Polygon called it the coolest new shooter in years: DEEPWARD mashes Doom’s speed with BioShock’s 1920s dread and a small Overwatch-style hero roster you swap between mid-run. The catch is the Steam page lists 2027 for release. If the announcement trailer left you with an itch you can’t scratch, these DEEPWARD alternatives all ship today on Windows and Linux (most on macOS too), and each one takes a different slice of what the ECHOFALL GAMES pitch is chasing: hero-flavored loadouts, roguelite reruns, and shooter feel first.
We picked seven boomer shooters that cover the same spectrum, from style-meter combo play to atmospheric single-player runs.
Why the DEEPWARD teaser has people looking around
The trailer sold a specific fantasy. A few reasons players are looking for something to hold them over:
- Release date is 2027. Nothing to buy, nothing to wishlist-and-forget for a weekend.
- Hero-swap boomer shooters are rare. Most of the genre commits to one weapon set per run, and DEEPWARD’s roster-of-six pitch is unusual.
- 1920s horror plus roguelite is a small niche. The closest neighbours in the genre are one-off indies, not big-budget releases.
- ECHOFALL GAMES is a first-time developer. Some players want to see what other teams have actually shipped before pre-ordering anything.
- Steam’s own recommendation engine leans toward the multiplayer hero shooter cluster (Marvel Rivals, Overwatch), which is not what DEEPWARD is doing.
The alternatives below all lean into the fast, weapon-forward side of the pitch. Multiplayer hero shooters get their own list.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Year | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| ULTRAKILL | Style-meter combo combat | 2020 (EA) | Parry-and-punish scoring system |
| DUSK | Retro-1996 level design | 2018 | Hand-crafted maps, hub world |
| Amid Evil | Fantasy Heretic-successor | 2019 | Voxel weapon design, dream levels |
| Turbo Overkill | Chainsaw-leg momentum shooter | 2023 | Wall-riding, slide-into-kill loop |
| Prodeus | Modern retro with level editor | 2022 | Community level browser inside the game |
| Selaco | Alien-focused BUILD-engine shooter | 2024 (EA) | GZDoom-powered destructible arenas |
| Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun | 40K-flavored boomer shooter | 2023 | Focused arsenal, faithful lore |
The 7 best DEEPWARD alternatives for desktop
ULTRAKILL — best for style-meter combo combat
ULTRAKILL is the closest match for what DEEPWARD is trying to do with hero variety, without literally letting you swap characters. The single protagonist has a coin-flick shot, a parry, a shotgun-mounted railcannon, and a set of arms with different melee behaviours. The scoring system tracks combo variety and speed, and the payoff for using every tool at once is the highest-density combat in the genre. New Blood published, Arsi “Hakita” Patala designed, and the soundtrack pulls from breakcore and jazz.
Where it falls short: The parry timing is tight and the P-ranks assume you have the muscle memory. The story cutscenes lean religious-horror in a way that is not for everyone.
Pricing:
- Steam: $24.99, still in early access
- vs DEEPWARD: cheaper than most 2026 shooters, and available right now on Windows and Linux
Download: ULTRAKILL on Steam
Bottom line: The one to start with if the DEEPWARD trailer’s combo-heavy gunplay is the part you want.
DUSK — best for a hand-crafted 1996 boomer shooter
DUSK feels closer to the classics DEEPWARD is riffing on than to anything modern. David Szymanski’s rural horror shooter runs on a bespoke engine, ships three hand-crafted episodes with a hub world between them, and treats level design as the whole point. The horror is folk-cult and Twin Peaks, not the industrial gore of DEEPWARD, but the pace and weapon feel are on the same wavelength.
Where it falls short: No campaign co-op. The community mod scene exists but is thinner than GZDoom’s ecosystem.
Pricing:
- Steam: $19.99, regular deep discounts
- vs DEEPWARD: less roguelite variety, more level-design craft
Download: DUSK on Steam
Bottom line: The right pick if you want handcrafted levels over roguelite reruns.
Amid Evil — best fantasy boomer shooter
Amid Evil is Heretic’s spiritual successor. Seven weapons, seven episodes, and a magic-mode that lets each weapon transform mid-fight for burst damage. Indefatigable’s team built the entire visual language around voxel enemies and painted-in-motion skies, and the dream levels that punctuate each episode still have no equal in the genre.
Where it falls short: No modern shooter comforts, no leaning, no aim-down-sights. If you want a shotgun that reloads shells one at a time, this is not it.
