. There’s one in particular during my runs named Ella, a winged creature that shoots fireballs that fills the screen and then swoops down to attack. Most enemies have a tell or warning before they make their moves, giving me time to get out of the way. But even with those warnings, it’s pure chaos on the screen.

I don’t go into the fray unarmed. Like any good roguelike, there are branching paths, and some lead to a range of different guns, several attachments that add bullet types, trinkets, and equipment. The items use the rarity color system, so when I was in doubt about which gun to select from a treasure chest, I usually relied on the color of the item.

After beating a boss, I’m also given a choice of one of three tarot cards. Some of these were straightforward in what they did, like regaining health after I die. Others, however, were a bit cryptic, and I didn’t really know what they meant. One mentioned something about the position of the sun granting more damage. Where is the sun? There are probably details that I missed, and since it’s a demo, I didn’t get a full sense of that aspect of the game. Some of the wording appeared to be in Chinese characters, which I assume will be updated for the final release.

Overall, Pass the Fear is a solid roguelike. The demo offers quite a bit of gameplay. I made it through several bosses during my runs before dying, and there still seems to be quite a bit left to explore. Check out the demo, and make sure to wishlist the game!

Preview code provided by The IndiEXP