A tribute to late-90s low-poly games, Cold Vengeance pits you against the evil Ninja Empire and the ghastly National Hell Party. Playing as Sgt. Jon Dagger, a lone soldier with a the consciousness of a deceased soviet engineer living inside his brain, you blast your way through the ruins of America all the way to the frozen north, because Canadians are evil now, apparently.

Developer Alec Stamos grew up with the Nintendo 64, so he wanted to make a game that hearkens back to that era of 3D games. And Cold Vengeance delivers: inspired by games like Sin and Punishment and Jet Force Gemini, it plays like a fast-paced rail shooter with free movement. Faced with an onslaught of enemies, you shoot and dodge through the game's intentionally plain-looking low-res levels, some of which are deceivingly intricate, containing branching paths and hidden areas.
The lack of details and the basic run and gun gameplay probably make this an acquired taste, even for shooter fans, but I reckon there will be a fair number of people who will be hit right in the nostalgia bone. Furthermore, the game's B-movie charms feel like a shopping list of wacky ideas: robots, mind-controlled gorillas, barbarian queens, ninjas, and, well, evil Canadians. I mean come on, we're certainly jumping the shark with evil Canadians, no" Cold Vengeance is simple, stupid fun, and it's out later today.

You can purchase Cold Vengeance from itch.io, Steam, and the Humble Store for $14.99 (with a 20% laun...