Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core

Another boring and repetitive roguelite. There's no reason to play this game over the original DRG which has more variety in the cave generation, mission objectives and combat encounters. In this game all you do is run in a straight line and wait for the elevator to show up while killing endless waves of monkeys. This sucks.

I'd refund it if I wasn't fourteen hours over the limit. Runs take too long, enemies take too long to kill, armor (unlike shields in DRG) is not plentiful enough and does not replenish. Enemies leap at you from all angles, making them impossible to predict unlike the Glyphids. Events take too long, and the timer is not a ward against the game becoming unfun. Needs a total rework before the game can become even approachably entertaining beyond "Haha this has guns from Deep Rock Galactic"

To me, it look like the devs took one small part of DRG (the deep dives), made it less fun and published it as a standalone game. The game feels like a missmatch of gameplay elements put together for the sake of making a Rogelike, using an existing franchise and re-using as much as possible of its assets. Its hard to describe but it feel like this game is trying to go into two different directions and is tearing itself appart. It want to catter to the original DRG players but also want to be different. It want you to be methodical and patient but offers a frantic and fast gameplay. It tries to be atmospheric and ''scary'' but also goofy and exagerated. It provides you with an environement that scream to be explored but does'nt give you the time (or purpose) to do it. The devs are capitalising on the DRG lore, gameplay, assets and popularity but at the same time they are insisting that ''tHiS is NoT DrG'' (if you have not yet realised, the game is not called Rogue Core, its called Deep Rock Galactic : Rogue Core). My own personnal feeling is that the devs need to chose a direction for this game and stick to it.

The idea that comparing this game to DRG is the source of discontent is a cop out. Rogue Core is imbalanced and uncertain of what it is trying to do, with some very artificial means of adding difficulty, such as insane amounts of recoil and bullet spread in its weapons. Much of the game is half baked, and while recent updates have alleviated some of the stressors, the game has a ways to go before it's a solid recommendation. The most disappointing aspect is that the game was worked on for many years, albeit I'm sure by a small team, and released at its current price as "1.0" and yet also an early access game? These are seemingly contradicting, and if I didn't have friends who play this game I would have returned it and waited until at least "2.0" I have faith in Coffee Stain and Ghost Ship, they have done wonderful things with DRG and I will always preach about how they're a great studio that doesn't do games as services, and how their creativity created one of my favorite and most recommendable games of all time, all under 10gb. I will patiently wait while they find the game they want to make in this early rendition of what could be another hit.

