Playing A Game Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core PC

There are lots of different approaches to Early Access. Some games enter it really early, like a tech demo or engine proof, while some other games enter it nearly-complete but for compatibility bugs. Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core may look almost finished, but in truth it's still got a long way to go; and the developers know it, especially following early feedback.

In an ebonut-shell, Rogue Core's design goal is to take the progression- and resource-based upgrade paths from DRG Classic and replace them with temporary, randomized (roguelike) equipment each run. ... but also to have permanent upgrades earned through post-run (roguelite) progression. And, impressively, Rogue Core strikes a good balance between those two ideas: weapon options in each run feel fresh and exciting, while I'm also continuously earning and customizing loadout power-ups.

Several options in both of those paths feel lacking, currently. There are a bunch of loadout upgrades that don't "upgrade" very much, like unlocking them is a waste, and some randomized weapons don't carry enough ammo to last through real combat. I'm hoping the game's iterations in Early Access will improve these options.

But my biggest gripe with Rogue Core isn't its progression mechanics, especially since a failed run is still pretty rewarding. It's how a run fails that feels unreasonably punishing.

Run timeouts are really frustrating, for a couple reasons: the on-screen timer itself isn't obvious, so it's easy to forget that the clock is always ticking; and when time does run out, the immediate consequence is a swarm of monsters just like a mid-mission swarm (or like swarms in DRG). A swarm which the game has trained you to shoot and smash your way through -- except in the timeout case, this isn't possible! The swarm never ends.

It's a jarring, kind-of sadistic twist on gameplay assumptions you've built pre-timeout. I think this mechanic really needs to change into something that's more clearly different from "normal" swarms, and - if Rogue Core wants the timeout to force you toward hurrying along, or giving up - something that can end the mission more quickly, rather than wasting your time with a hopeless battle.

"Death spirals" are also more likely in Rogue Core than in vanilla Deep Rock, due to two particular gameplay changes:

  • Where miner-dwarves had a recharging shield bar, reclaimer-dwarves have a non-recharging armor bar. If you die, then get resurrected, there's no shield buffer; at low health and with no armor, you'll probably die again soon.

  • In mining missions, ammo resupplies could be timed (and placed) at will, through the mine-able supply of Nitra. But in reclamations, resupplies are in static and limited positions on the map; if you're low on ammo, and if there are enemies inbetween you and a resupply, fighting your way to it might leave you in an even worse spot.

I'd really like something to change on both of those fronts, so that resurrection feels less fragile, and ammo supply is less perilous.

Then there's the boss fight, at the end of a run. A friend and I - both extremely experienced in Deep Rock - managed to beat it, but only by the skin of our teeth (and with no ammo to spare). Its combination of huge health, tricky weak-point-management, and intense area-of-effect attacks was absurdly tough for our low-level reclaimer dwarves.

Hard bosses aren't necessarily a bad thing, but this being the first boss is just demotivating. I'm hoping that a slightly tamer boss will get implemented and take its place in the game's early missions.

Despite all the ranting above, there are parts of - and ideas in - Rogue Core that I do really like. The general feel of combat is really fun, the optional mid-mission activities (for bonus Expenite) are cool, and I'm excited to see new randomly-modified weapons in future runs.

In the game's present form, there's more pain and suffering than I'd like inbetween its fun parts. But they're still working on it!