Dead Cells, the acclaimed rogue-like action-platformer from developers Motion Twin and subsidiary Evil Empire, has thrown open its doors to welcome another batch of familiar gaming faces – from indie favourites including Hotline Miami, Shovel Knight, Terraria, and Slay the Spire – in its new Everyone is Here Vol. 2 update on PC.
A follow-up to last year’s first Everyone is Here update – which featured crossovers with Hollow Knight, Hyper Light Drifter, Blasphemous, Guacamelee, Curse of the Dead Gods, and Skul: The Hero Slayer – Vol. 2 features guest appearances from another six titles.
Up first is Yacht Club Games’ beloved retro platformer Shovel Knight – no stranger to crossovers and cameos – whose Dead Cells appearance takes the form of a new outfit and an accompanying Brutality weapon known as the King Scepter. THis lets players mimic King Knight, dashing around and bouncing on enemies’ heads.
Dead Cells: Everyone is Here Vol. 2 – Gameplay Trailer.
Dennaton Games’ Hotline Miami, meanwhile, is represented by the Modernized Bomber outfit (complete with three different masks) and a new Baseball Bat, classed as a Brutality/Survival weapon, that can smash through door and deal extremely bloody critical damage to stunned or rooted enemies.
Askiisoft’s neon-hued Katana Zero takes its place in the line-up with the Zero outfit and an accompanying Tactical/Surival weapon known simply as Throwable Objects. With this equipped, players can pick objects off the ground and lob them at opponents to stun them – but they’ll need to kill the enemy in order to retrieve their three throwable charges.
Re-Logic’s Terraria makes the cut with the Familiar outfit and gloriously pink Starfury weapon – a Brutality/Tactical armament capable of summoning a star that targets a nearby enemy with each melee strike. As for Hopoo Games’ Risk of Rain 2, it brings the Commando outfit and Laser Glaive. The latter, a seeking Brutality/Tactical weapon, can bounce up to a certain amount of times for a certain amount of damage, with damage increasing each bounce.
And finally, Slay the Spire strides in with the Ironclad outfit and a new colourless power known as the Diverse Deck, comprised of four different cards – each with a Draw, Passive, and Discard effect. “The current card has its Passive in effect permanently,” explains Evil Empire. “Press the power button again to Discard it and Draw the next one, triggering the corresponding effects.” It’s a bit complicated, but there’s a more involved explanation on Steam.
Everyone is Here Vol. 2 also features six new lore rooms, inspired by familiar locations from all the above games, plus six new Mysterious Book entries, which unlock the outfits. It also comes with a host of bug fixes and balance changes, as detailed in Evil Empire’s latest patch notes.
It’s available on PC now with a console release to follow.
