It’s utterly asinine.
I played the demo for Rogue Point because the publisher sent me a demo key, but also you can just play the demo on Steam. This is me fulfilling my obligation to review Rogue Point.
I’m mostly being hyperbolic, but not really. Rogue Point is a game that feels like it doesn’t want me to play it. Like the demo was put out as an obligation rather than an advertising tool. It just has a multitude of really dumb design decisions.
Rogue Point bills itself as a roguelike shooter where “high-octane tactical combat meets strategic planning.” It’s not really any of those things. Rather, Rogue Point is a shooter with extremely punishing mechanics that kneecaps the player at every opportunity without much in the way of rewards. And then it makes you want to quit.
To kick off in the “this is awful” world, Rogue Point takes the Counter Strike system of making you buy your gear. Why? Possibly because Crowbar Collective developed Black Mesa so naturally we gotta throw some Valve-ish mechanics in. There’s also gambling mechanics, because…I’m not sure.
It also means you can spend your initial $1,000 on a crate, get absolute trash in return, and immediately screw up your run. And I know what you’re thinking, “Connor I’ll just pick up guns from enemies in a pinch and use those.” You can’t pick up dropped guns from enemies.
Why? Again, because the game seems to thrive on contempt for the player.
But Rogue Point is not a tactical shooter. For starters, enemies don’t use tactics. They take the Half Life 2 approach of just rushing you and since it’s a “hardcore” game they have really good aim. So missions tend to be a game of tanking as many hits as possible to get through.
Second, there’s no aim for a tactical, intelligent approach. You literally don’t have the time. A short timer means you generally have to bum rush the objective, especially on the mall map where the bomb ticks down pretty fast.
Enemies also know where you are at all times. This is a pre-alpha so there’s plenty of development time to make the AI act more realistic, but the moment the action starts everyone knows where you are, always. They can track you through walls even if you’re trying to be stealthy, removing even more of the “tactical” part.
There’s a solid game here, and I don’t want to throw away Rogue Point because this is, after all, a pre-alpha demo. Very early in development. Everything that I think is wrong with the game can be tweaked and refined before the beta and launch, but I also think the average person should hold off on playing this until it’s further along in development otherwise it’s going to paint a negative picture of the game.
Also don’t lock guns behind the weapon gambling.
MMO Fallout 