Deep Rock Galactic (Early Access) Review - Looking for alien riches

Deep Rock Galactic appeared last month on Early Access, combines mining with a first-person shooter and puts down something that we did not know we needed. The title was first eaten during the E3 2017 press conference of Microsoft alongside other indie games such as Super Lucky's Tale, Tacoma and The Artful Escape. Deep Rock Galactic managed to grab our attention through its stylish looks and unique gameplay. In the game you work together in groups of up to four players and you go in search of precious resources in poor illuminated caves full of deadly alien insects.

You play as a team of space dwarfs who started a mine expedition to the hostile planet Hoxxes IV. Your main goal is to collect a set number of resources that are deeply hidden in the planet's cave network and bring it safely to the surface. This may sound easy, but with randomly built maps and marker points, this journey is no breeze. You get the freedom to explore the environments as you want. For example, you can use a drill to create a path through the destructible terrain or fire a zipline to whiz through the air.

After collecting the raw materials you have to pull a foolish sprint to the exit. This is the point where swarms of creatures pop up for a final fight. The fighting here is very intense because you are struggling with poor visibility while trying to find your way out and it does not help that a timer expires with only five minutes. Depending on the 'class' you have chosen you are armed with a shotgun, a machine gun or a flamethrower, and all these weapons work fine. As you fight enemies against a wave while hitting the wall of the cave, chances are that during these last fleeting moments you have already used up a large part of your ammunition.

At the moment there are four classes (Driller, Engineer, Gunner and Scout), of which more should appear in the future. Each of these classes feels distinctive and we recommend to play with every class, as each offers their own experience. We have greatly enjoyed working the skills in co-op, especially in the way of moving. For example, a player can place platforms to climb a wall, while someone can place a zipline at the top. All these characters can be upgraded with an RPG-like 'skill tree' for money and different materials. This provides a huge incentive to explore different areas of Hoxxes IV to make your team stronger.

In the skill tree you can improve aspects such as the rate of fire of your weapons, the burning time of your flares and the power of your pickaxe. In addition, there is a store in your ship where you can purchase new armor, headgear and even beards. The customization possibilities for your character are missing and there is no way to make your character look different, but this is probably added at a later time. This also applies to the skill tree and we had hoped that the developer would have added more options that go beyond the standard upgrades that we also find in similar games.

On your ship there is a terminal where you can easily join other players from other players. These are divided on the complexity of the caves and location preferences. You can also set up your own custom game and let other players participate. Since Deep Rock Galactic is a Play Anywhere title, it is advantageous for both Xbox One and PC users, with which it automatically involves a large number of players. If you do not have a Games with Gold subscription, you can also play on your own. Although that is not fun, but you get a robotic drone as an accomplice, called Bosco, to help you in the pest control.

Deep Rock Galactic hits the nail on its head in terms of atmosphere and we greatly enjoyed the way we had to light our own path through the darkness with flares and forehead lights. This creates a huge chilling and claustrophobic atmosphere which is perfectly balanced by the colorful and polygonal style. In the background there is a quiet selection of synthesizers and percussion, with the focus on the echo of your footsteps and the pickling of pickaxes on the walls of the cave. There are virtually no problems with technical performance, except that we got stuck several times in the field.

Although the release is currently scheduled for 2019, Deep Rock Galactic already shows enormous potential. The mix of mining and first-person shooting is something that we have not experienced before. It may sound like a strange mix, but it works really well. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the foolish escape to your ship makes your heart beat faster. There are some elements that require some more finishing and attention, but with enough time until the release is something that we do not worry about.

Thanks for reading.

Project for new & best authors to get success!

http://curiesteem.com @curie
Following are the categories and sub-community support list related to Curie project.
Gaming: @playfulfoodie and @jodipamungkas
Education: @giantbear and @hanshotfirst
Homesteading: @papa-pepper and @mericanhomestead
Science: @justtryme90 and @LeMouth
Music: @heymattsokol, @edje and @mammasitta
Direct curators: @alcibiades, @teofilex11 and @liberosist

My Latest Posts:

#The Surge 2 Preview - Challenging game for Souls lovers
#Kirby Star Allies Preview - On Step With Friends
#Moss (PS VR) Review - Fun puzzles and Fine gameplay
#Sparc Review - Sweating in the virtual world
#Apex Construct (PS VR) Review - A solid and full-fledged PlayStation VR game