Roboquest

Pair the fast, fluent movement based shooting of Doom with the randomness and gradual progression of roguelikes. Add some great bosses and a bunch of different weapons. Top it off with full coop, because gaming with a friend is always more fun. The result is an addictive, “just-one-more-run” experience that feels fantastic and can be shared with a friend.

It’s hard to overstate how gratifying the movement and shooting in this game feels. Sprint and slide generate just the right amount of momentum. It’s very satisfying to chain them together, especially when additional traversal options are unlocked later that allow for even more expressive combinations. It is possible to preserve your momentum for extended periods of time, but that requires some mastery. This is important because constantly staying in motion is what keeps you alive when fighting an onslaught of enemies, all gunning for you.

The game has guns aplenty, most of which feel fun to use. For variety, there are multiple different classes of robots that can be unlocked. Each class has its own unique skills that fit certain play styles and weapon types. During each run, you further customize your robot by modifying skills and attributes.

What I like a lot about the roguelike aspect of the game is how quickly it accelerates. For the first few runs, reaching a new level felt like a difficulty spike where what had seemed like a good build until then would just not have the needed damage output anymore. But, after every run you’re able to unlock and upgrade shops that spawn between sections of each level, allowing you to keep up with the increasingly stronger enemies. Very quickly the feeling of insurmountable difficulty subsides and every run feels feasible.

The game has a coop mode for two players, so you can play with one friend. It scales the difficulty just right so that the game doesn’t feel easier, even though you have more firepower. There are very limited options to coordinate with your Brobot. Whether this is good or bad is a matter of perspective; it places Roboquest on the more casual side of gaming with friends.

The game packs a lot of content for its price. All unlockable classes play differently enough as to feel unique but not so different as to feel alien. There is a wild mix of weapons of all types, but some just don’t click for me. There isn’t much enemy variety, but they’re all fun to shoot at. The soundtrack is fantastic, and I listen to it outside the game regularly now. A great time; bring a friend.