Rive

It's always a shame to see a company hand in their final game, but Two Tribe's RIVE is a fantastic swan song. Featuring some tight shooting and platforming with difficult and creative fights and some really entertaining and well-acted characters, RIVE shouldn't be missed by anyone looking for a fast-paced explosive romp.

Bullet Heaven

Sadly, it seems that Two Tribes’ has long last crafted the game they were longing to make all along. Though, this also serves to be their last game, as they have confirmed multiple times that once RIVE was completed, the studio would cease to be. That said if Two Tribes’ plan was to go out with a loud and glorious bang, they have succeeded in doing just that. Gamers would enjoy platforming games with some SHMUP elements will be right at home with RIVE. Sadly, the ride is over just when you’re getting into the groove. Thankfully the game does include several modes that will provide a few extra ...

RIVE is a fun, albeit really challenging blend of space shooter and platformer. The intense challenge early on might turn off less experienced players, but those who want a great challenge should enjoy it. Just get used to having blue-colored drones explode in your face quite a bit.

Rive is a retro styled platforming shooter that features fast-paced action and polished mechanics. While it shines in many aspects mechanically, some of the level design is imperfect and the inherent challenge often hinges on surprise obstacles. The experience is unquestionably solid, but many people may be turned off by the difficulty and the need to memorize the level through successive failures to progress past certain points.

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As the last game Two Tribes will ever make, the few remaining employees there can hold their heads high with what they created. It’s not the best game in its catalog, and the difficulty will be a turn-off for many, but Rive leaves its mark as one of the more challenging games of this generation. Gluttons for punishment will have no trouble eating it up, but others should satiate their appetite elsewhere.

The effort that went into creating Rive is apparent, from the art to the music to the precise controls, but it manages to be extremely punishing without enough sense of reward and the depth of options in combat are substandard. The story is an afterthought and the characters’ seeming self-awareness of that doesn’t connect with enough of a comedic punch to save it. It’s a side-scrolling shooter with stock parts that I don’t foresee leaving a mark on the genre, but is at least worth a spin if you’ve got the patience for it and a thirst for a major challenge.

And there is never a moment when Roughshot is not being bombarded by laser beams and space trash. It is literally one onslaught after another. Edge of your seat entertainment in bursts, but really exhausting after awhile. In about two hours, I saw the death screen more times than through all of Dark Souls III. And, unfortunately, I found myself getting annoyed rather than enthralled with each passing death. Even with the very generous checkpoints, Rive failed to give me that sense of satisfaction after finally passing a difficult segment. Especially since most situations felt more like trial a...

Some games are made just to tempt gamers to throw their controllers. Rive offers intense twin-stick shooting gameplay but does it provide a fair enough challenge?

Rive doesn’t quite reach its full potential, but shoot ’em up fans should give it a go anyway. The frustrating difficulty spikes are hard to ignore, but when it comes together, it’s a fantastic fast-paced corridor shooter which could have been considered one of the best 2D shooters in recent years. Either way, it’s a good send off and farewell for Two Tribes.

Rive is an intense and demanding shooter that requires the player to be at their best of they want to triumph. Facing the onslaught of dangerous enemies and hazardous environments where you’ll have to think quickly or die are frequent and intense. Leaderboards and a speed run options are available for those wishing for a greater challenge. Though the jumping mechanic seems too heavy and specific events can feel unfair Rive is a great shoot-em-up with a lot of memorable moments.