Image: Strange Scaffold & RJ Lake

I've been a fan of Strange Scaffold for a while - the scrappy little indie studio releasing a constant string of small-scale games. Some deeply experimental, some just focused and fun. Firmly in the latter category was I Am Your Beast, a speedrunning FPS about being a fusion of Rambo and Brock Samson, politely refusing the army's attempts to bring you back for One Last Job by wiping out a full battalion of troops. Today, we find out why this unstoppable super-soldier left in the first place, in prequel DLC Quitting Time.

On the surface, the DLC looks to be a relatively slim package - just ten new levels, and on average, stages in I Am Your Beast aren't exactly long. But anyone who has played the original game knows that the first run through any given level is just the warm-up. There are unlockable challenges, leaderboards to fight over, and hidden goodies to find, in between soaking in the dopamine of reducing so many soldiers to a briefly flashing red X on the screen.

But what really makes this expansion interesting is that it's a full prequel story, written and voiced once more by Strange Scaffold head man Xalavier Nelson Jr. (also the voice of the protagonist in the recent Hellraiser: Revival), reprising the role of Alphonse Harding, possibly the most overt covert agent to ever work for the American military, able to reduce a platoon into a puddle in three minutes or less.

In this story, he's on a mission in South America to put down the Patriotic Defense League, who are the obvious Bad Guys. I mean, it's not like America could be doing anything sketchy in the jungle, right? Okay, we all know how this ends (spectacularly, that's how), given that this is a prequel story, but I'm excited to see what pushed Harding over the edge.

As well as the new jungle-themed environment and enemies, there's one big new tool to play with: Riot shields. Obviously, they partially protect bad guys from your bullets, but once acquired, you can either use them to block or as throwing weapons. And because Harding is a cartoonish force of hyperviolence, he can huck one Captain America-style, impacting and exploding several heads in one throw. You can also still throw bear traps as projectile weapons, which I don't think will ever get old.

The only thing I'm even slightly hesitant about is that the music here is from new producer Kalibration. Not a bad pick at all, considering the juicy beats on show over on their SoundCloud page, but the first game's soundtrack (from Strange Scaffold regular RJ Lake) was SO good, hence why we're using the album art for the header image here. Sorry, Strange Scaffold PR, it's too cool.

The Quitting Time DLC is out now for £9.09/$10, with a 10% launch discount, although you'll obviously need the (excellent) base game too. The full package, DLC included, costs £16.80/$20, but with a steep discount, making it the cheapest way to jump in and explode some dude's head with a riot shield.