Below Indie Game (Xbox One, PC). New Descent Gameplay Trailer from Gamescom 2014

Below is the unassuming name of an Indie-Game RPG powerhouse exclusively for Xbox One and PC. Announced at the reveal of Microsoft’s new Xbox One platform, Below is one of my personal megaton Xbox One killer-apps and one of my most anticipated next-gen games of all platforms. It will be coming first to Xbox One, with a PC release in the cards at a later date once the game hits, probably sometime in 2015.

Check out this absolutely awesome, impressive all-new Gamescom 2014 “Descent” Gameplay Trailer for Below.

Impressive right?

Here’s the Below Indie Game image gallery.
Click on any of these image thumbnails to see the full-size screenshots:


I absolutely love the top-down, minimalist style of Below. But it’s not the actual style or artwork that is so necessarily impressive (though it is). It’s the DELIVERY. The way it is done, the way it sets the mood and the tone… Reminds me of Metroid 1 NES or Super Metroid.

Below Indie Gameplay Screenshot Watcher Complex Key
I love this aesthetic. So friggin’ cool.

It’s not in the gameplay that makes Metroid great, though it is. It’s in the aesthetic, and the delivery. That’s the part that so many developers miss. These guys, on the other hand, get it. They know how important aesthetic, style, mood, music, sound effects and setting all play in gripping the gamer and immersing them fully in the experience.

Here’s the Below “Horizon” Trailer.

Below is a Top-Down Action Adventure RPG where you are slowly uncovering the depths of a deep, dark labyrinth of caves located beneath the island you are stranded on. Death is a part of life in Below, and you will die frequently and easily, often with one hit as you explore the randomly generated areas.

Below Indie Gameplay Screenshot Camp
Absolutely beautiful visuals.

However each time you die, certain aspects of your progress is saved, allowing you to delve deeper with each new life, even though death means starting over FROM THE BEGINNING. That is, from the cave entrance… but trust me. Each time you start to explore again, new elements will be discovered.

Here is the Below Stage Demo from E3 2014 where the developers talk in-depth about the game’s progress.

Below is not for the faint of heart, it’s a “tough but fair” game that punishes recklessness, rewards exploration and discovery and is built on elements of Rogue-likes and Permadeath, likened to games like Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls in it’s punishing difficulty and skill-based combat.

Below Indie Gameplay Screenshot Northshore
Proof of Below’s diversity in environments.

Aesthetically and stylistically, Below makes heavy use of small characters in large environments to give the caves an immense sense of scope, and relies on tilt-shift photography techniques to put the emphasis on scale as you explore. As you can see in the videos, Below does this to GREAT effect. I’ve never seen a game that looks so immediately captivating. This game hooked me from the first second I saw it. Even the animation is incredible.

Below is being developed by “Capybara Games”. Don’t sound familiar? They should. Get used to the name now because these guys have developed an impressive resume. They are the creators of two games you may have heard of: Superbrothers: Swords & Sorcery and Super Time Force. Both of those games come highly, highly recommended.

Below Indie Gameplay Screenshot Combat
Combat in Below will be heart-pounding.

Capybara Games also made: Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, Critter Crunch, Manic Medic AKA Take Yer Meds!, Super Shove It! and S.M.A.B.U. Earth Wars.

Take a look at the original E3 2014 reveal trailer for Below. Which started the hype-train rolling and so impressed me I’ve been amped up ever since.

Below is one of my most highly-anticipated games and is single-handedly one of the megatons pushing me towards buying an Xbox One over a PS4.

This game, along with Ori & the Blind Forest and Inside, are why Indie Developers have reached the rockstar status that they have.

Below Indie Gameplay Screenshot Gateway
I can’t wait to explore this area myself. I love this stuff!

Below is pure, unadulterated greatness. And I can’t wait to play it!

How excited are you for Below?