Even a boomer shooter freak like me can’t keep up with them all anymore, but this one where you run around on the ceiling and shoot ray guns at Cthulhu guys woke me from a retro FPS stupor

After an incredible demo showing nearly two years ago, gravity defying raygun gothic shooter They Came From Dimension X is back with a road to release, and that road goes through Kickstarter. The devs behind the standout FPS are looking to raise $30k by the end of the month, and a $15 donation will net you a digital copy of the game for Steam or itch.io.

I’m a boomer shooter guy⁠—I want to bunnyhop around at 60mph in colorful, weird levels while carrying nine guns strapped to my number row, but the genre’s developed the opposite problem to its long drought from the 2000s through the ’10s: there are just too many coming out now to keep track of.

I need a hook to get me into a new FPS, like the immersive sim depth of Fortune’s Run and Fallen Aces, or the mechanical curveball of Hellscreen‘s rear view mirror. They Came From Dimension X’s secret sauce is how it plays with gravity: the ground under your feet is always terra firma, with ramps and slopes letting you twist around the walls of a room to solve puzzles or defeat enemies. 

“As long as you can walk onto another surface,” BlueKeyGames’ lead developer Tim explains, “gravity will adjust itself accordingly. Enemies may be able to come from anywhere, but so can you.” The mechanic just blew me away in They Came From Dimension X’s first demo, and I’ve been wanting more ever since.

Critically for me, it also looks and sounds gnarly as hell, with an aesthetic that evokes the matte painting alien landscapes and surreal interiors of real classic sci-fi like Forbidden Planet or Star Trek’s Original Series. The OST also sounds like nothing else in gaming, just this half-remembered dream of late night sci-fi reruns on cable, with thumping beats punctuated by cheeky use of the theremin of all things.

They Came From Dimension X’s Kickstarter will run until May 27, with a funding goal of $30,000. At the base reward tier, a $15 contribution will snag you a digital copy of the game, and that’s a pretty solid price for an indie shooter campaign like this⁠—BlueKeyGames is promising 30 levels spread over four episodes in the final release. You can also still test out They Came From Dimension X’s demo and wishlist the game on Steam.

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