It seems like many independent game developers are trying to incorporate rogue-like elements. To be fair, I’m kind of a sucker for them. I know I’m not the best gamer, but I do enjoy games that give you the opportunity to get better. The latest game to take a different approach is Rogue Eclipse. This is a space shooter that throws you into frantic battles. The problem with it is that it lacks variety.
A story that fails to hold your attention
There’s a story in Rogue Eclipse, but it’s so uninteresting and fails to hold your attention. Every mission is the same: destroy the enemies, then proceed to the next sector. But that’s about it; the structure next deviates too much from that. Arrive in a zone and attempt to destroy the 2-5 major enemy ships that populate the area. Once you finish them off, clear the area of any remaining enemy ships and proceed to the next zone.
The only “change” is when you get close to the end of a “run” and encounter a massive enemy ship. You still need to destroy it, but this time it might have specific items you need to target first before it falls. When you finish a run, you go back to the main menu, and the game expects you to start again.
With the rogue-like elements, you need to go through many runs to get the whole story. But the missions don’t change. You will repeat playing through seven/eight sectors with randomly generated locales. While the locations are random, there are only a handful of them. Worst of all, the levels are small, so you spend most of the time going in circles until you take down every enemy.
You can skip some of the action
What I did like is that if you fall deep into a run, you don’t have to go through all the sectors again. For example, if you reach Sector 5 but fall in combat, on your next run you can skip back to where you last fell. You still need to complete the first sector, but the shortcut is helpful.
At the same time, though, skipping sectors means you miss out on ship upgrades. After finishing a sector, they offer you three random upgrades. As the number of enemy ships increases, you might want to focus on potential upgrades. It’s a risk-vs-reward that I enjoyed since there is no right or wrong.
Runs also unlock changes to your ship, which does allow for some customization. The changes are nominal. Instead of getting permanent upgrades, they change the configuration of your ship. Meaning that if you decide for more firepower, then you sacrifice speed or handling. I have yet to see any upgrades that deck out your ship.
Their next game could be better
Rogue Eclipse feels like a proof of concept rather than a full-fledged game. The lack of variety means you will see the same zones and enemies. This is hard to recommend in its current state. The studio’s next game might be a more fleshed-out and engaging experience.
