Streets of Rogue Review
You’ll need to be streetwise.
Cannibalism is often frowned upon.
Although, there are a couple of circumstances where you could be forgiven for consuming a fellow homosapien. One might be when you’re involved in a horrific aeroplane accident, your food supply’s run short, and you’ve been pushed to the last, and most taboo, of resorts. The other is if someone calls you a pillock.
Understandably, the citizens of Streets Of Rogue have a similar it’s-not-quite-acceptable-to-eat-people policy like us and they don’t quite give you a chance to explain why your pixelated person is hunched over their neighbour’s corpse, gnawing on their flesh. Their panicked shouts do little to sway your appetite. What’s a little bit of bad street cred against hunger?
The cannibal is just one of several character classes on offer in Streets Of Rogue as you rush through this top-down, RPG-focused rogue-lite. As per the stereotypes of the genre it will take you several runs to try and complete this game and even when you do, there’s plenty more to keep your hunger satiated (metaphorically speaking).
Having spent the last couple of years in Early Access, Streets Of Rogue has already accrued followers and as it nears its 1.0 release this week, Tiny Build Games have filled their creation with something rogue-lite fanatics will love: variety. There’s a multitude of wonderfully created classes: from the charismatic bartender with their silver tongue; the explosion-heavy, actions first, questions later, soldier; the loyal gang member who recruits their peers and antagonises their rivals; and the scientist-hating, banana-eating Gorilla. There are dozens of classes with their own special abilities, items and proficiencies. With each character you’ll prod and poke the game’s systems, figuring out the advantages and disadvantages of your protagonist but most wonderfully, seeing how the world reacts to you.
As you ascend through levels of differently themed districts, Streets Of Rogue’s sense of place shines. In spite of the procedurally generated areas, the citizens react to your actions, or even the actions of the other inhabitants, in an organic way. It makes it feel like a place lived in, and one which will be swiftly upended if you do your job right.
As part of a loose, overarching story you’re part of a resistance hell-bent on usurping an evil mayor. In each level, mandatory objectives will loom in your way and can range from stealing an item to neutralising a particular enemy, destroying generators or other goals along those lines. Once completed, you can move on to the next level. Each of these actions will no doubt annoy some of the residents and the way they react to not only your behaviour, but also your class, transforms what appears to be simple AI into a community – even if it is one filled with thieves and drug dealers.
As well as the missions given to you by the resistance, there are also your own optional, personal vendettas. For example, the cannibal has to eat a certain type of person (e.g. an office drone) on each level whereas a gangster needs to kill every rival gang member on the map. Completing the optional missions adds an extra layer of personality to each class.
To really succeed in Streets Of Rogue, though, you’ll need to combine your character’s skills and accoutrements with precision and flexibility. In one level you may have plenty of time to plot the perfect plan: first stealing the item from a safe by blasting down the wall and hacking it, bypassing the hostile thugs. Next, you might shove an unknown syringe full of chemicals down a building’s ventilation system, forcing the victims to run outside as you stand there waiting with a baseball bat at the ready. Streets Of Rogue offers a wide range of styles to complete your objectives and it ends up feeling like a cross between Hitman and Hotline Miami.
However, sometimes the game doesn’t allow you to take your time to scheme, as occasionally levels will have certain, often chaotic, events taking place. One might be bombs dropping randomly, another could be a robot assassin dedicated to snuffing out your existence. Although often frustrating, sometimes you can seize advantage of the distress caused by the events and work with them to help you clear the level quicker. Other times they get in the way of your nefarious deeds, but, for good or bad, it keeps you on your toes.
Where Streets Of Rogue starts to let itself down, however, is in its combat and environments.
For the most part, swinging around a baseball bat, baton or stabbing with a knife generally works well but often feels imprecise. While you can try for backstabs or choose a gun, it comes across as unnecessarily clunky even when you do get the hang of it. On top of this, melee weapons are quick to break which can halt the game’s pace. You’ll often start rummaging around in bins to try and find a bit more food because you’re feeling the beating from having the wrench break halfway through the last encounter.
But 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.
[Reviewed on PC]