What Square Heroes is
Square Heroes is a 2D twin stick arena shooter with a comic streak, built around the Galactic Hero's Tournament. You play a genetically engineered killing machine who already saved the human race and now spends time taking down challengers for fun. Matches take place across six 2.5D arenas, with modes covering co-op, free-for-all and team-based play, plus modes where you hunt for gnomes or survive alien onslaughts. Rounds start in melee and move through ranged, heavy, explosive and special item categories, so the fight changes shape as it goes. You pick your weapons at the start of each round and unlock more by collecting loot, and your hero levels up to open over 30 weapons, including the Grenade Launcher, Sticky Bomb and Chicken. Over 30 achievements unlock hats that buff your stats.
Playing together
Multiplayer is the point of the game. Maps support six players, bots included as you like, and up to four human players can share one screen without split screen. Several local players can also join an online match together, so two couches can fight each other. Beyond that, matches run locally, over LAN and online. Controls work with gamepads and mouse/keyboard, with bindable keys and buttons, which matters when four people are crowded around one machine.
Before you start
The weapon categories unlock in order within a round, so a load-out that works in melee may not carry you into the explosive phase — plan for the whole round rather than the opening seconds. Hats give stat buffs, so achievements are worth chasing if you want an edge. If you're new, single player and custom games are there to learn the arenas and weapon handling before jumping into a frantic six-player skirmish.