The Dead Cells Barrels o' Fun update adds explosive new level and 8-bit soundtrack

The unfairly maligned explosive barrel is given a spotlight in Dead Cells' latest update, which bolts on a new level crammed to the rafters with barrels. It's a distillery, see, only instead of paying to go on a tour and maybe put your head in one of the whisky barrels, you're enduring spikes and explosions and being chased around by a vicious barrel on legs. The 'Barrels o' Fun' update, live now on Steam, introduces the Derelict Distillery as an alternate path to High Peak Castle. It's full of overtly barrel-themed enemies including the aforementioned leggy casks (mimics hiding among normal barrels) and giant brutes wearing barrel backpacks.  If that wasn't enough, there are barrels strewn around that will explode when struck, either into enemies or (if you're clever) into destructible parts of the scenery. New weapons have also been added to help you fight back: the electricity-spewing Tesla Coil and the bazooka-like Barrel Launcher. So many barrels—it's as if a cooper is blackmailing developer Motion Twin. Joining the new level is an '8-bit' chiptune rendition of Dead Cells' soundtrack, which you can swap in whenever you're feeling in a retro mood. There have been a few tweaks made in other areas as well, including a reworked Explosive Crossbow and fewer rats in both the Prisoners' Quarters and Corrupted Confinement biomes. You can find the patch notes for the update here.