“Freedom” in games is a term that is used frequently, and rarely implemented in any meaningful way. While sandbox games give you the option to ignore the narrative completely in favor of running amok, you’re still going to be playing by the rules of the game in most cases. Streets of Rogue is a rogue-lite that takes this theme and busts through it like the Kool-Aid Man holding a bald eagle with sparklers in his mouth, all while shooting off some old fashioned boom sticks.
On the surface, this looks like any other rogue-lite on the market, but in reality, it’s so much more. Between the huge cast of characters (and the option to create your own from scratch), upgrades, and mutators (which are available after the short tutorial), the game can be whatever you want it to be. If you elect to ignore these options and play the vanilla game, it basically feels like a throwback RPG/rogue-lite set in a GTA inspired world where you’ll be tasked with completing two random/character specific quests per floor. Each floor is littered with questionable NPCs (drug dealers, gang members, doctors, the list goes on and on) that you can interact with or just outright kill for gits and shiggles, with containers to loot, and locked areas that you will have to enter by any means at your disposal. That could be befriending a thief you find roaming about, blowing a hole through the wall with an RPG, or breaking a window and entering in through the back. The possibilities are only limited by your own imagination.
The mutators I mentioned previously allow you to make the game as easy or difficult (or insane) as you’d like, due to the fact that the game allows you to use as many as you’d like, or none if you prefer to live in the box the developers put you in. I opted to go wild and turned on the vast majority of the game-breaking options, turning it into what felt like a procedurally generated Hotline Miami with superpowers on drugs. By turning on options that make everyone (many whom would be friendly until fired upon) hostile, granting infinite ammo, making corpses explode, among a few others I can’t remember, I systematically worked my way through the levels murdering every pixelated being in my path, leaving a bloody trail of corpses, scorched Earth, and broken walls in my wake. The cutesy design of the NPCs and in-game elements as well as over the top violence strikes a near-perfect balance that perplexes me on how this managed to avoid a Mature rating, but I don’t work for the ESRB. Now, the downfall that comes along with all this carnage is that much like manipulating the systems using the item duplicator in The Binding of Isaac, this is prone to crashing when the action gets overloaded. Aside from the random black screen that I have encountered a few times during my ultra-powered killing sprees and a single glitched Xbox Live Achievement, the game runs relatively smooth.
If murder isn’t your thing, you’ll want to note that the deeper than average RPG systems allow you to complete most of the tasks without killing a single NPC. The various tools and options at your disposal are often overwhelming and encourage taking your time to plan and explore, but note that stealth/pacifism is optional. The only downfall to my preferred method of play is that I haven’t spent as much time as I probably should have interacting with the vast assortment of characters that can offer their help or trade items for coins, or at the very least, provide some often hilarious banter. The few times I did attempt to play the game as intended, I was able to check off almost every box that most big-budget RPGs offer in terms of optional ways to get the job done, even finding character-specific ways to interact with certain items to yield unexpected results.
As you progress, you’ll earn XP and upon leveling up will earn chicken nuggets. For some unexplained reason, the mayor of this fictitious town declared them illegal, making them a scarce commodity and in turn, they’re a valuable asset. Once you complete or fail each run, you’ll be given the option to return to a small hub area that allows you to manage your characters, abilities, and items, while a few vendors accept the nuggets for bigger and better tools. There are tons of options that are clearly crafted to allow you to adapt to your own playstyle and always feels like you’re making progress, even when you have a less than amazing run. The wide array of selectable characters, most of which are locked and require you to complete specific goals in order to earn, promote experimentation and challenging yourself to adapt to multiple playstyles. Of course, there is also the option of creating your own, selecting their abilities, perks, starting equipment, and appearance, even going as far to cranking everything to the max at the cost of failing to earn any tasty chicken treats or achievements/trophies.
Having split my time between the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch versions of the game, I haven’t been able to unlock or complete the narrative as of yet, but I can say outside of the glitched XBL Achievement, the versions are essentially the same and run immaculately. The only minor gripes I have with the game come in the form of the lack of proper firepower in the arms department – having only found the pistol, SMG, shotgun, and RPG as of writing, I feel like there should and could have been a few additional options, especially when the game offers so many off the wall options in other areas. Additionally, the pixel art throwback art style occasionally leaves some items lost in the remnants of destruction I left behind, only being found by accident when working my way around the average-sized levels.
If you’re the type of person who likes to play games cooperatively, there’s an option to allow for up to 3 additional players to join you locally or online. I have yet to have anyone attempt to join my game online, and most of the open lobbies that don’t require passwords consist of gamers who seem to think the game will play itself, often sitting in the hub world for exorbitant lengths of time that my ADD riddled brain cannot handle. I gave the local option a go with my kiddo, with less than thrilling results since friendly fire is active and I didn’t realize there was an option to turn it off. This resulted in me being the victim of friendly fire within seconds of the game launching, and when the violence is a nonstop rollercoaster of explosions, gunfire, and pixelated carnage, it was difficult to get him to revive me. Reviving other players comes at a hefty cost, either requiring you to sacrifice half of your available health or a fair amount of cash. Failing to bring the other player back leaves them in the game as a ghost, free to roam about and do little else, even once the level is complete. The interface doesn’t help the multiplayer component either – if you remain close to the other player, the aesthetics are essentially the same; however, as you distance yourself from your teammate(s), the screen pans out further. The tiny characters become even smaller, and once you reach the required distance, the game splits the screen allowing you to explore freely in an extremely jarring fashion that almost makes me wish that you were locked into being in the same region at all times. There is an option for the screen to be split at all times, which may help those that struggle with this.
In a world where most rogue-lites leave you feeling at the mercy of their randomized parts, Streets of Rogue is a refreshing take on the genre that puts you in control of your own destiny. If you like freedom and video games, you have no excuse to not buy this budget-priced title, as the overwhelming wealth of content will keep you busy for hours; just don’t tell your friends or family members because this is a rare instance where the co-operative mode tears down what would otherwise be an impeccable game.
10 out of 10
Pros
- Freedom to Craft Your Own Experience
- Excellent Balance Between Cute Characters and Overwhelming Violence
- The Most Replay Value I Have Seen This Console Generation
- Literally, The Most Content You Can Get for $20
Cons
- Lack of Gun Variety
- Occasional Crashing
- Some Busy Levels Cause Items to Get Lost Visually
- Flawed Co-op Experience
Streets of Rogue was developed by Matt Dabrowski and published by tinyBuild. It is available on NS, PC, PS4, and X1. The game was provided to us for review on X1, PS4, and NS. If you’d like to see more of Streets of Rogue, check out the official site.
Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.
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