Some days you just need a bit of run and gun in your video game world. Well, RyseUp Studios certainly delivers with Roboquest, a smoothly built game that puts your patience and strategic movements to the test against aggressive robots. Whether you’re playing single-player or co-op, this Borderlands-look-a-like puts you in the mood to target, fire, and destroy.
Not a bad way to spend Thanksgiving if you ask me.
So, lock and load, get those robot joints oiled, and let’s get going with this robo-review.
Controls done right
Part of the joy of a first-person shooter experience is how well a developer can get the controls right. Ask any Call of Duty or Battlefield fan about what is important in their FPS games, and the first thing they should bring up is how tight, yet easily usable the control scheme needs to be during gunplay. Hell, ask APEX fans what makes Respawn’s online game so special, and it comes back to controls and having a smooth, yet fast way to get shots off at enemies, and the aggressive nature that is born from those types of controls.
The easier it is to control an FPS, the less distracting the experience is going to be. This is the case with Roboquest, where the controls are tight as a tiger and execute as well as the Cleveland Browns defense against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pointing and shooting are not a problem with the control scheme drawn up by the devs at RyseUp. This process feels smooth and without effort or thought, which is where you want to be when you’re trying to make a fast-paced shooter. And the controls certainly set the tone for fast-paced-ness.
Movement is quick, as is running, dodging, and firing, where they all work together well to create exciting gameplay that feels like it could go on forever. While you’re not going to get Titanfall 2 type of perfection out of control performance, Roboquest is just as good as any other game of its type. It feels good when you move the robot you control around. It feels like you are always in absolute control of the situation and the moment. Nothing about it feels loosey-goosey, which bodes well and complements the rest of the game. RyseUp Studios wanted its players to move quickly through the environments while shooting with confidence, and the controls meet those expectations.
This type of gun control and player movement means that you can just see/aim/shoot without any other thought getting in the way. Not a lot of devs spend time getting that right, yet Roboquest does a great job of delivering it. Of course, moving and shooting with ease needs the actual shooting hardware to be right to see the control scheme through. Let’s get right into that aspect.
Guns galore
While movement is wonderful, having a variety of weapons is also a necessity to keep this type of game interesting and addictive. This aspect of the game is what kept me the most engaged when it came to replay value. Roboquest features a good variety of weapons and a steady progression of stats for them. Both are valuable when bringing a solid shooting experience.
Starting with the arsenal, the weapons can range from bow/arrow, two-handed guns, powerful shotguns, and a variety of oddities such as a grenade launching destruction bringer that requires the right lob angle. Knives and powerful punches also come into play, and are easily accessible, though randomly distributed during gameplay. Certain points of fighting allow for new weapons, as does in-between intermissions where you randomly acquire new ways to kill other robots through a non-paying loot box. Basically, this is a checkpoint that gives you upgrades, as well as a break.
Now, as previously mentioned, the stats for weapons are steadily progressed with each drop and the information about those stats helps to perpetuate the illusion that you’re getting new weapons as you pass each stage. It’s rewarding to know you progress in nearly every aspect of the game as you push forward, and through this stat system, the game makes it easy to feel like you’re doing a good job. Who doesn’t want encouragement? Anyway, when you run into a new weapon, you get a nice little weapon stat window telling you what you are exchanging. Maybe you have a bigger, more powerful weapon with little to no range. Maybe you have a ranged weapon that lacks power. The game throws out easy stats to look at with green/red arrows supporting your quick visual scan. It’s a great complement to this style of play and it allows you to truly translate stats on the fly.
Overall, you’ll have plenty of weapons to choose from as you progress forward through Roboquest, and you will know exactly what you’re getting along the way.
Environments that are just a tad sparse
While the guns and controls are smooth as silk, the randomly generated environments, in all their glory, are a tad bit plain. The game features multi-tiered levels that look deeper than they are during gameplay. You’ll go through ruins, canyons, and a bevy of locations on your way to destroying robots and progressing ever so quickly. Not too bad when you think about it.
The plain part of this equation is what is generated along the way. When you die, you go back to the levels you pushed through, and you get a randomly generated map that is random in structure but not in visuals. The map consists of narrow spaces to contain the action, which is great for this game, but also nothing too extravagant to ‘wow’ you visually for long periods. While the action certainly makes up for this lack of unique scenery and visual excitement, it is very much present and prominent the longer you play Roboquest.
I get why the environments may not be as important as they should be and understand that destruction is what you should be focused on. You came for the quick kills and interesting arsenal, not to shoot pictures like you’re playing Pokémon Snap. I mean, there isn’t anything wrong with PS, but that isn’t why you bought the game.
Now, that said, having a bit of level variety would help make the game feel like it’s huge. More details in maps, and more unique and randomly generated structures would help to separate things and make it feel like you’re getting something meaningful with levels. Again, it’s by no means a dealbreaker, especially as enemies get more and more unique through player progression, and they are the real show here, but it’s noticeable.
Just a little bit of difference from level to level would have been nice. I will give props to the number of spaces you can traverse in a single level, which helps to calm the visual dullness of seeing the same type of narrow landscape over and over. Ultimately, it’s not enough to visually entice as you play this game repeatedly. Again, not a dealbreaker, but something that could use some more polish.
Customization and polish
Now, while the environments might need a bit of variety and depth, the customization portion of the game helps to keep the experience consistently positive. There are several upgrades to the player’s basecamp portion of the game, which include additional upgrades and item availability, that help to make the gameplay far more engaging. The basecamp is the wonderful go-between for the player and an oasis of sorts for the player to improve their robot, change classes, toggle difficulty, and acquire additional upgrades for the gameplay. It’s a cool stop to have before and after you play through Roboquest.
As you collect objects from fallen enemies and build up a substantial number of goodies along the way, you begin to gain the ability to expand your go-between space, which helps expand the experience considerably. This could mean more places to work with or possibly health for the robot. It has a lot of upgradeable and unlockable items to choose from, which only stand to build out the gameplay. I didn’t discover this portion of the game until towards the end of the review period, as I was purely focused on getting through levels, but it was impressive considering the style of the game. It motivated me to keep pushing myself forward and had me repeat my efforts until I accomplished my goals of getting faster, more powerful, and overall better.
Anytime a shooter can keep you focused and motivated to return after a considerable number of deaths, then that is a good shooter to play. The customization, unlockables, and upgrades provided this type of motivation. Truly good stuff and great design.
On that note, let’s wrap up this review.
Conclusion
Roboquest from developer RyseUp Studios is a simple, fun, and fast-paced shooter that presses you as much as it rewards you. While not everything in it is gold, there is enough packed into this to make it a fun experience.
