This past weekend, I was able to attend the Guerilla Collective Mixer in Los Angeles. The event showcased many different indie titles from around the world, but the one game that stuck out to me was Fallen Aces. With its unique art style and intuitive gameplay, it is easy to see why so many people were talking about it during Summer Game Fest.

Developed by Trey Powell and Jason Bond and published by New Blood Interactive, Fallen Aces follows the story of Michael Thane, a hard-boiled detective trying to piece together the murder mystery of who is killing The A.C.E.S, a group of masked vigilantes that protect Switchblade City. Armed with his fist and a wide assortment of other weapons, Michael will have to leave a trail of blood through the streets to get to the bottom of this whodunit.

I greatly enjoyed the time I got to play Fallen Aces. The game has a very unique style that meshes the visuals of say Dick Tracey comics with the gameplay elements similar to the original DOOM or Max Payne, and even that description feels like it is doing the game a disservice. I had the chance to talk to one of the devs during my playthrough, and even though they informed me that the story is linear, the map and the way you can go about completing your tasks is entirely up to you.

I watched another person play before me and found areas and pathways that they never crossed. Fallen Aces isn’t an open world, but there are various ladders, rooftops, and vents you can access to get to different areas within the level. There are also stealth mechanics, so if you want to silently take out enemies one by one, you can do that. There’s even an icon in the bottom left corner of the screen that shows your character’s portrait, and when you are cast in shadow, the portrait shows just how hidden your character is. As much as I enjoyed the stealth gameplay, it’s the combat where Fallen Aces shines.

There is something so satisfying about front-kicking a ’60s mobster goon off the second-floor balcony and watching him come crashing to the Main Lobby floor below. You can pick up a Gumball Machine and lob it at your enemy’s head. There are ridiculous amounts of objects you can use while fighting. At one point I even grabbed a pigeon by the neck. Sad to say, it didn’t end well for the pigeon.

There are even environmental attacks that can be done under the right circumstances. I was fighting 4 goons down an alley and I happened to hit one of them towards a fuse box. When the enemy crashed into the panel, an electrical current shot out of the box striking the enemy and his friends that were nearby, killing them instantly. Upon further inspection, it looks like there was also a puddle of gasoline on the floor, just to give you an idea of the variety of options you will have in this game.

Games like this are exactly why I love indie games, and if there was one thing I hope people took away from this past weekend, I hope it’s that we need to support this community.

Episode 1 of Fallen Aces has just been released in Early Access on Steam. For $9.57, you get Episode 1 and the rest of the episodes when they are released. You can’t beat that price.