A run-and-gun through a dying New York
Neon Inferno is set in NYC 2055, a dystopian city where warring factions fight for control of the streets. You play as an assassin working for the Family, a crime syndicate that wants to wipe out its rivals and take the city. You pick either Angelo Morano or Mariana Vitti and fight through missions using guns, melee attacks and deflections, with upgrades and weapon options along the way. The game mixes classic 2D side-scrolling run-and-gun action with gallery-shooter shooting, so enemies appear both in front of you and behind the action in the background. Each mission ends with a unique boss that has its own attacks and multiple phases.
Playing it together
Neon Inferno has local co-op, so a second player can join and you take on the city as a pair with two characters and combined firepower. Steam also lists Remote Play Together, which lets a friend join over the internet as if they were sitting next to you. The game itself is tagged as singleplayer, so the co-op is the local kind rather than online matchmaking with strangers. Either way, the setup is the same: pick your characters, work through the missions, and split the enemies between you.
What to know before starting
The action runs on two planes at once, so you are not only moving right and shooting what is in front of you. You also shoot into the background, use Bullet Time to deflect incoming projectiles back at attackers, and take control of vehicles during chase sequences. Difficulty is selectable, and there is an Arcade Mode with a 1-credit-clear rule if you want a stricter score attack run. Expect a pixel-art presentation with a synth-heavy soundtrack and a steady stream of bosses, one per mission, each requiring you to learn its patterns across several phases.