What Shadowgrounds is
Shadowgrounds is a top-down sci-fi shooter from Frozenbyte where you fight through alien-infested locations, including a secret military base and the colony New Atlantis. The camera sits above the action, so you see the whole room as you move, shoot and dodge. The story is pushed forward by what you find along the way: security cameras and computer logs that help you investigate where the aliens came from. You also have NPC allies fighting beside you against the alien hordes, so the firefights get crowded fast.
Playing together
Co-op runs on a single computer with split keyboard or joystick, so two people share one screen and one session. Steam also lists Remote Play Together, which lets friends join over a connection. Either way, everyone is in the same top-down view, which makes it easy to coordinate: one player can hold a doorway while another flanks, or you can both pour fire into a boss at once. Since the environment is destructible, you can cover each other by blowing up barrels, shattering glass and dropping trees on anything that gets close.
Weapons and upgrades
Every weapon has multiple upgrades that change how it plays. The Flamethrower gets a Fuel Trap, the Grenade Launcher fires Poison Grenades, and the Laser Rifle gains a Pinpoint Laser, with more modifications on top of that. Picking upgrades is a real decision: area denial, damage over time, or precision. The environment reacts to all of it, so explosions and gunfire do more than damage health bars.
Light as a tool
The lighting is not just decoration. Realistic shadows and glow affect how some aliens behave, and your flashlight can pull them out of the dark or change their movement. Used well, light turns a defensive position into an advantage. Expect big, brutal bosses that push back hard, plus gore and horror overtones in the presentation, so the tone stays tense even when you are winning.