A top-down run and gun through Outpost 88
Xeno Crisis puts you in the boots of a battle-hardened marine sent to a devastated research outpost to confront an alien menace. You run and gun through thousands of adversaries, searching for survivors and working your way toward the origin of the outpost's demise. The outpost is split into seven distinct areas, and each one is randomly generated on every play, so the layout and the route you take change each time. Your strategy has to adapt as you go rather than following a memorized path.
Between areas you collect dog-tags from enemies you kill, and at the end of each area you exchange them for upgrades. These range from extra health to weapon power-ups to extra continues, and which ones you pick depends on how you like to play. There are 10 weapons to work with, each with its own characteristics. The standard pulse rifle is always capable, but other weapons give you an edge in specific situations, so grabbing them is usually worth it as long as you watch your ammo. The enemies come with their own traits and means of attack. Some can be gunned down without much thought, while others need you to outflank them, hit them inside a certain time window, or just avoid them.
Playing it together
Xeno Crisis supports local co-op for up to two players, and two-player mode requires at least one controller. You and a friend take control of marines and push through the seven areas together, dealing with the same randomly generated layouts on that run. There are two difficulty levels and three modes of play to choose from, so you can settle on a setup that suits the pair of you. Steam also lists Remote Play Together, which lets a friend join in over a connection rather than sitting at the same screen.
What to know before starting
This is a port of the crowdfunded Sega Mega Drive / Genesis title, and it keeps the look and feel of that era. The pixel art comes from Henk Nieborg, and the FM chiptune soundtrack was written by Savaged Regime, originally created for the YM2612. The game carries a Gore tag alongside its roguelite and procedural generation tags, so expect the arena fights to be bloody. Runs are built around adapting on the fly, so treat your first few attempts as a way to learn enemy behavior and which upgrades fit your style.