Experience played:
🌱 Original Game
Developer:
Ghost Ship Games
Viv's Thoughts:
EDIT: Clearer wording in the section discussing solo mode
Fumbling around in the dark as a bunch of inebriated dwarves risking their necks to please their insidious corporate overlords in a hypercapitalist science fantasy world is a very unique and interesting vibe. This game's got a very brainworm-y brand of writing and humor which I really enjoy, and they drop just enough teases and tidbits through incidental dialog to get you curious about the true nature of Hoxxes IV as well as the outside world.
In terms of gameplay, this game is FUN... like, insanely fun. The procedural elements, fully destructible environments and deep player build customization provide a ton of potential for emergent gameplay, with all sorts of ways to get yourself and your friends both in and out of ludicrous situations. Everything from the endlessly replayable core loop which combines mining/resource-gathering and horde shooter gameplay, to the variety in every mission you take on, the sense of progression as you unlock options to further refine your builds and subsequent drive to take on tougher and tougher challenges with your friends, the silly upbeat demeanor of the playable dwarves contrasted with the nightmarish space capitalist setting and the mission controller constantly trying to rein in their shenanigans, the ridiculous cosmetics and non-intrusive seasonal reward system, it's all excellent...
...UNLESS you're playing in single-player, in which case the game becomes a slow, arduous, endlessly frustrating slog (even with help from the debatably-useful utility robot the game provides you with for solo mode and all the convenience tools they put at your disposal like remote mining and object carrying). Bring a friend or hop in public parties for this one; this game is not designed to be enjoyed all by yourself. That's perfectly fine, though, because the true appeal of this game is the experience of bumbling your way through objectives with other players, and the sheer nonsense that ensues as you take on the myriad perils of Hoxxes IV as a team (Though, frustratingly, cross-platform play is limited exclusively to Xbox and the WINDOWS STORE version on PC. This is almost certainly a Microsoft issue rather than a developer one, but even so, that's... just dumb).
All this in mind, I am EXTREMELY excited for the game's upcoming roguelite spinoff, Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core. If the devs at Ghost Ship Games can successfully translate the satisfying team gameplay of the original into a more run-based progression format, I think the result will be endlessly entertaining.
