Risk of Rain
Risk of Rain is a strategical Indie arcade-style shooter in which the player endures a constantly increasing difficulty of enemy forces while gaining experience to level-up, purchasing items and upgrades, and searching for a teleporter device that forces the player to survive a boss fight. The game shares an intriguing element with other titles in that the further you go and the more time it takes to get there, the more progressively powerful the endless waves of enemies become.
Here are several reasons to give Risk of Rain a run while running for your life in-game:
Leveling System - What was originally a foreign element to me now retains some clarity. I will be honest, I did not notice the fact that characters had a level when I began my first trek into the Risk of Rain world, especially since I was so overly focused on surviving the merciless onslaught of consistently spawning hostiles. It was only after my first few playthroughs that I truly noticed the leveling system’s effect on the game’s entirety, as it acts simply as an in-game marker on how well that run’s character was sustaining, and even acted as a gauge for comparison to the play time to see how the player was progressing during that particular playthrough. This is not to say, however, that the leveling system is a useless ploy. When a character levels up, they receive bonuses to health and damage, which is definitely useful throughout the game. What I mean to say is that the leveling system is unique in that it is not something the player has to focus on, though it can sometimes signify that the player has to either spend more time in defeating enemy forces or has time to find the teleporter due to the amount of work they put in.
Character Selection - Each of the twelve characters in Risk of Rain has a completely unique playstyle to master. For instance, the Commando is a more tactful starting ally who is equipped with a pistol the deals medium damage and has a long range to which requires no cool-down for its use, a canon-like projectile weapon whose shots connect with multiple enemies within its line of fire, a basic combat roll which negates all damage within its arch, and a submachine gun burst that momentarily fires on both sides of the Commando player within a straight line. The Enforcer, however, is a close-range gunman equipped with a slow-firing short-range shotgun that has a slight knockback effect against enemies, a shield bash that is close-ranged and stuns all hostiles upon impact, a stance change in the form of a one-way shield block which increases fire rate for the given direction and redirects virtually all incoming enemy damage from the Enforcer’s front-however, the Enforcer cannot turn around whilst this mode is toggled-, and an explosive projectile launcher with a longer cool-down rate that has a decent knockback effect combined with explosive damage. There are eleven playable characters to unlock-with the Commando present from the game’s start-, but each requires a considerable amount of time to acquire, and even more time to master.
Time-Based Increasing of Difficulty - As previously described, Risk of Rain utilizes a time-based difficulty system as well as the “Easy, Medium, and Hard” modes you would find within other titles. What sets this approach apart from the usual is that it completely and consistently influences the way you play. It is suggested that the player act quickly by locating the teleporter device upon spawning, but this requires said player to evade enemy forces persistently, subsequently causing them to be weaker when the end-stage boss fight does occur; on the other hand, because the enemies become increasingly difficult over time, grinding and exploration is somewhat limited to a shorter duration. This chaotic paradox raises a call to action within the player, in which the fast-paced gameplay is heightened to the condition that critical decisions must be made promptly. This system heavily drives gameplay, and this has been a favorite approach to gaming for me as well as a worthy mental and emotional adversary.
Collectible Drops and In-Game Achievements - After countless deaths, the player should feel as though some sort of progression has been made, and the collectables found through each world achieves this satisfaction. A percentage of this progression comprises not only of how far one proceeds through each run but also of which upgrades the participating player unlocks during the playthrough. These, as well as collectible ‘Monster Logs,’ can be viewed in a catalogue from the main menu of the game. The in-game achievements create a sense of progression as well, and even allows the player to unlock additional items such as upgrades and additional characters by completing certain goals.
TL:DR - Risk of Rain is one of those games that can be a chaotic mess and still retain its charm, which for some games is inaccessible. It is one of those games that you play as if it were embedded within an arcade cabinet and you have infinite quarters, without fear of failing. It is one of those games you just play: do not degrade yourself for not defeating an end-of-world boss because of a single mistake, do not worry about being a completionist while driving yourself mad just because an item did not drop when you needed it to. Risk of Rain is one of those games that deserves its claim as an Indie Gem, and that one should just play to play. Thanks for reading.
