Streets of Rogue reminds me of games where chaotic experimentation remains supreme. The large majority of us have played one of The Elder Scrolls, Grand Theft Auto, or Farcry games. All of these are renowned for letting us maniac players loose in their respective digital worlds with more free choice than any living human on planet Earth will ever be allowed. Whether it was pickpocketing all the shop owners in the Imperial City or picking up ladies of the night at every street corner, freedom of choice is the cornerstone that allows us to live out our craziest dreams.

Streets of Rogue stands on the shoulders of these giants and offers the player’s a similar experience on the Nintendo Switch. Although, this time in a top-down, 2D fashion. It’s this same freedom that allows us to play for endless hours and accomplish absolutely nothing of note. Does Streets of Rogue find its balance and offer the player a thrilling yet meaningful experience? I’m not too sure but this pack of gorillas and I are a little busy rampaging through the industrial park. Why don’t you come along and help us free more of our primate brethren?

Developer: Matt Dabrowski

Publisher: tinyBuild Games

12 Hours Played // Review Copy Provided //$19.99

Under pressure of a dictatorial Mayor, hell-bent on taking away everyone’s weapons and beer, the resistance was born. Although, I’m not 100% sure the resistance is any better than the current mayor. Don’t’ ask too many questions and just go with it! This is probably the most sense anything in Streets of Rogue will make till the end. In Streets of Rogue, you’ll freely roam around procedurally-generated, pixel art-filled levels, performing a variety of tasks. You can even do this with up to 4 players in both online and local coop modes. It’s a true joy to lay waste to entire maps with your best friends or whoever you could con into playing that “pixel GTA-like game”.

Each level comes complete with a variety of objectives which must be completed prior to being able to move onto the next level. These objectives range from terminating specific citizens, blowing up generators, rescuing gorillas, and pressing buttons. Streets of Rogue even has optional objectives, called missions, which are often offered by local barkeeps and shop owners. The reward for completing these objectives, outside of feeling good about yourself, are chicken nuggets.

I told you none of this would make sense. Chicken nuggets are the currency used for permanent upgrades you can purchase within the resistance headquarters. The gameplay in Streets of Rogue can be quite a lot of fun. It could be better with a bit more here and a lot more there but let’s dig into the details and have a heart-to-heart about this. Things can get pretty ugly on the Streets of Rogue.

Procedurally Boring

Neutralize all the targets and survive. Never mind the plants, just kill those crazy scientists

Let’s kick things off with a bang and get one thing out of the way. If a game features “procedurally-generated” levels, it does not instantly mean you get vastly different experiences. This term has quickly become one of the main buzzwords in the gaming industry and in most cases; we, the players, are no better off for it.

I wholeheartedly believe that Streets of Rogue falls into this category and is no better or worse off for it. With very little differences in each level’s themed tilesets and objectives, procedurally generated in Streets of Rogue is the equivalent of throwing a few lawn chairs off the deck of the Titanic to lose weight. Streets of Rogue successfully shuffles around all the objects and people that make up a level but fail to make it worthwhile for the player. It feels like all this did was to make me wander around the same-but-different location searching for the door to the next building. I would have loved Streets of Rogue to have expanded upon its objectives instead. It if looks the same, smells the same, and plays the same then it’s all pretty much the same isn’t it?

Characters Galore

Characters, characters which character should I pick?!

One of the pillars of Streets of Rogue is its variety in playable characters. There are at least 24 premade characters to chose from with many other slots to make characters of your own design. The large majority of premade characters have to be unlocked by completing specific objectives while playing. Streets of Rogue makes clear what these objectives are if you hover over each currently locked character. Matt Dabrowski absolutely nailed this aspect of the game. You should immediately stop what you’re doing and give a remote round of applause from wherever you are reading this.

You can choose to play as the Comedian who has the ability to positively or negatively influence all of the NPC characters with its derpy-filled jokes. If they find you hilarious they will hand over the keys and combinations to their safes, letting you pillage them without any incident. If that doesn’t sound cool enough maybe you’d find the Shapeshifter character more appealing.

The Shapeshifter has the ability to possess any characters body, assuming their identity and inventory. As you might expect each character has it’s own disadvantages and advantages. Nearly every NPC in Streets of Rogue doesn’t like Shapeshifters and will attack you on sight if you’re not currently possessing someone. Becoming familiar with all the characters abilities and starting inventories is one of the most fun parts of Streets of Rogue. Each of them is loaded with 100% pure chaotic fun.

Next-Gen Advancement with Chicken Nuggets

Levels with random status effects are a pain until you get lucky. Look Ma! I’m the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man!

Advancement in Streets of Rogue is what we have all come to expect with games within the Roguelike genre. By successfully leveling up, completing objectives, and clearing levels you will earn chicken nuggets. You can then use these hard-earned chicken nuggets for permanent upgrades. These upgrades take the form of traits or usable items which are then added to their respective loot pools.

After successfully clearing a level you get to choose a trait which is added to your character for the entirety of that run. Traits range from simply enhancing speed to more devasting abilities like being able to destroy walls with melee weapons. Certain vending machine-type devices will allow you to upgrade your traits. Upgrading costs a lot of money and I have rarely survived long enough to save a serious amount of dollars. The persistent struggle of staying on course and advancing through levels versus the need to screw around usually ends in death. But boy oh boy was it fun!

Assisted Death-Inducing Items

Unlocking all the traits requires a pretty hefty amount of chicken nuggets and there’s no McDonalds here.

I should also mention that there’s quite a large number of usable items in Streets of Rogue. Melee weapons include baseball bats, police batons, and swords. It feels like there’s an even larger pool of projectile weapons. Everything from simple pistols and machine guns to rocket launchers and freeze rays can be found or earned. There are more items to throw around like grenades, traps, and banana peels and even defensive items like helmets and armor. If this doesn’t do it for you then I’m not sure what to say. Each and every one of these items will assist you with all of your devastating adventures through the Streets of Rogue.

The Mean Streets of Pure Sandboxy Fun

Landmine plus any other throwable = death and winning

Streets of Rogue can be a huge amount of fun thanks to a large number of playable characters. This game would not be the same without them and we all would be expecting a totally different rating at the end. Each of the levels feels too much like the previous one even though there are variations. They are, in fact, minor variations, that don’t impact the gameplay in any lasting fashion.

The rest of the game is largely what you make of it. If you’re a big fan of sandbox-style mayhem then I think you’ll be right at home. There’s more than enough crazy side-mayhem enticements to keep you off the beaten path and into whatever narrative you can create on-the-fly in your head to keep you busy for a few hundred hours. If you’ve never had a make-believe friend, don’t have a great imagination or are just an all-around boring person Streets of Rogue probably isn’t for you. I don’t believe the story will sway anyone into buying it. We’re all coming to the Streets of Rogue for the unparalleled mayhem where we can blow everything up and randomly off whomever we want.

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