INTERSTELLAR ROGUE

Simple but extremely fun, and a massive library of ships. You constantly feel progression as well.

Good game idea, really rough in terms of bugs and performance

TLDR? 40 minute wait until my go to game finishes updating. Interstellar Rogue catches my eye, purchased for a couple bucks the other night. Roguelite perfect 40 minute time sink until the main attraction. "You've Played for 5 hours" is the first thing I notice after exiting back to my steam library "Would you recommend this game to other players?" So much to unlock, achieve, this recommendation was made with ease.

This is a cautious recommendation, mostly based on the fact that the game is a dollar - it's harder to recommend something that has some issues if it's going to set you back $60, but at a buck, it's a pretty low risk for a very interesting, if flawed, game. I'll start by saying I'm a huge fan of arcade-y feeling space games. I've sunk dozens of hours into Star Control, Drox Operative, Ring Runner, S.P.A.Z., and Rebel Galaxy. Interstellar Rogue is basically the roguelike version of that sort of game, so it's starting off appealing to me. Somewhere hiding under the clunky facade is a brilliant little action space roguelike. There's a decent tutorial to get you going and a few more text-only ones to help, but there are still a lot of "learn by doing" moments that are part and parcel of a roguelike. Some of these things might be better explained (or explained at all), but I managed to grasp the basic mechanics pretty quickly. I haven't managed to finish the main mode, and honestly might not ever manage it, but it's still a lot of fun regardless. Most of the time. However, there are a couple of problems I have with the game that keep my recommendation from being 100% enthusiastic, some minor and one major. I'll gloss over the spelling and grammar issues - they're kind of annoying but don't really detract from the experience. One minor issue is that there are not custom keybinds, and using a 3rd party key remapper doesn't work for all the keys, so you're pretty much stuck with the default layout. That's mostly fine, but I hate when a game that uses WASD controls puts the inventory button on "I". There's an on-screen button for it, too, but when you need to quickly access the inventory to make repairs or turret changes in the middle of a tough fight, it can be cumbersome. Another minor quibble is with the scanning system. You have to have your full radar open in order to ping surrounding objects - you can't do so otherwise. This alone isn't a big deal, but it's exacerbated by some other things. There's about a 1-2 second delay between opening the radar and being able to scan, and if you close the radar (which overlays the entire middle of the screen) too soon, the scan stops. Additionally, the scan range on any of the starter ships is woefully small, which leads into the big problem I'll mention below. I think it would have been better to have a short-range ping when the radar is minimized, and a larger radius ping for when you are using the full radar. There's also the problem of needing to zoom the radar in a ton in order to read the text of anything you scan, which you can only do when it's maximized. I find myself constantly fidgeting with the radar zoom levels in order to see what's going on and where to go next. It's usually fine, but can get really stressful when surrounded by enemy ships. The need for better long range scanning and radar function pretty much points straight to the biggest sticking point for me - system creation balance. Not being able to see what's in a system after you jump is really detrimental to the experience in a lot of ways because of how random the systems can be. The tutorial goes out of its way to explain how important it is to mine asteroids for scrap, fuel, and oxygen, but then I have played 3 sessions in a row with about 12 jumps total and not seen a single asteroid. Instead, I seem to wind up in systems entirely populated by enemy ships about 70% of the time, or a system that is huge to the point of essentially being empty - because there's always the ticking timer of fuel and oxygen. Those two resources are constantly being drained from your ship. You can save on fuel using impulse speed, but that makes it take longer to get anywhere, which in turn makes you use more oxygen, which is [i]always[/i] ticking down. Run out of fuel, and it's impulse speed only and no hyperdrive. Run out of oxygen, and it's game over. It's meant to be a risk/reward system where you have to balance exploration with the resources needed to explore. However, the randomness of system creation means that there [i]might not be anything[/i] to explore that will let you restore the constantly dwindling fuel and oxygen levels. And the scanning system requiring you to be darn near on top of something to scan it means it's a crap shoot if you can find anything useful. Enemy ships drop equipment and scrap, but rarely if ever drop fuel or oxygen. Those can only be found in crates, shops, or asteroids. Crates can be found in space or on planets and derelicts, and even then might not contain anything useful. It's really frustrating to get into a death spiral because you are losing fuel trying to fight or run from a half dozen enemy ships without being able to find anything to top you back off. Some of my failed runs are clearly my fault, but just a bit too many feel like I basically lost to bad RNG. In a longer playing roguelike such as this, that's very damaging to the experience. All that being said, I still like the game a lot, because when everything is working as it should, it is completely amazing. The amount of customization is bonkers and I love being able to land and control your lander and pilot directly (gives me Blaster Master flashbacks). But when I start off my run in a fighter with chain guns and the first system is full of capital ships and nothing else of note, it gets really discouraging. But for $1? Basically one of the best values in gaming.

