You’re on your third cup of coffee and the afternoon sluggishness is hitting you hard. Your manager had been barking at you for weeks now to complete the McPherson project, and it’s due at the end of the week. That one coworker that annoyingly hums songs through their headset has been irritating you all day. All and all, an average day at the job (albeit a job you might not even enjoy).
Now imagine instead you worked for a job that afforded a lot of wonderful at-work benefits: you get to stretch your legs, no two days will be the same, a ton of on-the-fly adaptability, and you get to work with a small, specialized team! Welcome to Deep Rock Galactic, your newest venture into the wonderful world of space rock mining! Don’t forget your hardhat; you’re going to need it!
Deep Rock Galactic was one of the free PlayStation Plus games last month, and I, like many of my friends, had never even heard of it. In development for several years, with an initial release on Steam in 2020, Deep Rock Galactic saw it’s PS4/PS5 release in January 2022. Drawing comparisons to games like Minecraft, Left 4 Dead, and even SteamWorld: Dig, DRG is a unique co-op experience for up to four players. That last little tidbit was all our group needed to give the game a try. Four player co-op games are honestly what I’ve been playing and enjoying most these days, as it not only allows for our group to chat and interact with one another online, it also allows for a bit of competition and fun between friends.
Each game of Deep Rock Galactic has you taking on the role of a dwarf that works for the titular mining company. You can specialize in one of four classes, each with their own unique skills. The Driller, for example, comes equipped with massive hand drills to easily mine through dirt and rocks en route to your level-specific goal. Speaking of which, your goal is different on each level, but usually follows a similar pattern: Mine enough of a certain mineral, escort a massive drilling machine to a location, set up an oil refinery pipeline, you get the idea. Sprinkled in each level/planet you’re currently excavating are unique minerals and resources you can use to upgrade your dwarf. Seeing as the mines aren’t all fine and dandy, you’ll need these upgrades to deck out your exploration tools as well as your combat weapons. Massive bugs and other nasties litter the caves, so tread with caution!
From a gameplay perspective, DRG does a lot of things right. Comat and exploration feel fluid and simple. The game utilizes a first person perspective, which lends itself well to blasting baddies and using a grappling hook to reach high areas. The way each dwarf can aid the other is satisfying. For example, if there’s a nice mineral way up on the ceiling you cannot reach, have the Engineer create a platform so the Scout can use their long-range grappling hook to reach it! Or you can just have your driller create an unorthodox staircase through the wall to reach it. A lot of the fun in this game comes from the freedom to achieve your goals in any way you see fit. The freedom really makes the entire experience engaging and just the right amount of challenging.
While the game does offer a variety of stage objectives, you’ll quickly come to realize the game can get repetitive. Thankfully a handful of modifiers and level specific quirks keep you on your toes. Sometimes there might be an anomaly in your stage where there are lots of radioactive minerals constantly draining your life. Other times you may find there’s a plethora of loot and minerals to obtain, but there are increased numbers of enemy swarms. My favorite so far has been a stage with lots of bugs that explode when you kill them: their explosions do tons of damage and remove parts of the terrain, making each fight dangerous and exhilarating.
It is also worth mentioning the charm and detail the game offers. Your manager at the Deep Rock Galactic company consistently sends you in-game communications about your actions. They’re both funny and informative, and spoken well. You can press a button to taunt, essentially, but your character will blurt something out about “Rock & Stone!”, and this has already becoming a recurring joke in my friend group. Between missions you and your crew can get drunk (literally) at the bar, throw a dance party at the karaoke machine, mess with gravity on your hub ship, change your dwarf’s outfit, and more. Put simply, there’s a lot to do outside of exploring worlds to keep you entertained.
Deep Rock isn’t without it’s faults though. The game can get repetitive very quickly. If you aren’t into the grind of finding materials to unlock upgrades, only to then grind more materials to upgrade more, you won’t find a lot to like here. The story is essentially nonexistent as you’re really just working for this company with seemingly no goal other than to get profits for the corporate heads. Funny, sure, but not a driving force to keep playing. Also, the game is a lot more fun with friends. A nice robot accompanies you in solo play, but it dwells in comparisons to the enjoyment you may have with friends in online co-op. Think about playing Left 4 Dead as an example: it’s fun on its own, but significantly better with a group.
Looking for a game to play online with friends can sometimes be difficult. Finding one that fits everyone’s tastes is the real challenge. While Deep Rock Galactic certainly won’t be for everyone, it hit a fine mark with our friend group and we have been enjoying it quite a lot. The freedom to explore and complete your objective any way you see fit, coupled with the nice attention to detail and sense of humor, helped to elevate the game’s overall appeal. Plus, you can change your character’s beard size, color, and shape. What more could you want from a game?
Rock & Stone,
Jsick
