Deep Rock Galactic: Subterranean Treasure

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Time Played: 22 Hours, mostly as the Gunner

I have never purchased a Steam Early Access game as a general precaution. Though I recognize a finished game is no guarantee of quality, buying a game which advertises itself as incomplete seems like an unnecessary risk. Yet, early this year I was convinced by my friends to abandon this position, just once, to purchase Deep Rock Galactic.

One reason for not purchasing an Early Access games is possibility they will never be refined and finalized. Deep Rock Galactic did not have this problem, as it resembled a finished product even when I purchased it back in February of 2019. Already packed with glowing reviews, the developers continued to polish their produce, and plan to continue work on DRG through mid-2020. Upon releasing Version 1.0 the developer plans to increase the price. The quality already displayed and the forth coming price increase incentive interested players purchasing the game now.

In Deep Rock Galactic, the first game by developer Ghost Ship Games, the player controls a space dwarf employed to mine the deadly and diverse planet Hoxxes IV. A coop game at its core, DRG allows one to four players to venture out on missions from their home orbital base. Successful missions last thirty to sixty minutes, and feature five different objectives. Most missions involve collecting different types of minerals by digging them out with pick axes, though one requires locating and squashing a particularly dangerous enemy, called the Dreadnought. Each assignment offers the opportunity to choose from one of five different difficulties, and includes random anomalies to benefit the player, and enemy mutations to make them tougher.
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The player selects from one of the four different classes. Each member offers a unique style of play. Each wields a pickaxe, main weapon, sidearm, deployable tool, a distinct means of travel (power drill, grappling gun, platform gun, and zipline gun), armor, and a selection of grenades. Each class performs a different role in a mission, and though playing with fewer than a full squad is fine, the versatility of a complete team provides a more enjoyable experience.

For example, while all four dwarves contribute in exploring the tunnels and large caverns that compose each commission, the Scout and Engineer combo are the most efficient for exploring and reaching difficult to mine minerals. The Driller digs short cuts from one large chamber to another, while the Gunner installs ziplines.

The Gunner's main focus is combat. Which isn't to say that the other classes lack in firepower. An insect race, called the Glyphid, attack the dwarves as they search for pretty gems. The Glyphid love nothing better than rending the beards of greedy, industrious dwarves. They appear naturally as the team explores the procedurally generated levels, but every so often, the game announces the imminent arrival of a swarm. For a few minutes Glyphids mercilessly assault the dwarves, whose only hope is to defend the best location they can find. Deep Rock Galactic is reminiscent of Left 4 Dead, especially when the players struggle desperately to clear the mob of enemies, while staying together and alive. Like L4D, DRG includes hordes of weak enemies (though there is quite a variety of these), with stronger boss enemies scattered throughout.
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Once company has mined the minerals, they summon the Escape Pod. It can appear anywhere within the caverns the dwarves have explored, but its location is marked on the player's map. The party must arrive a the pod within five minutes, while fighting off a relentless swarm of Glyphids. Any who fall, or fail to return in time are left behind. The escape is the most frantic part of DRG, and a real blast, though losing at this point is disappointing.

Surviving players receive experience and resources to spend at the Space Rig. Players who didn't return to the Escape Pod receive no gold, but as long as one team-member survives they don't suffer a penalty to experience. Experience is spent to purchase perks and abilities, while cash and resources are expended to unlock upgrades to weapons and new costumes. Deep Rock Galactic offers numerous perks and items to upgrade that even after 22 hours the amount of content to remaining to unlock boggles the mind. Simultaneously, I have access to the full game, and don't feel as if I'm locked out of content, or that I have to grind to unlock something fun. The unlocks are interesting, but DRG is enjoyable, whether one plays as a level one dwarf, or a hardened veteran of hundreds of missions.

It would be remiss to not comment briefly on the terrain itself. Deep Rock Galactic includes a variety of biomes, each with their own hazards and styles. The depictions of the caves, their treasures, and defenders, are glittering, haunting, and delightful. Each area contributes its own feel to whatever quest the dwarves are engaged in.
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In conclusion, Deep Rock Galactic offers abundant replayability with different classes, missions, biomes, difficulties, weapons, mutations, and enemies. It's goofy but deadly, frantic in the midst of a battle, tense when separated from one's companions, but relaxing when exploring vast glittering caves and mining them for treasure. It's hectic when fleeing to the Escape Pod, but immensely rewarding when rescuing a friend and aiding them as you both climb aboard the Pod with ten seconds to spare. It can be frustrating when a level five difficulty swarm wipes the floor with the remains of your glorious beards, but hey, you choose to put yourself in that level of danger. And every failure is just a minor impediment to venturing underground again in search of more loot.

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