Collapsed has finally arrived on Xbox consoles, offering up a 2D rogue-like action game (developed by Glaive Games and published by Overgamez) with fast and fluid combat, a global progression system and a decent number of stages with unique enemies and bosses. However, the monotonous core gameplay loop and drip-fed narrative don’t hold up over ten increasingly-tough cycles you need to complete to see the true ending.

Now, the narrative is not a highlight in Collapsed. The game is set on a post-apocalyptic Earth after aliens have invaded the solar system. You play as one of four hunter classes, slaying your way through several stages of enemies and their sub-bosses, before defeating the leader of the invasion. There seems to be a lot going in at first: the hunters strike out from the “Memory Void”; deaths are referred to as “interrupted cycles”; you can find blandly-written logs documenting the collapse; the final boss reveals more dialogue at the end of each “memory log” completed. However, given the escalating difficulty and length of each “memory log”, any narrative motivation quickly fades.

The four classes offer a decent variety of attack types and perks, though they begin to feel similar as your gear loadout becomes more important.

Collapsed fares much better on the gameplay front and (at least initially) there’s a great flow to combat, plenty of variety in the stages and enemies you face, numerous player upgrades to consider and a strong focus on optimising your gear for each stage. You start by picking one of four classes: a generalist, a ranged expert, a melee tank or a back-stabbing rogue. Each has a unique melee and ranged weapon (which requires ammo pickups), with distinct attack patterns and several perks that complement their playstyle. There are also several equippable abilities you can map to two face buttons, further expanding your offensive and defensive options.

No matter which class you pick, movement and basic combat feel good. You can run, jump, double-jump, dash and air-dash (the dashes provide a healthy number of invincibility frames). These traversal skills complement the melee and ranged attacks, as the core gameplay loop involves finding portals, triggering waves of guardians and fighting them in a small arena with potential hazards (think bottomless pits, spikes or acid vats). Most enemy types can be a threat in the right conditions: some charge you and knock you about, others fire off shots from afar and some spawn in smaller minions to chip away at your health. Bosses ramp the challenge up even further, as you’re still restricted to a small arena but endure higher-damage attacks while whittling away large health bars.


Basic combat feels great, but increasingly dangerous melee enemies make firearms feel vital in later memory logs, regardless of your class preferences.

Progressing through each memory log is straightforward but feels increasingly tedious the longer you play. You get dropped into one of 9 distinct and procedurally-generated stages and search for portals, hoping to find the one that takes you to the next level of that stage. After finding the right portal several times and defeating the stage boss, you choose between two new locations and begin the process again. Complete enough stages (the required amount increasing as you progress) and you can tackle the final boss to complete the memory log. On my first run, the credits rolled after an hour, but I soon realised I could drop back in with either my starting character, or a new one and progress into the next memory log (of 10).

Despite the rogue-like description, death doesn’t cost you your gear or upgrades as Collapsed tries to keep you moving forward. Energy (gained from pick-ups or hitting enemies) can be consumed to restore health at any time. Gear can be stashed in the starting location and accessed by new characters to give them a leg-up. Progression through a sprawling tech-tree applies to all characters, providing passive buffs to equip (think health, damage and resistances) but also new gear that is added to the loot pool. Finding and equipping new gear is vital as each stage has enemies with distinct weaknesses - such as electricity for robots in the factory, fire for organic enemies in the first or bio lab and acid for armour enemies in the cityscape. Three pieces of gear can be equipped to your melee weapon, firearm and armour, providing nine potential items (with offensive and defensive abilities) to synergise. With the right gear, you can turn areas and bosses into a cakewalk.


Class perks and tech-tree upgrades feel important at first, but the gear is where it's at. There are over 100 items to equip, with different rarity levels and some random modifiers, allowing for a ton of customisation and synergies.

The big problem is that Collapsed can’t maintain momentum as you tackle memory log after memory log. The repetitive gameplay loop of finding portals and defeating enemy waves to move on becomes tiring, especially as it takes longer and longer to get to each boss. The limitations of the stage RNG quickly became apparent by the fourth memory log, when I started noticing repeating layouts. The initial rush of upgrades slows down to a crawl once you realise some resources are only reliably gained from defeating bosses (including the last boss). Finally, once you’ve found a good gear loadout for your class, subsequent runs involve hoping for a rare drop or gathering up other gear to sacrifice at crafting stations for the piece you're after. Every gameplay element begins to feel dragged out.

Somewhat offsetting the tedium (at first) is the solid presentation. Collapsed, despite indie budget limitations, looks and sounds impressive in action. Sure, you’ll grow tired of seeing the same stages before the end, but the backgrounds, character and enemy sprite work is objectively great. Animations are fluid and detailed, while tons of projectiles often fill the screen in chaotic battles (albeit mostly to your detriment). Combat, whether using melee blades or firearms, sounds impactful and there's decent feedback when hitting enemies. It also ran smoothly with fast load times on an Xbox Series S console.


Thanks to the time I invested in hunting for gear and optimising my loadout, my first encounter with Pandora went smoothly. Subsequent runs, however, ramp up the difficulty significantly and rerunning an entire memory log to get back to this fight becomes a daunting prospect.

Unfortunately, the presentation and strong opening hours are not enough to offset the repetition and grind that comes to dominate the experience if you want to unlock more of the narrative and see the true ending. Coming in at $15-equivalent, a lot can be forgiven at budget pricing, but I still feel you’ll need a lot of patience – and a serious love of combat and upgrade system – to push through the 10+ hours needed to see Collapsed through to the end (assuming, of course, you succeed in every run without fail).