Fortune's Run

Fortune's Run is a high-octane first-person shooter with immersive-sim elements, openly inspired by the spirit of Deus Ex and EYE: Divine Cybermancy and the campy tone of space operas like Metal Gear Solid. The setting is the quiet dystopia of New Zabra, a post-industrial world of barren factories and boarded-up storefronts where food is free yet people starve, and every living soul is bought and paid for by off-world interests. Beneath the iron skies, desperate souls kill and steal for passage to still-plentiful frontier worlds.

The combat system is genuinely innovative for the genre. Inspired by fighting games and character-action titles, it asks players to memorize combos and specials that break stance, use grabs and mix-ups to throw off enemies' guard, and master timing in ways most FPS releases never demand. Invincibility frames, parries, counters and true Quake-engine strafe-jumping movement come standard. The depth is significant enough to keep players practicing for months, and damage is lethal — combat is tactical and practice is imperative.

The campaign covers an immersive world with eclectic low-lives, voice-acted environments and Mozah's tragic tale unfolding throughout. Set-pieces draw inspiration from science-fiction greats: a fully simulated centrifugal space station, a train that rides up a cable to the heavens, no two levels the same and always something to impress. The customizable difficulty system and endless mechanics to master leave only two options: persistence or death. Embrace the pain — the only way to survive is to learn, and the only way to learn is to fail.