Do you feel this review helped in any way? Feel free to visit my Curator Page at Spearpoint Reviews.
Originally posted August 18, 2015. Last edited May 1, 2018.
Here are several reasons to give Risk of Rain a run while running for your life in-game:
Leveling System - What was originally a foreign element to me now retains some clarity. I will be honest, I did not notice the fact that characters had a level when I began my first trek into the Risk of Rain world, especially since I was so overly focused on surviving the merciless onslaught of consistently spawning hostiles. It was only after my first few playthroughs that I truly noticed the leveling system’s effect on the game’s entirety, as it acts simply as an in-game marker on how well that run’s character was sustaining, and even acted as a gauge for comparison to the play time to see how the player was progressing during that particular playthrough. This is not to say, however, that the leveling system is a useless ploy. When a character levels up, they receive bonuses to health and damage, which is definitely useful throughout the game. What I mean to say is that the leveling system is unique in that it is not something the player has to focus on, though it can sometimes signify that the player has to either spend more time in defeating enemy forces or has time to find the teleporter due to the amount of work they put in.
Character Selection - Each of the twelve characters in Risk of Rain has a completely unique playstyle to master. For instance, the Commando is a more tactful starting ally who is equipped with a pistol the deals medium damage and has a long range to which requires no cool-down for its use, a canon-like projectile weapon whose shots connect with multiple enemies within its line of fire, a basic combat roll which negates all damage within its arch, and a submachine gun burst that momentarily fires on both sides of the Commando player within a straight line. The Enforcer, however, is a close-range gunman equipped with a slow-firing short-range shotgun that has a slight knockback effect against enemies, a shield bash that is close-ranged and stuns all hostiles upon impact, a stance change in the form of a one-way shield block which increases fire rate for the given direction and redirects virtually all incoming enemy damage from the Enforcer’s front-however, the Enforcer cannot turn around whilst this mode is toggled-, and an explosive projectile launcher with a longer cool-down rate that has a decent knockback effect combined with explosive damage. There are eleven playable characters to unlock-with the Commando present from the game’s start-, but each requires a considerable amount of time to acquire, and even more time to master.
Time-Based Increasing of Difficulty - As previously described, Risk of Rain utilizes a time-based difficulty system as well as the “Easy, Medium, and Hard” modes you would find within other titles. What sets this approach apart from the usual is that it completely and consistently influences the way you play. It is suggested that the player act quickly by locating the teleporter device upon spawning, but this requires said player to evade enemy forces persistently, subsequently causing them to be weaker when the end-stage boss fight does occur; on the other hand, because the enemies become increasingly difficult over time, grinding and exploration is somewhat limited to a shorter duration. This chaotic paradox raises a call to action within the player, in which the fast-paced gameplay is heightened to the condition that critical decisions must be made promptly. This system heavily drives gameplay, and this has been a favorite approach to gaming for me as well as a worthy mental and emotional adversary.
Collectible Drops and In-Game Achievements - After countless deaths, the player should feel as though some sort of progression has been made, and the collectables found through each world achieves this satisfaction. A percentage of this progression comprises not only of how far one proceeds through each run but also of which upgrades the participating player unlocks during the playthrough. These, as well as collectible ‘Monster Logs,’ can be viewed in a catalogue from the main menu of the game. The in-game achievements create a sense of progression as well, and even allows the player to unlock additional items such as upgrades and additional characters by completing certain goals.
TL:DR - Risk of Rain is one of those games that can be a chaotic mess and still retain its charm, which for some games is inaccessible. It is one of those games that you play as if it were embedded within an arcade cabinet and you have infinite quarters, without fear of failing. It is one of those games you just play: do not degrade yourself for not defeating an end-of-world boss because of a single mistake, do not worry about being a completionist while driving yourself mad just because an item did not drop when you needed it to. Risk of Rain is one of those games that deserves its claim as an Indie Gem, and that one should just play to play. Thanks for reading.
Do you feel this review helped in any way? Feel free to visit my Curator Page at Spearpoint Reviews.
Originally posted August 18, 2015. Last edited May 1, 2018.
Comments
Post a Comment