Enter the Chronosphere is a ridiculously stylish and engaging turn-based bullet hell

Enter the Chronosphere has to be one of the slickest new releases I've played for a while with such a great style and very clever engaging gameplay. Note: a key was provided to GamingOnLinux.

What's it all about then? Well, there's some weird world-devouring things called Chronospheres that are floating through space with some giant eye for a mouth that just sucks up everything. Each member of your crew is the last echo of their species, united by one goal: stop the world-devouring Chronospheres from consuming what’s left of space and time. No pressure then right?

I do love a good bullet hell now and then although it's bullet heavens that really hooked me over the last year - but Enter the Chronosphere is pulling me back in with the switch to the slick turn-based mechanics. The way the turns are done actually reminds me of the also incredibly good Jupiter Hell, with turns that are nearly seamless so the action is still pretty fast but it gives you all the time to think that you need.

Time only moves when you move - giving you a chance to study your surroundings, and plan how you're going to dodge the onslaught of bullets, grenades and all sorts that are being thrown your way, There's no end-turn button here though, you can just hold down your movement to keep running and stop everything whenever you need. It really is clever how it's done.

As you explore each level you get to pick up various different weapons, power-ups and gadgets until you become quite a destructive force. It's been a lot of fun to run through it for a whole bunch of times to see what I can find, and just to see how far I can get before I inevitably dodge-roll the wrong way into some bullets. Each weapon has an alternate fire mode too, which is only used when you quick-swap between one of your weapons. It's an interesting design choice to make you think about how your weapon choices work together. For example: one weapon might fire three shots in a spread pattern when you switch to the other, another might fire and make you automatically dodge in a direction.

Not just that though, the vibrant graphics are absolutely wonderful to look at. Their artists have truly done an incredible job with the overall look of Enter the Chronosphere.

I will leave any longer review until it leaves Early Access since it's not finished, but this is an impressive start for the game that really deserves a lot more eyes on it. The developer estimated about six months to get it finished to add in more biomes, weapons, enemies, items and so on. They also told me it has at least "40+ hours of metaprogression" for now and runs take around 30-45 minutes depending on how quick you are with your turns - but that's the beauty of it, you go at your own pace.

See the launch trailer below:

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Game Highlights:

• Time stops between turns. Bullets and enemies only move when you move.
• Combines the adrenaline of real-time combat with turn-based tactics.
• Unlock characters with unique combat styles.
• No two chronospheres are alike! Procedurally generated levels keep it fresh.
• Complete missions, unlock new biomes, weapons, gear, characters, and more.
• Wield sniper rifles, scimitars, scuttling insects, sledgehammers, shotguns (and that’s just weapons that start with ‘S’).
• Psychedelic art and a killer soundtrack.

It has been working without issue using Proton 11. It's safe to say I'm going to be putting a great many more hours into this one. Don't overlook this!

Available for £11.25 / $14.99.