A brand-new game on Steam blends the demonic firepower and hellish imagery of Doom with the fast-paced, side-scrolling action of Contra. Two Sides of Hell is a newly released twin-stick roguelite on Steam that centers on switching between an armed soldier and an evolving demonic form.
Two Sides of Hell sends players to planet Keller as a super-powered operative serving in the Big F-ing Army, or BFA for short. The planet has become overrun by mutated creatures capable of wiping out entire military expeditions, leaving players to fight through procedurally generated stages filled with changing enemy combinations, hazards, weapons, and bosses. Its bombastic gore, overwhelming weaponry, and demonic enemies give the game obvious Doom energy, while its 2D action and arcade-inspired structure push it closer to a classic run-and-gun experience similar to Contra.
Two Sides of Hell Is Like Doom With a Contra Twist
Two Sides of Hell officially launched on Steam on September 17, 2026, developed by Italian indie studio Red Sky Games and published by Stratos Gaming. The full release supports single-player and local co-op, while Steam Remote Play Together allows players to bring that cooperative experience online. A free demo is also available and has been updated with local co-op support, along with a preview of the game’s Demon Mode. That gives players a chance to sample the game’s central transformation mechanic before committing to the full version.
That transformation system is what most clearly separates Two Sides of Hell from a straightforward arcade shooter. The game’s Soldier form focuses on ranged combat, tactical movement, and an arsenal that includes miniguns, flamethrowers, and high-energy laser cannons, with players able to equip as many as three weapons at once. The wider system incorporates more than 70 weapons, active tools, upgrades, and abilities. Meanwhile, switching to Demon Mode removes that conventional firepower entirely, instead giving players rage-driven melee attacks, wave-clearing powers, abilities stolen from defeated bosses, and the opportunity to evolve the demonic form across a run. Throughout the game, players must decide when precision and overwhelming gunfire matter and when it is better to abandon the guns and tear through enemies at close range.
The game also wraps its arcade action in a roguelite progression system. Resources gathered during unsuccessful runs can be taken back to the Hangar and used for permanent upgrades, while Power Plates can substantially change future attempts through mobility improvements, defensive shields, offensive bonuses, and other effects. Two Sides of Hell includes more than 20 enemy types and bosses, and procedural generation helps make each deployment feel different. Local co-op makes the shooter feel even more Contra-like, letting two players fight through alien-infested stages together, with additional Endless and Multiplayer modes, along with leaderboards, giving players reasons to keep playing after individual runs end.
There is also a big choice running underneath all of Two Sides of Hell‘s narrative. Players can either continue following the Sergeant’s orders and work toward liberating Keller for the BFA, or embrace the strange demon powers found on the planet, potentially leading to very different endings. Red Sky Games describes itself as a gameplay-first studio, and Two Sides of Hell clearly reflects that philosophy by prioritizing intensity, variety, and experimentation throughout its mechanics. For players who enjoy old-school run-and-gun shooters but want the replayability and build variety of a modern roguelite, Two Sides of Hell might offer an especially chaotic combination of both.
