The Game Developers Conference is more than just showing off new technology for aspiring game developers and industry folk. In many ways, it’s a great place for developers to show off their work they’ve already completed to other developers and to people like us, the press (if we can so be called). So it was a delight when Demiurge Studios showed us their first true indie game called Shoot Many Robots.

But before I begin, allow me to explain Demiurge Studios a little bit. For those familiar with the company, you may be wondering why I’m writing abut them at all as this is a studio which has helped create some of the biggest games in the world, including DLC for Mass Effect as well as the PC version. So to call them “indie” is a little disingenuous. But what they’ve created in Shoot Many Robots is a true indie game, inspired by a single man within the company and spearheaded entirely independently from any larger gaming entity. This is their baby, so to speak, and it showed tremendously when visiting with the guys who helped create it.

Anyway, back to the game itself, when Demiurge Studios set out to create their own game, they did so with the mentality that they wanted to expand on an already tried and true formula for gameplay, notably, the Metal Slug/Contra type gameplay. The side scrolling, weapon enhancement shoot em up platformer has grown rather tired over the last 20 years when the games were primarily designed to suck quarters from your pocket. Shoot Many Robots intends to evolve that gameplay into something more modern, while still holding on to that carnal joy of games previous.

In those respects, I’d say Shoot Many Robots wins epically. On the surface you’ll see not much has changed. Like in Metal Slug and Contra you’ll be moving forward in a platformer-like level shooting, well, many robots. It’s stupid fun, like those games have always been. However, what Demiurge Studios has done is revamped the shooting mechanism to allow for more precise aiming, something that was entirely frustrating before. While the game is certainly not a twin-stick shooter, by simply holding down the right bumper on the Xbox 360, a player is able to use a more precise method of aiming.

About half way during our gameplay demo, one of the developers told us how much he enjoyed RPGs and how he is one of the people who believes that every game could benefit from a little bit of RPG. Being a long time RPG fanatic, myself, I couldn’t agree more, so it was nice to see that he wasn’t just chit chatting as he showed us a rather extensive RPG system being built into what would ordinarily be a fairly simple side scrolling shooter.

Each level as you kill things you’re earning a sort of point. I wouldn’t call it experience necessarily as that lends itself to a more traditional RPG game impression. However, as you kill more and more robots (and there are many of them, remember?) you’ll level up. In addition, killing robots allows you to acquire nuts and screws which are then used as currency. Leveling up allows you access to more weapons and armor which can be bought with the nuts and bolts you find.

Of course, it’s not quite so linear as that. Demiurge Studios is including a vast amount of items, of which you can equip two weapons, a back piece and a leg piece. As such, just because one weapon requires a higher level or more money to acquire, doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily better for what you want to “spec out” for. Demiurge is creating a unique system that allows you to build out the type of character you want to play as, whether that is a tu-tu wearing fairy with a rocket launcher, or a jet pack-wielding, kilt-wearing melee type. Really, it all boils down to personal preference.

There’s not currently any solid release date announced and, although the developers said a platform wasn’t announced either, we were playing the game on an Xbox 360 dev console, hint hint. I can’t confirm anything, but I’d say Shoot Many Robots is destined for an XBLA release later this year.

[Shoot Many Robots]

Trailer