Streets of Rogue is a rogue-lite about player choice, freedom, and anarchic fun. The game takes inspiration from fast-paced top-down rogue-lites like Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne, and adds free-form, experimentation-driven, emergent gameplay elements of RPGs like Deus Ex. Rather than taking place in a dungeon, the game is set in a functioning, procedurally generated city, where complex AI informs denizens from all walks of life, who are just trying to get by in their daily activities.
In order to progress, the player will need to accomplish specific mission goals in any way they see fit through use of their special character traits, items, and the environment.
Sticking points aside, Streets of Rogue is absolutely worth playing, and once you start, it’s hard to stop. It gives you more freedom than almost any roguelike, and its varied cast of characters, combined with the randomness of traits and mutators, mean no two runs play out the same way.
Streets of Rogue offers a high-speed experience that’s got plenty of variables and options that keep things interesting and fun. I wouldn’t go so far as saying this is a game for everyone, since the combat-heavy experience does lend itself to certain play styles over others, but it’s fun and easy to pick up and play for a bit.
For a game which manages to create a nice sense of place, I found it frustrating that the starting environments are a bit boring. For the first two districts the colour palette sticks heavily to shades of brown and while it improves once you’ve ascended past the industrial district, it’s disheartening when the rest of the game is awash with personality. I could keep going on the copious things Tiny Build Games have crammed into this experience but I think I’d be here all day. If you want a decent rogue-lite which is better than most of the countless others in its genre, then Streets Of Rogue will be right up your… err, street.
I find myself accruing more money and more items as the game progresses, until I’m torn between doing the safe thing that will help me progress, or trying out some wacky new toy to see what happens. The result is a world of chaotic fun which is happy to send me right back to the beginning for the least transgression. I’m happy to play again, to try new tricks and laugh at old gags.
Streets of Rogue is a small and cheerful antidote to the relatively plain-faced immersive sims of the blockbuster sort. It’s a daft miscellany of violent mobsters and unseen assassins, criss-crossing feuds and small mistakes that snowball into bloody knife fights. If you want a tiny, varied Deus Ex that will make you laugh, this is it. [RPS Bestest Bests]
November 23, 2020
Cyberpunk 2077 retail copies already out there, leaks are coming…. Read more
November 19, 2020
iO Interactive unveils its new project called Project 007. Watch video
November 19, 2020
Among Us is getting a new map. Read more
November 19, 2020
Far Cry 6 release date listed as May 26 in Microsoft store. Read more
August 17, 2020
Sony Confirms Work On ‘Next-Generation’ VR Headset That Might Not Be PSVR 2. Read more
August 17, 2020
About 40% of worldwide population plays video games of some form, only 8% on consoles. Read more
August 14, 2020
Ubisoft potentially teasing return of delisted Scott Pilgrim game. Read more
August 13, 2020
Fable job listings suggest game is still a long ways away. Read more