Streets of Rogue review

No I haven’t made a typo, this is Streets of Rogue (not Rage) although both have equally dangerous cities. This game however, is a a rogue-lite offering player choice and lots of chaos, as you must complete objectives on each level to progress through various layers of the city.

The game takes inspiration from fast-paced top-down rogue-lites, adding a pinch of “choose how you want to complete an objective”. Will you drop poisonous gas into the vents filling the room of enemies with toxic fumes or will you blow a hole in the wall and start a full on blood bath, guns blazing. The depth of play offered by Streets of Rogue has you coming back for more every time and that’s helped by its procedural-generated levels.

If you die then you have to go right back to the beginning of the level. Which means if you’ve completed 2 floors you’ll return to where it all started. Annoying right? Well that’s what it is and most rogue-lites follow this formula of torment as a way to help you learn how to beat the game.

A lot of rogue-lites will normally be set in a dungeon or maze of some kind, which is where we’ve given a a bit of variation here with Streets of Rogue, as we’re in a busy crime-filled city. There are shops, bars, mafia controlled buildings and jail cells, plus many more unique buildings to explore and pick up side missions and items to help you survive.

As you traverse the world you’ll come across AI citizens some passive and some aggressive. Thieves may try and attack you to get your stuff whilst a police officer will chase them down. In fact, you can even make the AI fight one another if you’re trying to complete an objective without getting your hands dirty. Alternatively, you can pay civilians to fight with you for extra muscle. Kill an innocent civilian and they will come back as a ghost to attack you.

The title also has its own unique set of characters with their own abilities such as a stealthy doctor who uses chloroform and tranquilliser darts to silently take down foes. If you’re more gun ho, go for soldier who is armed with grenades and firearms. These are just a few of the many to chose from and every time you die you die permanently as that character so start again fresh. It can be a frustrating experience dying in game, but equally it is a part of the game’s learning curve. You’ll soon learn that attacking all a large group of people head on was a bad idea and not to do the same again.

There’s plenty to enjoy in Streets of Rogue, whether that’s the constant keep on your toes gameplay or the tactical ways of thinking how you’re going to achieve your mission objective. The most annoying thing is death though, as dying takes you to the start of the game again back at the first floor level.

Overall, Streets of Rogue is an enjoyable rogue-lite offering a new experience every time you play. Will you hack the electrics to turn off security cameras or knock on the door and go in guns blazing, there’s a play style suited to everyone. It has lots of nonsense too from taking a pill to make you a giant right through to grabbing a toilet and throwing it all over someone to poison them. The co-op is a great addition too, and definitely worth a try at some point.