Preview: Risk Of Rain

Risk of Rain is an action plat-former/adventure game with randomized elements.While we don’t want to spoil the story, we can let a few things through! The game is set in the distant future, where space transportation is common. Space trains carry passengers and goods all across space. A particular space train, however, had some very special cargo. Through a series of unfortunate events, this space train gets shot out of orbit and crash lands on a mysterious planet.. with one survivor.

Please remember that this is a preview of a game still in Beta, So anything written here could well be changed in the future, This preview is based off of Risk Of Rain Build 0.30.6.2.1.

Pros:

• Roguelike pixel graphic hack and slash plat-former.
• Everything about the game is random, from levels to enemies encountered all the way to what weapons, pickups you collect.
• You can collect one item which is like your special attack, This carries a huge cool down but in most cases deals the most damage or heals you the most.
• Other items you pick up (and there’s ALOT of them) are passive and stack in the bottom left of your screen. You get pick ups from chests which you unlock with money found from killing enemies or find in containers. Many items hold completely different effects, It could be an item that allows you to heal quickly whilst stood still, Or it could allow you to have a chance of launching a missile. It really is that dam random.
• The music by far is the best I have heard in a long time. With its mellow beginnings it soon ramps up into an explosion of tension. The music carries a very “retro” vibe to it and enhances the game no end.
• A huge selection of characters to choose from already, with more coming in for the final version. Each character has 4 primary attacks and all attacks for each character is unique.
• Your stats are the only thing kept through your games. Encounter enemies and kill enough of them so they drop a monster log entry. This then allows you to view a brief bio on the slain creature. Same with items in that you collect them and they unlock an entry in the item log. Keeping an eye on these logs will enable you to better understand what you are doing in subsequent play through s.
• Collect drones to aid you in battle. Some will heal you whilst some will fight for you. Always make finding one your number one priority. The drones can get damaged and eventually malfunction. But fear not, you can repair them but be warned the price goes up everytime!
• Offline and online co-op is available and I have yet to try them as the online is still very much Alpha. Asking players to open a particular port and connect to their host via their IP address. Its all very archaic in todays market but it is just an Alpha so things can only get better.
• You play through a level and must locate a transporter to take you to the next level. Upon hitting the button for it, You must first survive 90 seconds of a pure onslaught of enemies. A boss will be summoned and you must at first survive, Upon lasting the 90 seconds, The easy part . Eliminate all the remaining enemies. Luckily a arrow will help guide you to their locations.
• The trick of the game is some aspects is learning when to hit the transporter. For in this game you level up via an exp system. Leveling up gives you more health. So the gimmick is, Do you trigger the transporter as soon as you see it? or do you build up your level and collect more items first?
• Containers are littered around the levels (you hope) that when opened drop a load of money.
• Shrines are also present in levels are their are a few kinds. One will spawn 5 little creatures that run away. Your task is to kill all 5 within  a time limit and your reward will be an item. Another example of a shrine is one where you pay and pray basically, you hope (pray) an item will drop from it. It doesn’t always drop an item but will always charge you. A failed drop will raise the price of the shrine. A shrine that delivers an item will be destroyed.
• Enemies will spawn randomly anywhere anytime, You could be stood still and one will spawn on top of you. Its this mechanic that will always keep you on your toes. No place is safe. You think that by hanging from  a rope you are safe? Wrong the game has jelly fish looking creatures that can fly!
• There is a bar on the far right that lets you know what difficulty the game world is currently set too. It will start off on easy and as you level up it will increase.
• Each level gets harder as do the enemies and their spawn frequency. Encountering new enemies is always a scary prospect as you dont know how they will act or attack you.
• The game supports a game pad and all buttons, Keyboard included can be changed by the player.

Cons:

• Online multiplayer as said is a pain in the ass for some home networks. But a new guy has been drafted in to help the team work on improving the online portion of the game, Fully committed to enabling full online to alll players.
• The first few hours will feel a bit daunting as you collect items you know nothing about, fight enemies constantly without a clue on direction. This is normal and will soon pass I promise.
• The text in game can be intrusive and by this I mean some items will have a short bio on what they do. This can take up valuable screen space and in the thick of it, can be very distracting. Another form of this can be when you pick up an item near the edge of the screen or when its 2 items together. In this instance reading anything is a mission. For if its not the fact that half the text is cut off, its the thing where 2 lines of text are over writing themselves.
• An option to turn off tips and prompts would be nice as after a while you know so and so button opens/buys things.

In summary, The game is brilliant. Pure pick up and play at its best. I feared at first that putting in time on a huge session to only see it end in death, would put me right off. Far from it, For every death you learn something new about the game. Yes you lose all your items but in the new game you could get better stuff? Or face easier enemies. Its the whole randomness of the game that keeps it fresh and new. The controls are simple, the concept is easy, the game is so much fun. Sounds like a win win for me. Gamers who have been put off by Roguelike games before should defiantly give this one a chance, this ones a keeper, this one is a great game to start in your conversion into loving Roguelikes as a genre. Once the online is fleshed out a bit more, You know this game will only increase in its play ability and fun. In short Risk Of Rain is the most random fan you can have right now!

You can see videos of us playing the game here:

You can vote for Risk Of Rain on Steam Greenlight.

Risk Of Rain On IndieDB