Thank you Two Tribes for the review code.

I hate it when something's short and sweet; you want more and when you find out you won't get any more of it, you just end up disappointed. Today's title, RIVE: Wreck, Hack, Die, Retry is just that, a sweet treat that is over just as quickly as it began. Lets dive right into the wreckage and see what treasures we can pull out of this game.

RIVE puts you in the role of a simple space trucker who loves video games. During a routine mission harvesting space junk for cash he gets stuck in an abandoned factory. His only company is a witty AI butler who has control over the entire station. While not everything is as it seems, the good ol' space trucker just wants to escape with his loot and sanity intact.

This game is a simple space shooter that focuses on your own reflexes and ability to think at a moment's notice. The game has some auto scrolling sections reminiscent of games like Gradius but most of the time you will be platforming and taking on enemies as a spider tank. The game is linear so don't expect a Metroidvania like experience. Aside from your regular infinite ammo machine gun you have a choice of one of four unlockable super weapons. Each of these four weapons shares one charge; once you use it you'll have to find an ammo box before you can use a super weapon again.

As you progress through the game, you unlock new difficulty options. These include a speed runner mode where you have limited time to beat each mission as well as a single credit mode, challenging you to beat the game without dying. Aside from campaigns you can select missions you defeated individually to play again and you may set different modifiers for the mission. You also have a battle arena you can access to see how long you can last against waves of enemies.

The alternate modes are designed to appeal to those of a score attack mindset. If you don't like that sort of thing you probably won't play much of the game outside of the campaign, as you don't have anything to unlock except the new missions to play. The super weapons are fun but they are trivial for the purpose of progression. The average run time for most people to beat the 12 missions in campaign mode stretches between two to three hours. The music is great and catchy, reminiscent of old space shooters. The voice acting between the trucker and the cynical AI is fun and filled with video game references. Yet that sort of thing won't entertain everyone a second time. Thankfully the gameplay is solid despite the short amount of content.

Morality problems are few and far between with this game. This game has cartoonish explosions of many robotic enemies and a bit of a gruff side to the trucker's lines. He will let a curse word slip every now and then like damn or asshole out of frustrations.

While RIVE is a short game, it is still a game of above average quality. I highly recommend this game for anyone who wants a simple and clean 2-D twin-stick shooter.