Pricing:
- Steam: $19.99, expansion Amid Evil: The Black Labyrinth adds four episodes for $9.99
- vs DEEPWARD: same “small arsenal, big variety” pitch, without the roster-swap hook
Download: Amid Evil on Steam
Bottom line: The right pick if you want fantasy weapons and hallucinatory levels.
Turbo Overkill — best for pure momentum
Turbo Overkill puts a chainsaw in the protagonist’s leg and never lets up. Trigger Happy Interactive built the game around slide-into-kills, wall-riding, and augment upgrades that keep changing your kit across the campaign. The soundtrack is high-BPM synthwave and the cyberpunk city hub between missions gives the campaign a Deus Ex flavour.
Where it falls short: The second act’s difficulty spike is real and the augment tree is easy to build wrong.
Pricing:
- Steam: $29.99
- vs DEEPWARD: cheaper, no wait, and more raw movement variety
Download: Turbo Overkill on Steam
Bottom line: The right pick if the DEEPWARD trailer’s speed and mobility caught you.
Prodeus — best for community levels
Prodeus is a modern boomer shooter with a level editor built into the game. Bounding Box Software’s team shipped the campaign, then made the level browser a first-class menu, and the community output is now the reason people keep the game installed. It runs on every desktop OS, including Linux natively, and the graphics options scale from pixel-art low to modern high.
Where it falls short: The campaign is short compared to DUSK or Prodeus’s peers. Deathmatch modes exist but are thinly populated.
Pricing:
- Steam: $24.99
- vs DEEPWARD: no roguelite loop, but the community levels are effectively infinite content
Download: Prodeus on Steam
Bottom line: The right pick if you want a shooter with genuine replay value from other players’ work.
Selaco — best for destructible arenas
Selaco runs on GZDoom and it shows in the best way. Altered Orbit Studios pulled off destructible environments (pipes, wall panels, computer terminals) inside a Doom-engine game, and the enemy AI actually flanks. The story leans sci-fi alien invasion, closer to Half-Life than DEEPWARD’s horror, but the moment-to-moment combat feel is exactly the same lineage.
Where it falls short: Early access, so campaign length is still growing. The first chapter runs about 12 hours; more is scheduled.
Pricing:
- Steam: $24.99, early access
- vs DEEPWARD: destructibility over roguelite, and available today
Download: Selaco on Steam
Bottom line: The right pick if you want the smartest AI in a modern boomer shooter.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun — best for grimdark 40K fans
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a pixel-art boomer shooter set in Games Workshop’s 40K universe. Auroch Digital kept the arsenal focused (bolter, chainsword, plasma pistol, meltagun), leaned into the lore with real named factions, and the level design pulls from classic Doom rather than modern crush-and-clear. The DLC campaign Forges of Corruption adds another five hours.
Where it falls short: If you have no Warhammer investment, the lore references are noise. The music is fine, not memorable.
Pricing:
- Steam: $21.99 base, DLC $8.99
- vs DEEPWARD: same era of pace, different fantasy wrapper
Download: Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun on Steam
Bottom line: The right pick if 40K is already something you care about.
How to choose while you wait for DEEPWARD
Pick ULTRAKILL if the trailer’s combo-heavy combat is what caught you. It rewards learning every tool in the way a hero-swap game rewards learning every hero, without the multiplayer commitment.
Pick DUSK if the 1920s pulp aesthetic is doing the work. The rural-horror mood carries the same “old and wrong” energy DEEPWARD is chasing.
Pick Turbo Overkill if you want speed above all. The chainsaw-leg loop is the closest thing to what a fast DEEPWARD run might feel like.
Pick Selaco if you care about arena tactics. The AI and destructibility give arenas more shape than most of the genre.
Skip these if you were actually waiting for the multiplayer hero shooter side of DEEPWARD’s pitch. That angle is Marvel Rivals or Overwatch 2 territory, not the boomer shooter shelf.
FAQ
When does DEEPWARD release? The Steam page lists 2027. ECHOFALL GAMES has not narrowed to a quarter.
Is DEEPWARD confirmed for Xbox and PlayStation? The Steam page lists Windows only at announcement. Console versions have not been announced.
Is DEEPWARD a multiplayer game? The trailer and Steam tags show a single-player roguelite with a rotating cast of heroes. There is no PvP or co-op announced.
What’s the closest game to DEEPWARD available today? ULTRAKILL. The hero-flavored loadouts and combo scoring are the closest match for what the trailer showed, even though ULTRAKILL is single-character rather than a roster.
Are any of these on Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus? Prodeus has appeared on Game Pass. Availability rotates, check the current catalog.
