Croteam announced out of nowhere that the cooperative twin-stick shooter developed by Gungrounds is currently available in Early Access on Steam for $11.99. Croteam was wise to wait a day before dropping the news of the game’s availability given that so many different other organizations and studios were partaking in the April Fool’s madness.

The game can be played in single-player or cooperative multiplayer with up to two players via shared screen. The multiplayer co-op is only available for local play, but if you have a buddy to play with you then you can definitely check it out.

At the moment, the Early Access version of the game features three maps, four bosses, three playable characters (including Sam), 35 weapons to to build or collect, and 20 weapon evolution upgrades, along with 30 different enemies to encounter. You can see what the gameplay is like with the video below from Cryptic Hybrid.

They have plans on expanding the game over the course of the next three months, adding a number of new features to the title, including two additional areas for players to blast through, another boss, along with some new weapons and upgrades, and additional characters to unlock and play, each with their own unique abilities.

Given that some Early Access runs result in months of dormancy and barely any updates, I hope Croteam stays on Gungrounds and keeps them active during this developmental period so they don’t lose any steam.

This looks like a solid twin-stick, isometric, co-op shooter for fans who enjoy these kind of arcade games. Personally? I would prefer to see it on the Nintendo Switch. This game has that Switch vibe to it; the bright colors, the local co-op and the generically fun gameplay. It feels like it was made for Nintendo’s little hybrid that could.

Anyway, if you’re interested in checking out Serious Sam: Tormental you can do so right now over on the Steam store page for $11.99. The full version is expected to release later in the year.