Target Acquired: Pepper Grinder

Pepper Grinder is a game about a girl and her drill... which you don't get a lot of in video games. Basically, we have Anna Hottenmeyer in the Mr. Driller series and Jill Dozer in Drill Dozer... but developer Ahr Ech is changing all that. Pepper Grinder stars a girl named Pepper and her drill named Grinder, as she sets out across a fantasy world filled with drillable and non-drillable materials. When drilling through the ground, Pepper moves quickly, and the player can steer her around to avoid obstacles, eject Pepper from the ground to fling her into the air, and even drill up under shelled enemies that are invincible from above. Things get crazier when the grappling hook is introduced, which allows Pepper to shoot out of the ground, swing quickly around a grapple point, and go flying over obstacles and ramming herself back into the dirt at high speeds. The drill can also be used to manipulate machinations that affect the environment, such as turning wheels to open the path forward, or launching Pepper high into the air to reach distant areas.

The game is now available on PC via Steam and Switch via eShop.

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Target Acquired: Rebel Transmute

Rebel Transmute, from Evan Tor Games, is as metroidvania as metroidvanias get, taking direct inspiration from the Metroid series in its environments, atmosphere, and enemy designs. A year ago, an explosion rocked a scientific outpost, which has since been marked off limits. You take on the role of Mute, daughter of one of the scientists aboard the station, as she is sent in to investigate, determine what happened, and return home with any research she can find. Fortunately, Mute is no slouch in the adventure-platforming department, as she's skilled in combat and can acquire a variety of upgrades (all of which are entirely optional) in order to fully explore the station. She can wall jump, dash, perform spinning attacks, reprogram a drone to fight alongside her, call forth tentacles to block incoming projectiles, and blast creepy creatures, adversarial artificial intelligence, and vicious bosses through a large open world. Along the way, Mute uncovers more information about what happened at the outpost and, more importantly, what happened to her mother.

The game is now availalble for PC via Steam, and it releases on consoles later this week.

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