Dead Is All About The Boss Fights

‘No dead weight, just pure bosses!’ That ably sums up Dead from indie developer Milo Games. This top-down shooter skips the waiting and goes straight for the end-game with ten deadly bosses to defeat.

Boss battle games certainly seem to be in vogue at the moment. Prey for the Gods was successfully crowdfunded in August, while earlier in the Summer Furi was released on PC and PS4. Dead doesn’t have the spectacle of either of those titles, but the brief pitch video still looks pretty engaging. While fairly minimalist, the graphics are still pretty stylish and the various bosses showcased are all suitably distinctive.

The campaign itself is also a bit low-key and Milo Games are actually only seeking £2,000 ($2,500) for Dead. Sometimes such small projects seem to struggle during development, but in this case this just seems to be a case of practicality. The game is apparently already in a playable state, (although no demo is available), with the Kickstarter funds just needed to improve the graphics and audio.

Dead and Deader

Reassuringly however, Dead has already been Greenlit by the Steam community and attracted plenty of positive comments. And anyone keen to preview the final release can head over to itch.io where Mini-Dead, a spiritual successor to Dead, can be experienced for free. Another encouraging factor is that this will be Milo Games’ second commercial release. For those interested their first title OESE is available to buy through Steam.

The streamlined nature of the campaign also extends to the pledge levels, with just three options available. The £5 ($6.40) entry level rewards backers with an early copy of the game, while doubling that also gets you the soundtrack and a copy of OESE. Big spenders meanwhile can opt for the £50 ($60.40) for a whole host of other extras.

At this stage Dead will certainly need some big spenders as only £130 ($165) has been pledged so far. Admittedly it’s only two days into the campaign, but I really feel Milo Games will need to bring a bit more spectacle to their Kickstarter if they want people to pay attention.