Top-down shooters have been a long time from their heyday. In the days of Contra and early 90s games like Loaded, it was the go-to for action and violence, but as 3D technology improved, the FPS rose to prominence and the top-down shooter died. But recently, mostly due to indie developers and the plethora of game engines available, we have seen many older game genres re-surging. 2D platformers and side-scrollers have been enjoying time in the spotlight once again thanks to their ease of programming and relatively uncomplicated mechanics. Now it looks like indie developers are doing the same thing to do the top-down shooter.

Like Shovel Knight or Inside, developers have been getting very creative with older genres, and though we saw Mr. Shifty earlier this year – a top-notch top-down brawler – it wasn’t quite a return to form. But two games in particular have highlighted the potential of the top-down shooter and have shown how it can evolve to become something much more.

The first game is Livelock by Tuque Games, which came out last year. Though it is designed to be played solo or cooperatively, where Livelock shines is in the co-op play. It pits players in a variety of chaotic, bullet-storm-esque stages where they have to blast their way to victory with a variety of weapons while the world acts for all intents and purposes like a fully fleshed out 3D world. And this is something that the 2D platformer has adopted wonderfully as well, which is taking contemporary technology to flesh out a genre while still keeping the mechanics and heart of the system alive. Even as bosses are exploding and flinging pieces of themselves up towards the camera, Livelock stays true to its top-down roots but feels like much more.

On the more artistic side, Ruiner was recently released by Reikon Games. Pitting the player in a cyber-punk revenge story, Reikon has turned the top-down genre into pure artwork. It has a style reminiscent of the colors, palettes, and mood of Blade Runner while still including its own trappings of ultra-violence and gun-running. Like Livelock, Reikon seemed inspired by the top-down shooter genre but not trapped by it. The game looks like a genre all its own, with fast-paced exciting action blended seamlessly with storytelling.

What both developers and games did right was to let their creativity guide them. And with how fantastic both games are – both have rated quite well with gamers and critics – they just might be the thing to set off a new trend. Not that we are tired of amazing side-scrolling indie games, but if games like Ruiner and Livelock are opening the doors to more top-down shooters and storytelling, we are hardly going to be the ones to complain.