Giving cute animals AK’s? What could go wrong?
The cutest, deadliest and ONLY top-down roguelike shooter featuring AK-wielding Axolotls. Blast your way through the animal kingdom with an arsenal of kick-ass guns, mighty power-ups and even raise an army of trigger-happy baby axolotls.
AK-xolotl is a roguelike shooter in which you begin by moving from room to room, killing whatever animals are in your way with an arsenal of weapons that include the likes of katanas, shotguns, pistols, assault rifles and so on. Each room is randomly generated, as are the paths that will lead you to each area’s boss. As with all roguelikes, one life is all you get. After that, it’s back to the game’s hub before you decide to take it on again.
Sometimes though you will come across eggs of other axolotls which you can hatch and nurture to become other playable characters, each of which have their own perks to give you an advantage. The game also has an epic soundtrack that will get your head banging as you wipe out as many animals as possible.
In terms of control, the game is very easy to pick up and play. Shooting feels natural and you never feel like you’ve died through any means other than your own fault. It may feel a bit light on content compared to the likes of other roguelikes, but this game is a lot cheaper and is still incredibly fun.
It did also make me laugh that the story begins with a narrator doing their best David Attenborough impression to describe the life of the Axolotls before proclaiming that your character is going to f**k everybody up for stealing their food.
The Verdict
AK-xolotl is a decent but simple roguelike shooter that will scratch that itch for a while with its killer soundtrack and addictive gameplay.