A rare one of a kind game that I wish was more common on the market. To get this out of the way first, by any means this game is not perfect. It looks rough in places, feels clunky at times, has some lapses in content balance and can become frustrating in the long run. All these are mostly deeper design decisions that could be made different - elevating a rough gem into something greater. So a game like this is not a lost cause by any means. That said, its not likely to happen with this title in particular due to how deep some of the changes would have to go to overhaul many of the core components of this game. Creating new games inspired by this one would be the better option. However. Despite it being an amateur production and the above disclaimer, this game has some of the most satisfying array of features and content that you will not find anywhere else on the market. There's destructible terrain, open area 2D spaceflight with hyperdrives and long range scanners, a relatively complex modular system for your and enemy spaceships, allowing upgrades to individual components, swapping out a wide variety of exotic weapons, reactors, engines, etc, managing an inventory with bizarre cargo items that offer seemingly endless opportunities, benefits and functions to your ship or your pilot. This is a big game with lots of good stuff in it. There's top-down spaceflight. There's a lunar-lander esque planetary re-entry sections that seamlessly transition into a jetpack equipped powersuit ground battles, both in planets with gravity and in space within derelict wrecks featuring weightless environments. Your mission is to brave 20 open areas in space, building yourself up to face a powerful final boss at the end, where you go to deliver the final blow to the core of the enemy personally, on foot in power armor. Its epic, its satisfying and unpredictable. You'll never know what you'll be facing in the next sector and you'll never know what you'll find next to upgrade yourself. With a few exceptions, despite the game being ruthlessly hard - requiring you to use all the tools at your disposal and think ahead as you fight sector to sector - it is still very fair and it is possible to win every playthrough once you get the hang of it. This game is possible to beat and each victory feels incredibly satisfying as the final boss goes out with a bang. There's even an escape sequence when you deal the final blow to the mainframe, where the entire level is collapsing all around you - physically via an actual destructible environment - the very terrain falling on top of you as you race back to the dropship you came in. That is incredibly unique and not seen in most games. The game now has an ingame tutorial that'll teach you the basics and get you started, walking you through the seemingly complex controls and systems that may seem overwhelming at first. Thankfully, the learning curve is tame for this game, so you'll get the hang of it quite quickly enough. The game is punishingly hard at first, but it gets easier as you learn it, so don't be discouraged by your first death. Deaths may come swiftly out of nowhere at first, but once you've identified the causes, you'll be only blaming yourself for doing a poor choice. My only hard recommendation is to go to the options menu and TURN OFF asteroid storms. If you try them, you'll see why. This can only be done via main menu. Despite the flaws and the rough edges, this game is a gem that I hope could be an example to others for what meaningful and satisfying gameplay systems found in this game could be added elsewhere too. This game is a sincere passion project of a unique creative mind and it can be felt on all levels throughout the visuals, gameplay and music. This game, its structure and its features are rare. I think its made by a single person and it manages to deliver an experience that most high budget studios usually with more people that I have fingers could only dream off. I recommend this game to everyone that loves space/scifi games, even if it ends up being too hard or rough for you, at least just to see the features and the content it offers and be inspired by it. I personally want to see the creativity of this game's author be a more common thing in the industry, to be brave and believe in creating games that follow the true passions of your heart.

What a fun game! It very much embodies function over form and the core gameplay feels very crisp. True to form of its rogue title, there are a wide variety of ways to play, unlocked with meta currency earned over time. Though as it stands now things can be a little too... spontaneous for my liking. Sometimes I go to land on a planet with ~7 enemies on it (or less) and I get hit once, start spinning out of control, crash and instantly die. This feels especially bad because when landing, the enemies can often see you before you can see them. Sometimes warping to a new zone I'll spawn inches from a huge laser ship and get insta gibbed before hyperdrive could even charge. I get upset in these scenarios because I feel like there is no counterplay and that I get punished just for playing the game, particularly when I die immediately after spawning, because It's not as if there is another option if you want to progress. While you could argue it's all part of the fun, dying to these two things leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as all other aspects of the game are weighed around "risk versus reward" where I truly feel responsible for my deaths. But honestly losing the odd run to these things doesn't set me back much and I love the core gameplay loop so much it VASTLY outshines these moments. All told highly recommend.

I don't often review games but wanted to recommend this one. It's a nice little hidden gem. Tons of options for customization of your ships and weapons loadouts. Medals are used to purchase "premium" ships. Medals are earned in game but are not super easy to earn. You can also unlock ships using credits, which you acquire through regular play. It is not a super easy game, but as a rogue-lite it's worth the low cost.

It's clearly a game made with love by a solo developer. I tried to enjoy the game but there are several things that just made that impossible. First, at the beginning you are very weak. It is possible to have your run terminated very quickly due to bad luck with procedural generation. On several of my runs I was only fighting mines... I couldn't find an asteroid to mine anywhere. I eventually just ran out of fuel. Second, the controls are kind of awkward. I did get used to them but the developer couldn't seem to decide on mouse or keyboard, so he did both... sorta. It would be a better game with just keyboard imo. Third, the pacing is terrible. I never even got past the second level due to everything taking so darn long. Why do I have to wait for 5 or more minutes doing nothing just to scan an object and find it is another mine? I think this game has potential, but you have to be very very patient to have fun with it.

This is a very cool idea, and it must have taken a lot of work. The main things holding it back are the slightly sub-par artwork in some areas, the hideous UI, and the need for a lengthy, text heavy tutorial to learn the game. I think it would be better if the tutorial were integrated into the main game, so that you can learn as you play, rather than having to front-load your game with a huge information dump before people can even start playing. For the price this is very good value for money, and I hope the dev keeps working on it, and that more people give it a chance.

I quite like this game. Arcade-y feel space combat coupled with some planet exploration and wrecked ship exploring. What I have been the most impressed by so far is the support from the developer. Many suggestions that have been made both by myself and others who have played have been taken into account, and even implemented. A lot has been added/changed/fixed since it was released on June 11th, and all for the better. At time of review, the game is only ten bucks. Absolutely worth the price. I've paid 5x that for games that were half as fun, and many, many times more buggy with indifferent developers. If you like this style of game, you'd be doing yourself a disservice not to give it a go.