Release Date: Tuesday 16 August     Platforms: PS4 / PC

With its simple, yet elegant black and white tone, INVERSUS brings you into the new age of 2D shoot-em-ups.

You take the role of a square filled with bullets, as you take on either AI or another player to shoot them before they get you. The basic premise reflects the pure simplicity of the game, but don’t be fooled, it’s bloody difficult.

In Versus mode, each player is restricted to their opposite colour on the game board. You claim your territory by shooting the tiles to flip them, with one goal in mind. Trap the enemy. Once you’ve done that, you can finish them and win the point. With local co-op of up to 4 players, this is a winner.

Each map carries its own challenges, bringing new obstacles which can be used to your advantage. In a Pacman-esque manner, you can go off the side of the screen with some maps, and emerge on the other side to take your opponent by surprise. The more games you play the more comfortable you get, meaning you play at a faster pace, revealing the true beauty of INVERSUS.

Arcade mode turns all the fun of the Versus mode into a trigger-happy mess. You can either take on the evil red squares solo style, or with another player. Chaos then ensues. A couple of red squares pop in ready to come take one of your three precious lives. Then a few more, and soon you find yourself backed into a corner surrounded by a sea of red with one bullet in your square. That intensity makes the Arcade mode a whole other experience to the fun and games of the Versus mode.

There are multiple levels in the Arcade mode, which can only be unlocked by achieving a certain score. This can get frustrating once you’re stuck on a level, unable to continue on with the game. But once you realise that the levels start to feel a bit similar, this is less of an issue. Especially when you take INVERSUS for what it is, a short-burst kind of game.

INVERSUS has the formula down to a T. A complex game shielded behind simplistic elements, with new challenges around every corner.