Whisker Squadron: Survivor is a neon-and-roguelite-infused Star Fox spiritual successor from Race the Sun developer Flippfly, and it’s coming to Steam Early Access with an August 21, 2023 release date. This date was announced as part of a stylized launch trailer that mixes in some brilliant animation from DCell. The footage is packed with plenty of gameplay showing how it plans to give players its own on-rails shooter gameplay take, but more importantly, it’s got some great animated segments that call back to the look, sound, and feel of Saturday morning cartoons. You can see it all for yourself in the Whisker Squadron: Survivor early access release date trailer below.
With an anthropomorphic cat pilot, spaceship warfare, and on-rails shooting all playing a major part in the trailer, it’s pretty clear Star Fox helped influence Flippfly’s vision. However, there are also a few things that set the project apart from the Nintendo classic that inspired it. For starters, Whisker Squadron: Survivor sees players fighting off an army of robotic bugs called The Swarm. Your crew of feline pilots is tasked with wiping out the threat in order to save animals everywhere. The journey will see you customizing and upgrading your ship as well as mastering your pilot skills in close-quarters battles.
Battles in Whisker Squadron: Survivor are quick, with each run taking only 20-30 minutes to complete. The success of each run is determined in part by the mods and equipment you use to fight off The Swarm. If you’re up for the challenge, you’ll also have the opportunity to seek out secret portals that offer additional challenges.
Players hoping to scratch that Star Fox itch can look forward to the early access launch in one month, but the story of the team of feline pilots won’t end there. In 2024, Flippfly plans to launch the currently subtitle-less Whisker Squadron, which plans to evolve the gameplay with new locations, procedurally generated missions, and free-roaming exploration zones. Studio creative director Aaron San Filippo said that the follow-up will soon get a “new, more descriptive name soon,” adding that it will focus more on open-world space gameplay. However, if you can’t wait until next month to see how it all works, you can download a demo for Whisker Squadron: Survivor by heading over to its Steam page.