Diablo III and Path of Exile are dark takes on the action-RPG genre. Low-lighting sets an ominous mood, and cutting down enemies results in ever-growing piles of gore. For many of us, this is exactly what we want, too. We enjoy the serious and hardcore feeling of these games, losing hours in the gratifying cycle of violence and loot.

“ US President Abraham Lincoln returns to kick undead ass as a chainsaw-wielding fighter.

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Developer Rocket City Studios is taking a bit of a different approach with Second Chance Heroes . The heavy moods are replaced by cheeky quips from characters, the imposing grottos of dead trees and monsters are instead silly-looking zombies staggering towards you in shopping malls. The best part, though, and what could help differentiate it from a field of ever-growing competition, are the playable avatars.Instead of your typical fantasy mage, warrior, healer, rogue archetypes, Second Chance Heroes puts you in the shoes of an array of deceased historical figures. US President Abraham Lincoln returns to kick undead ass as a chainsaw-wielding fighter. Queen Elizabeth uses a chaingun to cut down foes from a distance. The diminutive Napoleon rides a cannon into the fray while blasting enemies with handguns. It’s every bit as ridiculous as it sounds, and Rocket City has a whole host of characters planned for launch. While not all of them will be as easily recognizable as these two, the team has worked hard to make sure that they are familiar enough to those of us with even the most barebones grasp on world history.More than anything else, though, Second Chance Heroes aims to be approachable. If you’re familiar with action-RPGs this will most noticeable due to the lack of skill trees and multiple ability powers. Instead, Second Chance Heroes simply gives each character an attack and a single power. If you want to upgrade them you spend the cash you earn to give them additional health and attack damage, or fill their two inventory slots with relics that can give them buffs like greater chance to find items, additional attack power, or health regeneration. Additionally, you constantly unlock new heroes as you play, effectively giving you more powers and playstyles to tinker with as you go.Meanwhile, character swapping also plays a key role into the gameplay. Before you start a level you can pick two characters, outfitting them with relics. Once you’re in the stage, you’re then able to swap between the two on the fly. This plays into the strategy, too, giving you the chance to combo characters special powers by rapidly switching between them, or allowing you to take both a melee and ranged character into a fight. It also means that you have two lives to lose in any stage, which is important since Second Chance Heroes relies on health drops instead of spammable potions.You can also play all of Second Chance Heroes with your friends – something that’s absolutely crucial in an action-RPG. With a bunch of characters to unlock and play, I can see a lot of potential strategy developing around the way players compose their eight character teams, picking relics and powers that benefit the group versus ones that they might normally take while playing alone.Second Chance Heroes doesn’t have a firm release date yet, but Rocket City plans on selling the game at a single price, rather than pursuing a free-to-play model. If you like what you see here, you can sign up for upcoming beta tests on Second Chance Heroes’ first site.