[b]A lot of people start reviews with a Deep Rock Galactic resume. I'm in mixed feelings about this because Rogue Core isn't DRG, however there are still some strong and valuable comparisons that can be made as they are still within the same genre, have similar gameplay elements, and one feels a lot like just a remix of the other at the moment.[/b] [h1]Negatives[/h1] [list] [*]- To start off with I absolutely despise the negotiation system. From what I've seen and heard talking to people in game and out this is not exactly a hot take either. These choices being shared across the entire party is simply miserable. The most obvious issue is the lack of control that each individual has over their build, especially if you're playing with randoms using little to no communication. It is a tremendously frustrating experience to be third or fourth in line watching multiple perks that fit in your build get picked to then get left with a pointless decision where every choice left to you is meaningless, and this [i]will[/i] happen to you at least once a match. [u]The negotiation system absolutely destroys any sense of comradery that I have with my part in a lot of matches bringing an adversarial feeling to the match every 2-3 minutes where I'm stuck competing for perks to either lose out or rob someone else of having fun. These perks being offered to everyone in the match regardless of class or weapon also severely limits the variety and interest level of the kind of perks that can show up here leaving every option feeling generic and uninteresting.[/u] This system popping up constantly throughout the match absolutely annihilates the pacing of the game with everyone in the group reading the options and then having to reread the new options as they populate in. [/list] [list] [*]- The other issue I commonly see talked about is the timer. I don't have any issue at all with a timer pushing the team forward in the match, this is actually a necessity IMO to keep the team and the game moving especially when matches take at least 40-45 minutes on average. Almost all PVE horde coops have a timer in some capacity so my issue isn't the timer itself but rather what it does. This is where I'll make my first direct comparison to DRG as that game also has a timer but its one that you don't see rather than you experience it. In DRG the longer you spend in a mission the more the swarm frequency and size increases putting extra pressure on the team to keep things moving and wrap things up before you're overwhelmed. I think this system works great, if you're team is on the slower end at least you have a large swarm to fight and something to do while also moving the match forward. [u]In Rogue Core the match timer ends in a giant (very buggy) worm entering the match that pursues you grabbing you from sometimes insane distances with no audio que instantly killing you.[/u] This almost always results in a failed run right at the time unless someone in your lobby can pretty much outglitch the glitchy bug. I feel like I don't have to say much for someone to understand why and how this feels worse. [*]- Continuing off from the match time in the last point man these matches are so damn long with no short-form alternative mode. If I was in the mood to play Rogue Core I need to have a full hour cleared out where I cannot walk away or call it early for some alright rewards. It is all or nothing. Most coop horde games in this genre tend to have match times somewhere around 15-30 minutes so Rogue Cores 45-60 minute long games feel like an absolute slog if you're just looking for a fun kick. If DRGs only gameplay mode was the Deep Dives, or if Vermintide IIs only mode were the Chaos Wastes I really doubt I'd have anywhere near the hours I have in them. [*]- Most of Rogue Cores objectives are pretty fun and easy enough to know what's going on and what is needed of you. However there are quite a few that are very obtuse where I have no idea what's going on or what is expected of me. The UI on the device interface gives me no idea of what to do and on completion of some smaller objectives I'm only told "scanner updated." Updated with what??? [*]The rig feels a little dead in Rogue Core. The bar is bland and uninteresting while the lack of any buffs from it also make it a little pointless. This point is [i]very[/i] minor as this is certainly the kind of thing that I'd imagine would get overhauled later in development but I figured I'd throw it in as the lack of an interesting hub zone kind of contributes to the lack of camaraderie in the group that I mentioned earlier. [/list] So I know that's a whole wall of negativity, but the game has some good to it as well. If it didn't I don't think anyone here would care enough to put this much time into writing reviews and leaving feedback to begin with. So here is the good stuff. [h1]Positives[/h1] [list] [*]The new weapons not ported over directly from DRG are really interesting and cool! I love the energy shotgun this thing absolutely [i]rips[/i] and I'm smiling every second I spend shooting it. The energy zap pistol is very neat and with some reload perks feels super fun, the wave launchers are great and even the basic pistols and rifles feel different enough from their DRG/Rogue-Core counter parts that they can be neat to use (though they do raise the question of why some of the DRG weapons are here in the first place.) [*]The side objectives where I knew what the ♥♥♥♥ I was supposed to do were really fun and pretty unique. Ghost Ship has always been the pinnacle of coop objectives in these kinds of games so I'm glad to see these keeping that rep up. I especially love the big ass trainhammer that you wind up to rocket towards a crystal with little fast moving platformers to mess with on the sides, this thing makes a great little arena and I will be a little sad once people realize they need to get out of the way and stop getting run over at mach 10 by it. [/list] [list] [*]The class abilities that I've used so far are fun and the macro binds to activate them are pretty intuitive. I do think there are a few that are kind of lackluster and should have a little more oomph when you press them but the ideas are all there and that's the important part. [*]The terrain scanner in Rogue-Core is a huuuuuge step up in terms of readability compared to the one in DRG and if it makes a difference for me I can imagine it makes a major difference for new players getting used to things. [*]The perk system and tree in Rogue-Core also feels like a major step up from what we had in DRG. The perks feel more meaningful and can help lean into a build pre match, even if they are a little less characterful than some of the drg ones. [*]The Ascension Hall is jaw dropping. This room is gorgeous and the little ritual on Ascension feels like a much bigger moment than DRG's promotions. [*]Similar to the Ascension hall all of the little defined areas in missions feel very cool and build great environments, I do wish we spent more time actually playing in them rather than just dipping in for the odd workbench but the flavour they add is still appreciated. [*]I talked some ♥♥♥♥ on the ships hub zones and blander vibe but the areas that are a little more finished like the cockpit feel super cool and unique. I like all the mini workout games and the variety they bring for messing around for an hour while your friend takes the longest piss you've ever heard is nice. [/list] [b]All in all I think Rogue-Core has a good core of gameplay but there is soooo much dragging it down in the moment to moment that in its current state I just cannot say I fully enjoy my time in it. However I think all these flaws are very fixable and being early access they are not set in rock or stone so maybe they'll be carved out and in a year from now I can update this review and have another great game to blow thousands of hours on.[/b]

If the devs would allow the game to scale to the amount of players in the lobby, this game would be fantastic, but since that's not how they want it played, I can't recommend this game.

For a undated version of the First game, you managed to remove all the good parts of the old game, and keep all the ♥♥♥♥ parts of the old game. I'm a dwarf that spends their life in caves and yet, im as blind as a bat Regardless of the fact that i have a flashlight that stop working at about 6 feet of distance and Equipment of a todler. The Flare's are just as bad if not worse than the first game. The cooldown is longer than the effective use time of the flares, and they only glow in a small area, so you have to use all 4 in swarm fights, but by the 3rd enemy dead the flares are off and on cooldown. The ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Wepons suck ass. THere is about 4 wepons with 2 or 3 build for each that are useful, and the rest are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Hot trash Garbage. So, after 6 runs, you more or less know if you can do the mission by the Wepon crate at the spawn exspecialy into d-3 and d-4 Don't get me started on the Smooth Polygon ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ they use to generate the caves, that makes every ledge slippry, and your Dwarf is a Little to Slow to climb up them i guess. The Flying Molly Droid, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ R******D. Allways in the Way, and Whever you need it, it seems to be on the Other side of the Map no one has been on for 10 min, This Includes Solo Playing Where YOU ARE THE ONLY ♥♥♥♥♥♥ ON THE MAP FOR THE ♥♥♥♥ TO FALLOW!!!!!!!!!! Cooper Also Sucks. Dmg is ♥♥♥♥, Mobility is decent, Utility Meh, Good utility on mining, but IF THE ♥♥♥♥ can pick up Blocks and Gems and Carry them Around, Why cant he pick up cameras? Also,He loves to Drop the enemys that cling on the celings onto your head because, his targeting system is wack. I've promoted my guardian to 3 stars, and i'm trying to enjoy this game, but the Game dev's Are doing a Great job of stoping that rn.

all in all, it COULD become a great game, but for now, many things to work on as mentioned in several comments. Guns, perks, etc all don't feel great, I don't feel stronger at the last stage as when I start. Some weapons are really bad, all the runs feel the same regardless of the map. Having a countdown makes sense but having non damagable worms are nonsense, also having a spawn of enemies while the boss battle starts is bs. I understand its a beta but still, expected more considering how much the developers have learned from DRG. I'll keep an eye the next few months but seeing the latest update they made, focusing on the wrong things..