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8 Aug 2016 - 16 Aug 2016
Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5
The aliens invaded, and it's the end of the world. The last scraps of government have organized a resistance force, but it's not looking good. They send you to a base where someone was researching how to build a powerful bomb. Of course, when you get there, the place is infested with alien life. All you have to do is find the prototype and get back home.
This is my definitive rogue, the one I think of when people use the term "roguelike," as it was the one that I played in my formative years. I've played the original Rogue, and thought it was OK. I've played ADOM and its variations, and found the Amulet of Yendor. But this is the one I played the most of, and the one I liked the most.
I think it might be because a science fiction bent on the rogue formula is so rare, and so rarely done well. Yes, there's the DOOM roguelike, and it's pretty good for what it is. But it's not trying to be ADOM the same way this game is, and arguably doesn't do as good of a job. The sound design in this game sticks with me: every step taken, the sounds of the bots as they clean up debris and patch up holes, the smashing sound of crowbar against a wall as you make a new path to your destination, the zip and ping of a laser rifle shot reflecting off an invisible cyber cop.
There's the freedom of choice and the balancing act you have to maintain once that choice is made. Do I eat the pill now, to find out what it does, or wait until I find a building that can identify it for me? Do I bank my money, or keep it all and let it weigh me down? Do I try to step over the hole in the ground, risking that I may fall two floors? Do I methodically hit the wall over and over again to make my own path, or follow the twists and turns laid before me?
And there's the fact that this is the game that my family and I played. We would battle in our own individual missions, then come together and discuss strategies. Who savescummed? Who didn't? If you did savescum, how did you keep track of what each pill did? If you didn't, how did you keep the pills safe to be identified (keep a crate on you, as it turns out). When you roll a new character, what's the most important stat? Strength, for carrying around all your things? Charisma, for making more friends in the dungeon?
It's the rogue I will always come back to, and the one I will compare all others to. So I can't give an unbiased impression of it. All I can tell you is: if you like roguelikes, play it.