By Chris Picone, 13 September, 2025

Katanaut's a dark new run & gun by Voidmaw which is, in my mind, on the verge of greatness.  On the verge, but doesn't quite get there. More on that in a moment.  It's set in the remains of a space station that has been overtaken by mutations and experiments, a setting which is delivered well both visually and through its lore.  

Aesthetics

Katanaut's graphics are dark and bloody and fantastic, and all the music and sound effects are high quality too.  I think what i like the most is the way the story's built onto a functioning space station, but one in which everything's gone wrong.  The map features a good range of environs; living quarters, commercial districts, laboratories and they are all well-presented with blood splatter and graffiti and lots of detail.  The "normal" has been used well to make the strange feel stranger.  Katanaut is suitably gory, and really nails the space horror aesthetic.    There's a huge range of enemies, all various (once) humans workers that were experimented on, or medics that have caught various space diseases, or that parasites have taken over. That's another thing I loved about the game; the lore is told not only through the cutscene story segments but it's peppered everywhere, even in the little monster briefs. 

Gameplay

Combat is, unfortunately, where Katanaut falls down.  Not ideal, given the genre - in some games, flashy visuals and world-building can make up for shortfalls in gameplay, but that doesn't quite work in a run & gun. There are three core problems.  The main issue is that, although the enemies feature a range of attack types, the range of mechanics in the game are quite limited and the character is very powerful.  You attack quickly, your stamina recovers very quickly, and your attacks also can negate most enemy "bullets" and even has a slight stun effect.  The level design doesn't help either; they're procedurally generated, which helps replayability a little, but the corridors in every single level feel so damn near identical that they tend to feel a bit samey anyway.  This also negates any effective use of the vertical dimension.  The combination of this imbalance and level design means that you can beat everything by simply running back and forward, slashing as you run past your hapless victims.  You get new weapons and special abilities as you progress, and they're helpful for speeding things up a little, but otherwise feel unnecessary and don't really add anything.  Also, while the levels are procgen, you encounter them in the same order, and since the combat always feels the same and the special abilities are somewhat redundant, the joy of levelling up with each run is diluted, and it's honestly a bit of a grind. 

Verdict

 Katanaut boasts some fantastic aesthetics and surprisingly interesting lore, and along with a great range of environments, weapons, enemies, and bosses, it has a lot going for it.  I'm really hoping the developer team take on feedback and bring some updates down the track that make the core gameplay a little more interesting and engaging, because the game really is full of promise. 

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3032830/Katanaut/