Developer: Ghost Ship Games
Platform: PC, Xbox One
Genre: FPS/ Co-op/ Action
It might still be in early access, but there is no doubt that Deep Rock Galactic is already a very good game. Deep Rock Galactic is a co-operative mining FPS where you play as dwarves working for a money hungry corporation where they keep sending deep underground on the planet Hoxxes to mine for precious resources. In the caves you and your squad will find yourself face to face with a whole host of alien bugs, some will fly, some will spit, some are small and others are huge, the variation in enemy types is wide and means you’ll have to keep on your toes and your wits about you to be ready for anything.
Worry not though, you’ll be able to play as one of four classes who have access to a drop-ship load of weapons and gadgets to help you fend off the hordes as they try to swarm and overwhelm you. Auto turrets, zip lines, grenade launchers, shotguns, flamethrowers and drilling machines are just a few of the items that you’ll be able to get your hands on. As you play you’ll also unlock perk points, and upgrades for your weapons and gadgets too just to make things a little more fun and interesting.
Deep Rock Galactic features entirely destructible environments set within procedurally generated caves and caverns creating unique levels to play through keeping things fresh and interesting each time you play. Being able to make your own paths through the caves makes for some really fun gameplay, like drilling straight through the rocks with the Driller class which can makes things pretty crazy if a horde suddenly appears and you’re having to fight them off in a very narrow and claustrophobic corridor. But that’s part of what makes the game fun, these crazy moments, when you think one idea will be really good, or really efficient only for it to backfire horrendously when the hordes of aliens overrun you. Other times you’ll be in a cavern so vast that you won’t be able to see where it starts or ends.
Most missions revolve around having to gather resources of some kind, there are a couple of variations to the standard “dig holes until you find enough of X” but generally they boil down to collecting, depositing, fighting off hordes and GTFO-ing on the drop ship. The developers are working on some more end game ideas and some kind of announcement or tease of what that might be is fairly imminent.
I’ve said it previously, but I really think that Deep Rock Galactic is the perfect example of how to handle early access launch. The developers have delivered a lot of updates that add both additional content, and gameplay tweaks, they’ve kept up a good amount of communication with the players and they’re always very open to chatting across various social platforms.
Deep Rock Galactic is a blast to play, and if you’re looking for something to play with some friends that will keep you busy and having a good laugh for tens of hours, I don’t think you can go too far wrong with this one.
-Will
I did enjoy playing this online with friends, but I found the lack of ammo for your character’s unique weapons a bit annoying. Sure, there are ways to get more, but it means there’s a lot of faffing about with less than ideal equipment. I suppose that’s the point though.
I really enjoy it, although for the most part have played with randoms which kind of sucks. I’d like to get more of a group playing.