Risk of Rain

The development team, Hopoo Games, consists only of two people and a sound designer. That’s a team of three, two of which are definitely students. A group of three people, including at least two students, can produce what I deem as a practically infallible game. I just wanted to highlight that fact (hint-hint Blast ‘Em Bunnies devs). It’s hard to find fault with this game; the most I can complain ...

But any time Risk of Rain loses its sheen, you can always start again, with a new character. You can always go online with friends and enjoy the game's robust co-op mode. And starting that new game is always so appealing because of the slow opening. You're free to warm up, to find your first few items, and see where this game is going, before things slowly accelerate into panic, dread and near-ine...

Risk and reward.

All things considered, Risk of Rain is a lot of fun. Though it is held back by its technical faults (which can be reasonably expected from a project created by two students), it has the right stuff to elicit the “just one more run” response that roguelike games are known for. With a little more polish, it could be truly great, but as it is now, it’s still totally worth checking out.

These blemishes are annoying, but they’re minor compared to what Risk of Rain has accomplished. It mixes together the challenge, randomness and discovery that make roguelikes so endlessly replayable, but in a form that also feels more welcoming. Even with over 15 hours under my belt, I’ve still got classes left to unlock, items left to find and plenty of meta-game strategy to master. I’ve been sca...