Streets of Rogue (PC) Preview
Streets of Rogue
Developed By: Matt Dabrowski
Published By: tinyBuild
Released: Preview
Available On: macOS, Windows, Linux
Genre: Rogue-Like
ESRB Rating: Not rated
Number of Players: 1-4 Players local or online
Price: $14.99
(Humble Store Link)
Streets of Rogue is a roguelite twin-stick RPG sandbox brawler stealth game. It has randomly generated levels with permadeath and enemies to punch and shoot. There are also role-playing game mechanics such as leveling up stats, and even hiding from enemies to avoid them. Every objective can be completed through multiple solutions, and it’s up to you to decide how you play.
You play as one of a large cast of characters, traversing through cities doing whatever objectives the game gives you. The variety of options for completion depends on the items you get and the character you have chosen. Have a machinegun and want to cause chaos? Go for it. Want to throw a syringe into a ventilation system, causing everybody in that building to run outside? You can do that too. Use an item to blind everybody in the room, and sneak by? Why not? It is completely up to you on how you play.
There are a ton of characters to choose from, such as the Gorilla, Hacker, Assassin, Shopkeeper, Bartender, and so on. Each character has different abilities that change how you play. The Slum Dweller can yell, causing people to come to you, wondering what the ruckus is about. The Cop can arrest people. The Vampire can suck someone’s blood. Every character is unique, and your strategy changes depending on the character. If you want to make your own characters, you can do that as well, mixing and matching abilities from preset characters.
Along with a diverse set of characters, you can find many items in each level. There are syringes, which you don’t know what they do until you use them. There are guns, baseball bats, swords, tasers, grenades, and other sorts of weaponry. There are lock picks, hacking tools, and hypnotizers. Because of the large item variety, you can end up with multiple ways to play. The game gives you ways to be aggressive, but you can be stealthy or even pacifist at the same time. You have a lot of freedom in what you want to do.
Strong Points: Replayable; innovative; multiple ways to play.
Weak Points: Minor balance issues.
Moral Warnings: Pixelated gore; sexual references; immoral characters; human violence; occult references; alcohol; minor cursing (d**n, a**)
Each level is full of life. Opposing gang members will attack each other, and if a cop sees it, they will chase after them. If a thief is inside a store, the shopkeeper will chase him out. Goons will guard various buildings. It all makes everything feel real, just like you’re in a real city. If you do something violent or suspicious, cops will attack, or people will go outside to investigate. You must be mindful of everyone and everything that happens. You can buy items from a shopkeeper, or hire a gang member to do what you ask, or even have the police ignore crimes.
The levels can have a few kinds of objectives. Sometimes you have to neutralize an NPC. Or you have to operate 3 or 4 buttons inside a building. Or grab an item from a safe. You can do almost every objective either violently or pacifically. Every time you complete an objective, you get rewarded with an item or some gold. Completing objective can be done simply, or through a complex set of planning and thought. It all depends on your playstyle.
There is some permanent progression. You can unlock items, traits you can get from leveling up, or even mutators which change how the game works. If you complete an area a few times, you can get an elevator that goes straight to that floor instead of always starting from the beginning.
You get experience by doing various things inside a level. When you level up, you go back up to full health. At the end of the floor, you can choose from different abilities that alter the game. These can be things like “increased critical chance” or “make items cost less” and other simple things. Most of the traits to choose from don’t do anything super significant, but make the game easier and give you a small advantage.
Higher is better
(10/10 is perfect)
Game Score - 90%
Gameplay - 18/20
Graphics - 9/10
Sound - 8/10
Stability - 5/5
Controls - -5/5
Morality Score - 56%
Violence - 1.5/10
Language - 7/10
Sexual Content - 8/10
Occult/Supernatural - 6.5/10
Cultural/Moral/Ethical - 5/10
The controls are easy to understand and work well. Keyboard & mouse or a gamepad can be used. The game is viewed from a top-down perspective. Keyboard controls are WASD to move, left click to attack, and right click to use the character’s ability. You have a small inventory to store the items you have picked up, and the inventory is easy to access, and doesn’t slow down the action. On the gamepad it controls just as well, using standard twin stick controls (left stick to move, right stick to aim). There’s a tutorial you can play through that explains everything clearly, and teaches you the basics. Local co-op works perfectly, even having splitscreen for 16:9 resolutions. Online co-op works just as well, I had no latency or bug issues when playing.
There is little to no story, but it seems like you are a part of a resistance. Unfortunately, that’s all the game tells you as far as lore. The sound is good; hitting and killing things sounds satisfying, when you get caught, it makes a tink, and everything sounds like it should sound. Visually it is nice to look at, and everything is distinct and even under chaotic situations, you can always tell what’s going on. The soundtrack is a sort of jazz, fitting the theme of cities well, though the game does need a few more tracks.
Streets of Rogue has some minor balance issues. In multiplayer, depending on what characters you choose, you can tear through levels at ease, making the game too easy for its roguelite nature. The character customization lets you make characters that are downright unfair; you can take an ability that originally had downsides and completely remove the cons, making it very easy to make a broken character. It is probably by design, but the inventory feels too small in the late-game, meaning you have to manage your items and you end up with a full inventory quickly.
There are quite a few moral issues here. To start off, there are some morally inappropriate characters. One of the big ones is the slavemaster, which enables you to enslave any citizen, and forcefully have them do your bidding. There’s also undead, gang members, and a naked shapeshifter, who can possess people at will. There are drugs you can take, such as an “electro pill” which you take and it makes you stronger. There’s also whisky and beer, which contain no side-effects. You can equip underwear, which gives you a small amount of armor. You can use syringes either on yourself or others. The violence is usually against humans, and has some pixelated gore. Violence is sometimes the answer when completing objectives, and usually has you going into restricted areas of a building without permission.
Even if this game is not the most morally acceptable, it is really fun and addicting. The sandbox-like gameplay keeps you engaged for hours without it ever getting repetitive. I can see myself playing this game for a long, long time, and it’s only in early access! I can’t wait to see what they add to this gem.
- Kinix