A High-Octane FPS That Nails the Roguelite Formula

Derelict. Abandoned. You don’t recall any of this. Still, you must journey through the ISS- X ship, cleanse it of the robotic evil and uncover your past. This is the scene set in the introduction to the FPS, roguelite hybrid, Deadzone: Rogue.

You take the mantle of this aforementioned amnesiac soldier, shooting, blasting and stealthily manoeuvring your way through each section of this mysterious ship. Three zones, thirty rooms in each, and just yourself to rely on getting through. It’s a perfect setting for a roguelite, and what better way to reinforce that through your starting area, a cozy room at the end of a ship, also operating as a hub for the classic rogue-lite upgrades, skins and your base of operations.

Simple Kit, Deep Customisation

As you examine your room, getting comfy with the movement and mechanics along the way, three base difficulty options are offered: adventure, normal, and hard, each – as you could guess – becoming progressively more difficult. Upon deciding, you’ll most likely have memorised your move-set now, consisting of the typical FPS abilities. Shoot, melee, jump, grenade and dash are the extent the core kit of moves goes to, however as you begin your first run, you’ll realise that’s all you need.

As you journey into the various zones of the ship, you’re introduced to the main gimmick of the title, also operating as the roguelite mechanic, the loot-drop system. As typically seen in the genre, you journey through rooms (or sectors as they’re dubbed in this) with completion granting a reward, be it a skill perk, an augment or perk orb increasing one aspect of your move-set or giving you perks respectively, and finally a new stylish boom-stick to take foes on with. Let’s go through all these a little deeper to see what gives Deadzone: Rogue a unique identity.

A Brilliant Gunplay System

A boom-stick of course refers to your trusty… rifle? Shotgun? Weapon. With such a diverse range of weapons accessible it’s easy to get confused. They’re split into primary and secondary classes, with big, beefy behemoths such as a shotgun or an assault rifle taking up your primary, and a get out of jail free card residing in that secondary slot in the form of pistols. A melee weapon is also available for use, granted I found them to be quite lacking in brute force leaving very certain circumstances to call for them.

Each weapon will come with pre-determined buffs, allowing for elemental damage, or simple benefits to using that weapon, each of which will change with every run. Gunplay is fun, fast and frantic, bringing the arcade shooter roots to the forefront and providing one blast (pun intended) of a time. Variety in weaponry, buffs and just about every other aspect of combat culminate in every run enticing you to trial a different type of weapon altogether.

Companion Bots and Core Builds

Skill perks, augment orbs and perk orbs are largely one and the same; they each offer the ability for upgrades and bonuses, with the orbs delving into more niche areas such as elemental damage (known as PROC which essentially means random chance), or grenade/shield bonuses to slowly develop a build. My personal favourite among these came in the form of little robot companions that accompany you, not only for their cute, pleasant company, but for the sole fact they could take hits from bosses and waves of enemies leaving me free to light them up with my weapons. When the combination of vast weaponry range and diverse, focused perks meet, a brilliant gunplay system is produced, allowing for some of the most fleshed out combat in any roguelite I’ve played.

To add to the depth, between every few rooms a checkpoint and system knows as a fabricator can be found. A fabricator allows you to buy specific items with the currency acquired during runs, upgrade the level or quality of your current items, or even re-roll the buffs on them. It’s a small yet needed addition to add the final finishing blow to any chance of staleness occurring.

From Fodder to Fear

It’s all well and good having an in-depth combat system, but what can you use these various fleshed out systems to fight? Thankfully this is another aspect Deadzone: Rogue doesn’t disappoint with.

You can view enemies in three categories: base enemies, elite enemies and bosses. Base enemies are your simple, standard foes, the equivalent of fodder enemies from DOOM, usually taking a hit or two to take out. Amongst these, ground bound, flying and explosive variants occur, spread out through different designs and abilities. Elite enemies are much sturdier, they’ll typically act as a mini boss of a room, requiring a magazine or two of an assault rifle to eradicate.

Finally, bosses. These foes are a huge headache in the best way possible, designed with distinct abilities and appearances (that spider one gives me nightmares), they will be the sole focus of a room give or take of few cronies alongside them. Each enemy type or variant slot together to create a jigsaw of bullets, guts and horror awaiting you in your next room.

Longevity

Expanding appropriately on the sequence of rooms you enter, they’re randomly selected sector designs which appear in every run. One run may see you enter through a maze-like room where there are multiple pathways, all leading to the same destination, or you could be blessed with a zigzagging narrow corridor which is easy to follow. The resulting effect is a unique playing experience on each run, yet forfeiting any intentionally flowing rooms. 

Two decisions were made to Deadzone: Rogue in the hopes of keeping replayability through more content, data logs and tech masteries. Data logs are what you’d expect, about one-hundred data logs to help you piece the story together are scattered through random rooms for you to find during runs. And alongside these, tech parts may also be picked up. Tech can be used in the aforementioned cozy hub you return to in typical roguelite form upon every death, allowing for tech masteries which grant permanent upgrades ranging from extra health to more damage. The pair of additions definitely work in creating an experience with increased replay value, yet I still eventually found myself hit with boredom.

A Brilliant FPS Roguelite with a Cooperative Cure

This is where, arguably the main selling point of Deadzone: Rogue comes into play – multiplayer. You can team up with your friends to journey through the abandoned ship, with up to three or four times the gunslinging goodness gracing your runs. When such strong single player gameplay interactions, yet ultimately bores you, multiplayer is the perfect remedy to exhaustion.

Deadzone: Rogue carefully combines FPS conventions with roguelite goodness through fleshed-out gunplay, hyper-focused builds from the plethora of perks, and a cozy overarching hub for upgrades. Even the few failures in level design and bit of boredom this title does face, can’t deny the sheer enjoyment it will bring you.

Important Links

Fight. Die. Revive. Repeat. Co-op Roguelite FPS Deadzone: Rogue Blasts onto Xbox & PS5 – https://www.thexboxhub.com/fight-die-revive-repeat-co-op-roguelite-fps-deadzone-rogue-blasts-onto-xbox-ps5/

Buy Deadzone: Rogue from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/deadzone-rogue/9nj98blx9lth

Go Deluxe – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/deadzone-rogue-deluxe-edition/9NXZ4ZG619J8/0010