izigame.me

Some of the most fun I've had since Doom Eternal, and it's better with a friend. Thanks to my good old buddy for insisting that I get this game!

New Players:
Roboquest is a fast-paced, rogue-like, FPS that has you choose one of the selectable characters (once unlocked), where you go on a quest to destroy all of the corrupted robots and take on the master behind the corruption, Iris. As you progress through levels, you gain experience to unlocks levels, which gives access to an array of perks that strengthen your build. The game also offers a WIDE variety of weapons to give you an awesome and fairly unique experience each time you play.

Review:
Roboquest is an example (once again) of how games do not need to be AAA and made by the as of late disappointing multi-million / billion dollar companies that spew out garbage year after year, asking you to pay premium for a mediocre experience. RQ is by far a perfect game, but the amount of fun you'll have outweighs any of the disappointments that I believe the developers will flesh out over time.

Game play:
The game is similar to games such as Doom, Quake, or other fast-paced shooters that require speed, agility and accuracy. You can play a slow style, but the game literally rewards killing as much as you can, as quickly as you can, giving you that sweet S rank each level you complete perfectly.

The variety of weapons you obtain can offer a unique run each time you play, as different weapons serve different builds. Personally, I was a big fan of critical hit max builds, but other times, the RNG gods only offered me explosive weapons that had devastating effects on clumped up enemies. The melee builds are by far the most difficult to play, but man oh man do they pack a punch if you manage to survive. What makes the weapons ever more satisfying is also the addition of elements (burn, cryo, shock) which adds another layer of effects your character can execute on enemies. For an indie game, there's really a lot of creativity here and from what I've seen in the coming updates, more cool stuff is coming.

Like most rogue-likes, the emphasis lies on replayability. The more you play, the more stuff you unlock and the better your runs become due to access to better stuff and gear. No single run is the same due to well used RNG, but if you know your character well, you can gear for certain builds and hope you get the weapons you need. The most difficult phase of the game is literally the beginning, since you lack knowledge, experience, but most importantly crystals and passive perks which greatly enhances the flow of the game. Fortunately, all of these are fairly easy to find and unlock, but you'll be spending hours figuring this all out. Fortunately part 2, it's really not that bad to grind this game.

There are (at the time of writing) six playable characters, each with their own unique main and secondary abilities, coupled with their own unique set of perks. All of them are fun to play in their own right, but some weapons are better served with certain characters. The Elementalist at first was a tricky character to play, but after a couple of rounds I came to conclude that this character has some devastating effectiveness in clearing mobs and bosses.

The only negative (at the time of writing), is the lack of levels. This is a problem that I'm sure the devs will address overtime as new content is created, but right now you have three paths to follow that all lead to the same final levels. The levels are all very interesting and fun to play, but after playing the bejeezus out of this game for 40 hours, things become pretty stale and predictable. This is really not the greatest of criticisms, but to keep things balanced, I opted for something to "complain" not complain about.

The game can also be pretty unforgiving and hard to play. Of course there are lower difficulties for a reason, but jeez was it frustrating having a flawless run, only to bump into the final boss and getting tossed around like a dinkie-toy. Now EVENTUALLY Iris became child's play, but in the beginning I really just wished to be thrown a bone. All I can say is good luck playing on Guardian IV! I suggest recruiting a trusted buddy.

Oh, and just a side note... the game has some kick-a$$ music for each level just to add some spice.

Graphics:
The graphics is fun and cartoony, with a somewhat of a Borderlands flare to it. Colours are vibrant. Animations are crisp and cartoony with a bit of a comic book vibe and of course effects like explosions or elements look and feel amazing.

With games like these though, I opt for maximum frames and minimal distractions. After I appreciated all of the noteworthy eye-candy, I dropped almost everything to lowest settings, pumped up the FoV and went HAM on just killing everything that moved.

Story:
I didn't get much of a story from this game other than some kind of corruption that affects machines have been taking over Earth and it's your job to deal with it straight from the source being Iris. There "seems" to be this unity between mankind and machines, but I might be mistaken on that. The in-game guide and what appears to be your creator Max puts you on the quest of treating the corruption and that's about it really.

I honestly don't think that this game needs much narrative. Perhaps adding some more context could make it interesting I guess, but honestly, I don't think it's that needed.

Conclusion:
This is overall just a fun and great game to play. A buddy of mine suggested that I play this for months until I finally got it. Once I started, I completely understood why he was so adamant about me picking it up. The best memories though are playing the game with two of my friends. We spent hours just grinding, and losing and then winning, trying new builds and character combinations. I can easily see myself coming back once new content gets added.