Forget Nightreign, this brutal new shooter's first boss killed me 300 times

Whoever said there's dignity in defeat has never played Madame Cyclone's brutal side-scrolling shooter, Omut. While there's maybe some dignity in racking up five or six deaths to a punishing boss, perishing 300 times in 45 minutes to Omut's first big bad stripped me of every ounce of self-respect I had. And yet, I kept coming back for more, every time edging slightly closer to victory and falling short before resurrecting immediately for just "one more try." While this is partly down to pride, it's also because Omut's surreal, pixelated world is so downright bizarre and intoxicating that I need to see more. The fact that you have to seriously work for it makes it all the more tantalizing.

Omut sees you, an unnamed character, pursuing a red-haired woman through a waking fever dream. Disturbing images of gnarly trees, distorted bodies, and crooked smiling faces flash on the screen as you take your first tentative steps forward. It's when you meet Count Pushnowsky, a wisecracking skeleton hanging like a bat, that you're outright warned what awaits you. "Horrible pain, suffering, torment inside and out" lies ahead, and – for some unfathomable reason – "you'll be longing for it." At this point, it feels like you're ramming through road warning signs, about to crash into a ravine, but as the Count says, you're going to want to nosedive in over and over again.

It's not long before you're handed a gun and set loose on the first boss, an angry blob-like creature that instakills you if it touches the ground. As warned by the Count, expect to die – in fact, at this point, you need to die to understand the resurrection mechanic. Once you do, your on-screen death counter will inevitably ramp up as you play a lethal game of pong with the killer blob.

With only three shots in your gun, each requiring a short cooldown period, the aim of the game is to time and aim your shots precisely to keep the blob in the air while dodging its projectiles. It sounds much easier than it is. It's a bullet hell game, and staying focused, moving when you need to, and timing your shots is a nightmare when a single mistake can spell your doom. Fortunately, you'll return to the action with a press of a button, each time learning from what you did wrong and adjusting your strategy as required. So, even when you're ripping your hair out, you can't help but take another swing.

After dying 300 times to this [insert expletive here], I was surprised by my unrelenting desire to kill this blob. Deaths no longer mattered; the important part was learning from my mistakes, understanding the encounter's (somewhat erratic) rhythm, and falling into a sort of dance with my furious globule adversary. I'll admit, I never did kill him. Instead, I watched on as another journalist suffered numerous deaths before finally tasting sweet victory, and then dying hundreds of times over to the second boss.

The second boss requires a different skill set and strategy to the first. Rather than a nightmarish creature, you face a chunky man wearing nothing but a bushy beard and his birthday suit, who charges you from alternating sides of the screen (and occasionally does a little dance in between). You need to dodge with the utmost precision to survive his attacks. It's damn near impossible, and I watched as my brethren racked up over 700 deaths across the first two bosses, returning again and again for more. Just like me.

What stings even more is that, according to developer Madame Cyclone, Omut's demo can be finished in a single hour if you've "got what it takes." If you manage that, though, I'll personally shake your hand. With seven ruthless bosses in the demo alone, this wonderfully strange sidescroller will put you through your paces and offer the perfect challenge for those looking for another grueling gauntlet after Elden Ring: Nightreign.

Omut's release date is still to be confirmed, but the demo I played is available for free on Steam right now for those brave enough.