David Brevik, a veteran game developer who designed and programmed the original Diablo, has a new project in the works. It Lurks Below, a sidescrolling dungeon crawler created solely by Brevik, will launch later this year on Steam, Polygon reports.
In some ways, It Lurks Below calls back to Brevik’s action RPG roots. It features a class system in which characters level up and scour for loot that gradually makes your character stronger as you progress. In other ways, his new project takes cues from the indie zeitgeist, namely rogue-like mechanics and sandbox creation tools seen in games like Terraria and Minecraft. The game’s pixelated visuals give it a retro vibe that many indie developers seem to favor these days.
Featuring randomly generated levels and monsters, players use wands that work much like guns to fight off baddies. Players will also be able to modify the world with tools such as pickaxes. Each item in It Lurks Below has a set of stats, as do the monsters in a similar vein to Diablo.
Brevik seems to want his rogue-like to be accessible to all types of gamers. In addition to its normal difficulty setting, It Lurks Below will have an easy mode dubbed “creative,” and a hardcore variant for those looking for a supreme challenge that includes permadeath.
It Lurks Below has been in development for a year. Brevik originally planned to create a much more expansive game that he estimated could take up to a decade to develop. Instead, he honed the project’s focus, allowing him to create every aspect of the game himself.
In recent years, a handful of solo-developed titles have found massive success, including Stardew Valley, Axiom Verge, and Papers, Please.
If you want to check out It Lurks Below in action, Brevik will be streaming the game on Twitch over the weekend, coinciding with the game’s closed beta. The beta’s 200-person cap has already been met, Brevik announced on Twitter, but additional betas will occur leading up to the game’s launch.
Given Brevik’s long history in the industry, which included a decade-long stint helming Blizzard North, It Lurks Below should probably be on your radar. It Lurks Below will be published by Graybeard Games, Brevik’s indie studio he founded in 2016. It’s expected to launch on PC later in 2018. Brevik hopes to port the game to additional platforms post-launch.
