Hopoo Games - 2013 - PC
Risk of Rain is a 2D side scrolling roguelike shooter. Imagine if Spelunky had a bigger emphasis on combat. The object of Risk of Rain is to complete all six of its levels without dying. All of the levels in Risk or Rain are pseudo randomly generated and the monsters and powerups in the level are also randomly generated. In order to advance to the next level, you must find and activate the teleporter hidden in each level. Activating the teleporter summons the level's boss monster, which is also random, and many hordes of enemies. You'll want to be sure you've found enough powerups in the level so you're adequately prepared to fight the boss when you activate the teleporter. But don't spend too much time wandering around looking for powerups because every five minutes or so, the game's difficulty level automatically increases, spawning more tougher and stronger monsters. It creates a nice little time management risk/reward metagame similar to the one that's present in Spelunky. There's also light RPG elements in the game where killing monsters gives you EXP and money. EXP is used to level up your character and get stronger while money can be used to unlock containers scattered around the level to obtain new powerups and items.
Risk of rain can be tackled solo or cooperatively and co-op mode can be played over the internet or couch co-op style. I played the game all three ways, and I must say I enjoyed playing the game co-op more than single player, but the co-op exposes some of the game's flaws. First off, the game doesn't seem to adequately balance the difficulty to account for the extra player(s). It seemed noticeably easier to me co-op as opposed to single player. The other problem is that when one player dies, the other player is left to fend for themselves which isn't really that fun for either player. When one of us died, we usually just restarted the game.
I usually prefer playing games like this couch co-op style, because it's easier to share the experience with another person when they're actually physically present in the room. But the couch co-op mode here has a few problems. The game in general can become a bit hectic with bullets and powerups and enemies flying all over the screen. But when 2 or 3 players all share the same screen, it can become a bit hard to follow and tell what's going on. Also because there's only one camera in the couch co-op mode, all the players have to make an effort to stick together which can be hard to coordinate. The preferable way to play this game seems to be the over the internet multiplayer so that each player has their own camera and is free to explore as they please. Although even the internet multiplayer was a bit tricky to set up initially. You have to figure out your IP and share it with your friends and all that. I had to change some firewall settings and forward some ports as well. The actual implementation of the internet multiplayer here seems a little bare and clunky. It kind of reminded me of how internet gaming was in the late 90s. Maybe I've become spoiled by all these games that handle internet matchmaking with friends very gracefully and smoothly
The controls for Risk of Rain are pretty simple. The default character can jump, shoot, dodge and has two special shooting abilities which are on a cooldown. There are other characters in the game that are unlockable and a slightly different moveset, abilities and statistics.
Summary:
Boiled down to its simplest mechanics, the game is just shooting enemies, looking for powerups and waiting for your cooldowns to recharge. But Risk of Rain is a game that really does feel like it's greater than the sum of its parts. Always competing against the clock gives a constant sense of urgency. Leveling up and unlocking new powerups and items lends a real sense of power and progression throughout the game. Somehow surviving against an impossible number of enemies on screen gives a great sense of accomplishment. Risk of Rain is a mechanically and graphically simple game, but you may end up spending more time than you would think playing it once it gets its hooks into you. Check it out
Risk of rain can be tackled solo or cooperatively and co-op mode can be played over the internet or couch co-op style. I played the game all three ways, and I must say I enjoyed playing the game co-op more than single player, but the co-op exposes some of the game's flaws. First off, the game doesn't seem to adequately balance the difficulty to account for the extra player(s). It seemed noticeably easier to me co-op as opposed to single player. The other problem is that when one player dies, the other player is left to fend for themselves which isn't really that fun for either player. When one of us died, we usually just restarted the game.
I usually prefer playing games like this couch co-op style, because it's easier to share the experience with another person when they're actually physically present in the room. But the couch co-op mode here has a few problems. The game in general can become a bit hectic with bullets and powerups and enemies flying all over the screen. But when 2 or 3 players all share the same screen, it can become a bit hard to follow and tell what's going on. Also because there's only one camera in the couch co-op mode, all the players have to make an effort to stick together which can be hard to coordinate. The preferable way to play this game seems to be the over the internet multiplayer so that each player has their own camera and is free to explore as they please. Although even the internet multiplayer was a bit tricky to set up initially. You have to figure out your IP and share it with your friends and all that. I had to change some firewall settings and forward some ports as well. The actual implementation of the internet multiplayer here seems a little bare and clunky. It kind of reminded me of how internet gaming was in the late 90s. Maybe I've become spoiled by all these games that handle internet matchmaking with friends very gracefully and smoothly
The controls for Risk of Rain are pretty simple. The default character can jump, shoot, dodge and has two special shooting abilities which are on a cooldown. There are other characters in the game that are unlockable and a slightly different moveset, abilities and statistics.
Summary:
Boiled down to its simplest mechanics, the game is just shooting enemies, looking for powerups and waiting for your cooldowns to recharge. But Risk of Rain is a game that really does feel like it's greater than the sum of its parts. Always competing against the clock gives a constant sense of urgency. Leveling up and unlocking new powerups and items lends a real sense of power and progression throughout the game. Somehow surviving against an impossible number of enemies on screen gives a great sense of accomplishment. Risk of Rain is a mechanically and graphically simple game, but you may end up spending more time than you would think playing it once it gets its hooks into you. Check it out
