Make every shot count in Perihelion: Rogue Orbit, a space roguelite with EVE-style transversal combat

Perihelion: Rogue Orbit is a 2D space combat roguelite with a simplistic style, but combat that's quite a challenge due to the movement mechanics. Currently in Early Access, the developer sent over a key to check out the Linux version.

From the developer: "You fit a ship, read the angle, and land the big shot. Combat is inspired by EVE Online's transversal mechanics, so positioning matters more than reflexes. If you’re burning across a target's firing line, they’ll struggle to hit you. If you line up the angle and control range, you can absolutely ruin their day".

I don't know how exactly alike it is to the main combat mechanics in EVE Online, since I haven't played any for well over 10 years at this point. On the surface it might look like a retro-styled arcade shooter, but the reality and gameplay here is quite different. You load-out a ship, and jump right into the action by destroying ships and stations sector by sector. Quite a bit more difficult than it looks, one where the basic style is very deceiving.

Control range, tracking, and transversal in readable 2D combat.

Build Overdrive through clean hits for stacking damage and fire rate.

Trigger Shield Surge by finishing enemies with direct hits.

Fit weapons, defenses, and utility modules around your preferred tactics.

Break enemy tracking with movement, then create your own firing solution.

Fight through short, reshuffled roguelite runs.

It works with keyboard / mouse and it also has controller support too.

The Linux version was tested on Fedora KDE 44 where it showed no issues. Everything worked as expected.

Mastering the movement with the different weapons to actually make your shots count keeps it interesting and worth going for many different runs. Although, right now the customization and options you get for your ship are quite limited, something I hope the developer continues to expand upon during Early Access. What they have is a good solid start on a rather interesting and unique take on a space combat roguelite with challenging missions and combat.