Curve Studios, the indie developer behind Fluidity and the newly-on-PC action-platformer Explodemon, have just released their retro stealth game Stealth Bastard for free.

Described as a mashup between Metal Gear Solid and Super Meat Boy, Stealth Bastard features 28 levels of 2D sneaking goodness. Even though you’ll occasionally wind up waiting for a robot or camera to turn away from you, the levels do move briskly. They’re also relatively short, which means having to retry one after failure rarely feels like a chore. And you’ll need to replay them several times if you want to nab a good spot on the leaderboards.

The slick SNES-era retro aesthetic suit the stealth-puzzle gameplay well, with bold lighting schemes dynamically transforming the levels as you progress. Instructions pop up on walls à la the most recent Splinter Cell, though they’re a bit more fourth wall-breaking than Sam Fisher’s inner monologue.

Stealth Bastard is a shockingly robust package for the low price of zero dollars. It even features a built-in level editor, and user-created levels are already available for download. The only major bummer is that its release is currently limited to Windows. That said, assuming you don’t mind seeing an ad for Explodemon upon exiting the game, you should give Stealth Bastard a try pronto. 

Source: Curve Studios