Rogue Eclipse screenshot
Image: HUSKRAFTS

It feels like there's a sudden rush of games trying to be the next Star Fox. It'd be easy to assume this is people chasing after the hype generated by Nintendo's recent remake, but most of these projects had been in the works for years, long before its announcement. Rogue Eclipse from tiny indie dev HUSKRAFTS is one such case; a free-flying arcade space shooter with a roguelike spin and a funky 'Arabesque futurism' aesthetic. After an extra year of development following 2025's Summer Next Fest, it's almost ready for takeoff, with a fancy new trailer and an August 7th release date locked in.

After playing the most recent demo version of the game, I can confirm that it's shaping up to be legit, albeit possibly a little closer to 2021's Chorus (coincidentally 90% discounted for the next couple of days) than classic Star Fox. For starters, it's not on rails. But then again, neither was Star Fox 2 or Star Fox Command, so that's clearly not a requirement. What the game does deliver is frantic pacing, constant dogfights, a driving soundtrack, and an almost absurd number of explosions per minute.

While I found some of the post-processing effects and smoke to be a LITTLE bit much at times, the spectacle is undeniable. If something is not blowing upon screen at any given time, you're doing it wrong. This applies doubly when fighting giant capital ships, which love to bombard the entire area around you with rockets and flak as you swoonce around them, surgically disassembling their segmented hulls one component at a time.

As for the 'roguelike' part of the mix, it's fairly standard 'pick one of three perks' design, with other fighter classes and customization options available to unlock between runs. Perhaps not the deepest or most transformative, but it helps keep the focus on the moment-to-moment action, which is where the game is clearly shining, as you can see in the new trailer below. While the demo is sadly no longer available, you can wishlist Rogue Eclipse on Steam now for a reminder when it launches on August 7th.