Review: Danger Scavenger (Steam)

by Jim Smale · June 25, 2020

Danger Scavenger is fast-paced action, cyberpunk-themed, roguelike skyline crawler. Blow up, cut, shoot enemy robots on the roofs of skyscrapers. Choose your way to higher levels, loot, buy stuff, upgrade yourself, fight against greedy corporations, be a rebel!

Pros:

Decent cel-shaded graphics.
1667mb Download size.
Steam achievements.
Graphics-quality preset and resolution.
Controller support.
Fov slider.
Hud scale.
Screen shake and low health warning option.
Opening tutorial.
Roguelike shooter gameplay.
Isometric view.
Hub-character and gun selection, enable co-op, use the workshop.
Workshop-shows the next mission equipment unlocked inventory or crafting.
Fully destructible environments.
Loot chests aplenty.
Every run you pick from a set of unlocked weapons.
Can rebind controls.
Level layouts randomize every run.
Each level has multiple exits and you can freely choose. Each exit will show a map of the route you have taken so far.
Very accessible.
Earn EXP from your play and level up to get unlocks.
On the map it shows the different types like shoot all enemies or wave-based defense or elite boss style fights.
Small bite-sized levels.
Scraps-currency that you use to buy items from the shop pads that appear.
Pick up weapons/ammo/buffs/Ai bots from chests and enemies.
Can see the enemy life bars.
Upbeat soundtrack.
The score, timer, and combo counter pop up on the screen.
Each character has a unique ability.
Markers show enemy and exit positions.
At the end of a run, you can go back to the hub or do a quick restart.
Slow-mo final kill on a level.

Cons:

Limited graphics settings.
Very basic tutorial.
Rebind ING the controller is confusing and not easy.
Levels are cluttered with environmental hindrances.
After an hour you’ve seen all possible level layouts.
Scraps and drops disappear way too quickly.
Can fall off the level easily.
Slow to unlock new toys.
I found myself losing track of my character in big gunfights.
Drones don’t break the environment and have a short attack range.

7/10

Graphics - 7/10
7/10

Sound - 7/10
7/10

Accessibility - 7/10
7/10

Length - 7/10
7/10

Fun Factor - 7/10

7/10

Summary

Roguelike shooters are commonplace now in the game world, here we have one set in a Cyberpunk neon world. Danger Scavenger has immediate action (you could say too immediate) and even better controls. For you can go straight in cold and aside from a very basic tutorial, get to shooting. Levels play out where you clear the place of enemies and then choose one of the doors to go to the next level, on the doors will be what is in the next room like elites/combat/hacking or maybe even a mystery room. Your goal is to make it to the top in order to win. Ammo/weapons/gear with buffs can drop from enemies or be found in loot chests or even bought from shop pods using scrap you collect, again from enemies. The action is fast and it plays like a twin-stick shooter but the controls were not to my liking as they use the bumper buttons for shooting and my long ass fingers don’t like that! Changing the binding, however, is a series of tests of reading and clicking through a page of settings and I ain’t got time for that! The levels themselves are supposed to be randomized but I think the pool of level layout is small and it all starts to feel familiar and repetitive. Speaking of levels it’s always a lot of obstacles that you can shoot but with so many, it’s almost maze-like and just slows the pace Down.its a game that is fun in short bursts but it still hard to decide what it’s going for as it’s fast non stop action one minute then slow uneventful action two minutes later. I like having a load of drones follow me but even then they have a small attack range and Co-op mixes it up somewhat. Overall it’s a very safe take on the genre and doesn’t quite reveal any USP to make it stand out.