Streets of Rogue (Early Access)

Rating: 8

Happy Price: 9.99

Gameplay

I'm going to start off acknowledging that this is an early access game, but it seems many indie games today are in the early access stage and never leave it. If it's out for the public to play, I believe it's fair to review. That being said, Streets of Rogue is very polished from a technical stand point but it's very evident the game is not finished. 

The title of the game says it all, it's a rogue style procedurally generated world that takes place in the streets of three distinct locations. Each level gets progressively more difficult, but it's up to the player to accumulate enough items and wealth to make sure they are ready for the next level. The more you play, and die, the better you get and eventually can make it through all nine levels. Each play through earns you chicken nuggets, which can be used in a variety of ways that help the player get through all the stages. 

Character Selection

The most important part of your run is the character that is selected because every character has a specialty that will determine the best approach to different situations. There are several ways to approach a mission which gives this game its luster, but certain characters need to approach missions according to their specialties if they want to see success. For example, the gangster character starts off with an automatic weapon while the hacker only starts off with a remote hacking tool. The way these two characters approach their first mission is completely different. The gangster can easily overpower the characters in the first level, while the hacker will have to use more creative tactics. By achieving certain things each run, more characters can be unlocked that have even more distinct abilities. For example the Vampire can regenerate health when attacking from behind, because the Vampire has a distinct attack where it sucks blood. The Gorilla can punch people through walls, but can't talk to anyone, etc. Everyone will have different favorite characters that compliment their play style. For me, the Hacker is the most powerful character.

Combat

Streets of Rogue is driven by top down combat. There are tons of weapons available to choose from but a pistol and shotgun will handle most situations. Because the environment is destructible, it is very fun to use grenades, rocket launchers, and bombs but they are expensive and usually need to be rewarded for winning a mission. These huge weapons that cause destruction also bring attention to you, so if you decide to go this route making a huge commotion, be ready to handle the consequences. The NPC's can hate you so much, that police officers and gangsters will attack you together. Melee combat is very simple, when swinging a weapon it can either be blocked or not. I typically just make sure I'm timing my hits right, and go at it for as long as possible until I win. There isn't a counter or parry system in place. You'll either hit the opponent or not.

Not every character is great with weapons however. Some characters rely on gaining party members to do the dirty work for them. These characters consist of traits that help allies, and basically you become a passenger in many situations but you don't have to hurt anyone. You're just the mastermind getting other people to do things for you. The hacker can hack almost anything in the game including refrigerators and turrets. This makes it fun because a refrigerator can "run" which makes it run at a constant velocity until it hits an indestructible piece of material. But it will destroy everything in its path until that happens. This allows the hacker to gain access to locked areas and treasure chests that would have otherwise been very difficult to get to.

Art

I'm a sucker for games that use 2D pixel art. They are a reminder of the past when games were more simple and contained. Today though, modern game engines allow combining endless possibilities with that same art style. Pixel art is hard, and if you look closely this game has many assets like brick walls, stools with great shadows, animated fire, and walls that blow up. There aren't many animated assets to worry about, most characters just move their legs and their arms. There are some environmental animations like fire coming from vents and fire hydrants spewing water. The good thing about that was the focus on the content itself. Everything has detail which gives the game a cohesive feel.




Story

There is no story, this is just a rogue runner at the moment. Dialogue can be witty at times, but there isn't any character investment. I don't really know why I'm trying to get to the end of the level, aside that I'm apart of a resistance. I think there is potential here for a simple story and even a boss battle at the end. However, I don't know what the developer has plans for. 

Summary 

If you are looking to take a break from 3d open world games which have saturated the market like fidget spinners, then this game is a good option. A successful run can take between 90-120 minutes so there will be a time investment. Last I checked, you can't save in the middle of a run, so you need to block time out if you're going to play. There is tons of replayability and the game forces you to play certain ways to unlock new characters. That alone keeps me coming back, along with all the weapons and creative ways to win the game.

Design: 9
Sound: 8
Art: 9
Story: 5
Engineering: 9

LISA

Rating: 7.6
Happy Price: 7.99


Gameplay

LISA is a 2D side scroller RPG. It's filled with unique characters, sadistic humor, and strange events. The player is forced into difficult choices that permanently alter the state of either the main character or party members. There are also battles that result in death of party members for good, without any warning. This game is for the true masochist.

Battles

Similar to Pokemon, the user is presented with a list of attacks they can choose from. There can be four people in the player's party at a time, but an unknown amount of enemies on screen. Sometimes it's 4v1 or it can be 4v8. At points in the game, it's 1v8. The turn based RPG style alters between parties, so the player's party will attack first, then the opponent. The value of damage for a move is not presented, so it makes it slightly difficult to calculate or get a sense of how powerful an attack is. Also, the opponents health is not visible. It's trial and error for the most part, and the more you play the better sense you will have of the damage an attack yields. Every party character available in the game has a unique move-set, so experimenting with them is fun. Also, party members will die forever in some cases, so the player is forced to use multiple party members. Most of the time its unbalanced, either your party is way too powerful for enemies, or the enemy is way too overpowering. At the same time, the game is labeled the "Painful" RPG. So you should know you are getting into a game that is meant to frustrate.

Soundtrack

It seemed that each battle and each area had a new chiptune that was catchy and addicting. The mood general theme was eerie yet upbeat. It fit perfectly for this post apocalyptic dystopia. It's one of the best soundtracks in any game to date, and was my favorite part of navigating this frustrating world. I couldn't help but enjoy myself when my stuff was getting stolen after deciding to rest at a campfire because I liked the music it was happening too. It felt comedic. Even though I'm done with the game, sometimes the sound of it still ring through my head, and it brings me back to this sadistic game.

Dark Humor

There are so many funny events that go on if you have the stomach for it. This is a mature rated game, and there are people that have serious emotions rise to the surface when playing this game. Walking through a passage way  and getting attacked by greasers because my head was bald, was just funny. One of the enemies in that battle was their collective hair, and things like that would cause me to laugh out loud, something that never happens when I play video games. All of the dialogue is text based, so there is no bad voice acting to get in the way. Another instance was dressing up as a woman and whoring myself out, only for the green ranger to seek out my services.

Summary

A very frustrating game, and the only way I got through it was a walkthrough online after hours of getting lost. There is no map or much assistance to the player, but every so often a game like this is refreshing in a day when the player can have too much help. This game is not for everyone, and at times you're not sure if its technically not advanced enough or some of the missing parts to this game were designed that way. Great soundtrack, decent balancing, fun art style, but I wish I had a map.