For Rock and Stone! – Deep Rock Galactic Brief Review

Danger, Darkness, Dwarves. Developed by Ghost Ship Games and published by Coffee Stain, Deep Rock Galactic is an action adventure, mining, first person shooter game.  With an unique artistic graphical choice and a hardy dwarven theme adds a nice touch. Officially fully released May 13th, 2020, this game exploded with positive reviews and is known as a must try for friends and lovers of player versus environment.

• My First Thoughts 

The first time I even looked at this game I didn’t attempt to watch the game-play trailers or read any reviews. I simply just glanced at the screen shots and thought it was a cheap indy game with mediocre graphics, and what looked like only dwarfs in giant caves, which didn’t catch my interest.  A friend of mine convinced me we should give it a try because it had such positive reviews. “Overwhelmingly positive” on steam.  I was pretty shocked to find the gameplay quite enjoyable. 

• Gameplay

  You and your team of fellow dwarfs are sent down into giant caverns to mine minerals and fight off massive swarms of bug-like creatures .  There are four different classes/dwarfs to choose from.  You have the Scout, Engineer, Driller, and Gunner.  Each class has its own assortment of weapons and tools that all perform best when working together as a team.  I love how the developers forced players to cooperate with each other using this method. It adds to the teamplay aspect of the game, but don’t be worried if you have to play on your own. Solo players are given a special drone that helps aid you in collecting minerals and fighting off swarms of enemies. I have two friends who both think playing solo is much more convenient because they don’t have to rely on the collaboration of random people online.  Now of course this game is much more enjoyable to play with friends, and if you can get a group of four friends to team up; you’re bound to have a blast with some laughs and great team work. Finishing the objectives and calling back the drop pod will complete your mission and gain you rewards and experience. This game is all about the grind. Completing missions and assignments gets you the minerals and experience needed to upgrade guns, customize your dwarf, and eventually unlock deep dive operations. Deep dives are basically 3 missions back-to-back for one long mission. You can only obtain these missions by leveling up a dwarf high enough to get a promotion. Very similar to prestige in Call of Duty or the star system in Overwatch.

• Small But Amusing

One of the very small aspects of DeepRock Galactic that I love is the ability to just horse around between missions in the Space Rig. The Space Rig is where players hangout in between missions. Drink beer, dance, explore, there’s even a barrel kicking mini game.  The many different kinds of beers you can drink do much more than just get you drunk. From crazy effects like catching fire or teleporting around the rig, to some beers giving you buffs to increase stats while you’re on your next mission. I really think this was a great way to add something humorous but also meaningful and helpful to the overall game style and atmosphere. 

• Overall

In summary; Deep Rock Galactic is a very enjoyable action shooter and best played with friends. With comedic side activities that add to the style of the game. The progression is satisfying and keeps you coming back to play again and again. I definitely recommend Deep Rock to people who enjoy team based PVE shooters with a light hearted style, great replayability and mining aspects.

Have you tried Deep Rock Galactic? What’s your opinion on the game? Let me know in the comments below!