Storm Lancers Review: Fun Movement Undercut by Bugs and Thin Content

Storm Lancers is a co-op roguelite platformer from ProbablyMonsters -- the AAA-pedigree studio founded by veteran developers from Blizzard and other major studios -- that arrived on Steam in December 2025 after an earlier release on Switch. Two stranded adventurers fight through the alien world of Cryptica, unlocking Stormheart abilities that reshape movement and combat as runs progress. At 62% positive across 40 reviews, the sample describes a game with real strengths in its core feel, dragged down hard by a specific, recurring technical bug and a surprisingly thin amount of content for its price.

Movement and Combat That Reviewers Genuinely Like

Where the sample agrees most is on how the game feels to play once it opens up. One reviewer who logged nearly 16 hours calls it "addictive," while another compares its punishing-but-fair roguelike loop directly to Hades and its combat rhythm to Mega Man X. A detailed, structural review notes that mobility abilities "dramatically influence how encounters unfold," and that the sense of gradually becoming stronger through permanent upgrades "remains one of the game's most satisfying elements." Several reviewers who played the earlier Switch version specifically welcome the Steam release's improved framerate and bug fixes, and co-op is repeatedly singled out as where the game shines brightest, with cross-save between platforms called out as a well-executed touch.

A Specific Bug That Keeps Recurring

Set against that praise is an unusually consistent technical complaint: a shield-generating enemy on the game's third level that multiple, independently-dated reviewers describe crashing the game or collapsing the framerate. One reviewer running high-end hardware reports the game dropping to single-digit framerates from "fractal shapes spamming the screen" during this exact encounter; another, weeks later, still cites "shielding enemies" crashing their game on the same level while saying they'll keep playing anyway once it's fixed. A third, in mid-December, reports a related "lab zone" glitch making a section unplayable, noting the developers appeared to be working on it. The fact that this same bug, on the same level, is independently reported by different reviewers across a period of weeks suggests a real, unresolved issue rather than an isolated hardware quirk.

A Short Campaign for the Price

Beyond the level-3 bug, the sample's next most common complaint is length and content depth. One extensively detailed review, written after fully clearing every level and enemy, reports the entire game -- five levels, most split into two or three short sections -- can be 100%-cleared in about an hour, with a speedrun achievement clearable in under twenty minutes. That same reviewer notes the roguelite structure offers little map variation between runs beyond chest and enemy placement, undercutting the genre's usual promise of a fresh experience each attempt. Another reviewer flatly states the game "isn't worth $20" at full price, though still recommends it conditionally on sale -- a distinction echoed by several other critical reviewers who separate their assessment of the core gameplay from their assessment of what it currently costs.

Controls and Smaller Rough Edges

A cluster of smaller but frequently-cited complaints centres on controls and interface polish. Several reviewers single out the grapple ability specifically, describing a non-obvious hold-and-aim input that kills momentum and isn't clearly explained -- one reviewer says they wiped their save entirely, assuming the ability was bugged, before discovering the correct (and unintuitive) button combination. Keybinds are reported as unmodifiable, which one detailed review says makes keyboard-and-mouse co-op impossible for players without a second controller. Other recurring reports include enemies attacking from off-screen before becoming visible, inconsistent status-effect damage timing, and a janky elevator sequence on level four that multiple unconnected reviewers flag by name.

A Defensive Minority Still Recommends It

Not every voice in the sample is critical, and it's worth noting the defenders aren't naive about the issues. Several recommending reviewers explicitly acknowledge the bugs -- "never game breaking" for them personally -- while still describing a smooth, approachable roguelite loop worth recommending to the right audience: players who enjoy repeat-and-improve roguelite structures rather than deep, branching complexity. One long, structural review lands on a measured 7/10, calling it a game that "may not radically redefine roguelites" but succeeds at "delivering a fast, rewarding, and highly replayable adventure" for players who know what they're signing up for.

A Studio Pedigree That Raises the Bar

Part of what sharpens the sample's criticism is context that several reviewers bring to the table unprompted: ProbablyMonsters was founded by veteran developers from major studios including Blizzard, and several reviewers explicitly weigh the polish gap against that pedigree rather than judging the game as a first-time indie effort. One particularly detailed critical review frames it bluntly, arguing that whoever play-tested the game "did an underwhelmingly lackluster job," and pointing out that a public demo had been available for roughly four months before launch, which should have surfaced issues like the level-3 shield bug and the level-4 elevator glitch well before release. Whether or not that's entirely fair, it captures a real tension in the sample: reviewers hold Storm Lancers to a higher finishing standard because of who made it, and feel that standard wasn't met. That's a different, and in some ways more damning, critique than the usual "buggy indie launch" complaint, since it isn't about resources -- it's about a studio with AAA experience shipping something that, per several reviewers, still needed more time.

Final Verdict

Storm Lancers has a combat and movement system reviewers genuinely enjoy, and its co-op mode is a real strength worth experiencing with a friend. But a specific, recurring level-3 crash bug reported across weeks of reviews, a campaign several players fully cleared inside an hour, and controls that never got remap support add up to a launch that a meaningful share of its own audience compares unfavourably to an Early Access build. There's a good game somewhere in here -- but right now, wait for a patch and a discount before committing.