I have no bullets left in my handgun. I’m low on health. In front of me is an armed soldier ready to shoot my head off. I don’t have more than a second or two before I’m dead. So I chuck my empty pistol at the dude, knocking him down. Meanwhile, I grab his gun and swiftly kill him and two more guards running toward my location. This all happens in about three seconds or so. It feels amazing. And it’s the kind of thing you’ll do a lot in the new Steam Next Fest demo for I Am Your Beast.

I Am Your Beast is an upcoming first-person hyper-fast murder puzzle starring one guy who can take on dozens of soldiers and guards using his incredible combat skills. It’s being developed by Strange Scaffold, the same developers behind last year’s amazing Max Payne-like shooter El Paso, Elsewhere. And like that fantastic game, Beast is an indie shooter that feels incredible to play and lets you step into the boots of a true alpha predator.

In Beast, you start every level with no guns or weapons. Instead, you have to find them, either by killing enemies or scavenging them from the level. Knives, pistols, shotguns, and even tree branches are all fair game and can be quite deadly if used correctly. There’s also no reloading, forcing you to hunt down enemies for more weapons. Of course, you can also forgo weapons and just use your bare hands and feet to punch and stomp enemies to death. All attacks in I Am Your Beast are snappy and responsive. I always felt in control during combat, even when things got hectic or I fucked up and missed my last shot or tossed a knife the wrong way.

With a bit of practice, you’ll quickly become (and feel like) a deadly, unstoppable predator. And that’s when I Am You Beast goes from good to amazing. That’s because, once you nail the controls and learn how combat flows, you can then focus on completing each level as quickly and smoothly as possible to receive a perfect rating.

This is where I Am Your Beast sunk its claws into me. I spent over two hours just replaying the four main levels in the demo, trying to get faster and faster times. When you die or reset, the game loads almost instantly, making it easy to repeat a level over and over and over until you get that perfect run. And once you nail that incredible run you’ll be hungry to shave off another second. Maybe next time don’t jump up to the branch, but instead slide into the guard and get his rifle first. Try blowing up the barrels after you kill the guard on the center hill. These kinds of thoughts—hunting for every possible opportunity to optimize your time—will flood your brain as you play levels in I Am Your Beast again and again.

The few levels in I Am Your Beast’s demo were more than enough to keep me busy for a night. I can’t imagine how much time I’ll be able to sink into the full game when it arrives on PC on August 15.

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