Mining the confusing stars in Deep Rock Galatic

I'm actually pretty sure we mine asteroids or planetary caverns.  Stars would be tricky. 

Deep Rock Galactic

Date played: Jan 1, 2019
Time played: ~45 minutes
Version: Early Access

What's this all about then?

My brother and I jumped into the game to see what this coop mining shtick is all about.  We are space dwarves mining....something, somewhere in the caverns of some distant asteroid or planet.  There's not much of a plot.  We all work for a big evil corporation and it's cheaper to send in dwarves than robots, apparently.  

What is the primary game play loop?

We're in a dark cavern looking for gold.  We throw flares around to light up the walls until we see a patch that might be gold.  We engage in a movement and platforming game to get to it (different characters have different movement special abilities such as a zipline or a gun that creates platforms on sheer walls).  Then we spend a few seconds mining it and loading it up into our mule.  Then begin throwing flares to look for the next patch.

Occasionally we are interrupted by insectoid monsters that try to bit us, spit acid, or otherwise prove themselves a nuisance.  Then we need to stop what we're doing and shoot them until they leave us alone.

What was the happiest surprise?

The home base where you go to heal and level up between missions is fantastic.  Instead of having an out-of-game menu, there's an actual module where you wander around with your team and you access different panels to spend your money, adjust your load-out, or choose a new mission.  There are also some arcade and circus games to play.  And there's a corporate henchman who chides you over the loudspeaker if you do something particularly foolish or messy.  So much better than a boring menu.

What was the biggest disappointment?

The game really didn't gel for me for three big reasons.  First, the movement was just awkward.  Getting around the caverns is supposed to be a challenge and part of the main game play loop.  But the voxel implementation meant that I spent much of my time stuck in holes and tunnels, trying to figure out where the game engine thought I was colliding so I could dig out more on that side.  I had imagined that we would find chasms and cliffs where the special movement abilities would come in handy, but the procedurally generated caverns were mostly just an undifferentiated slog to get around rather than a series of clever pitfalls.  

Second, there was no suspense or horror.  The darkness and the flares made me think of Minecraft.  Inching forwards with a torch, straining your ears to listen for the noise of creepers or spiders or zombies behind the wall.  Digging one more block forwards.  Then stopping and listening again, always wondering if the next block will plunge you into darkness, unleash monsters, or flood your tunnel with lava.  Instead we just threw flares everywhere, got very confused as to where each other were and where we were going, and eventually found each other again.  Then some monsters dug their way up from the floor in an apparently scripted event that we could not avoid once we completed a certain percentage of the mission.  Eh.

Finally, the actual locating or and mining of minerals just wasn't interesting.  There are no drones or mini maps to point the way.  Instead you simply throw flares at everything until you see something that look different.  Then you need to get up next to it to scan it and see if it's what you are looking for or not.  

What's it good for?

It could be a good casual social game, along the lines of Sea of Thieves.  You aren't doing anything amazingly interesting, but you're doing it together while you talk about your lives.  But it's a little too frantic for that to work perfectly, and overall I'd just recommend Sea of Thieves.

What would be good for it?

I'd be more interested if it were a slower, scarier game.  Flares should be rare or risky.  Night vision should be brief and then require a recharge.  You should be forced to hide in the darkness and listen to the noise of giant monstrosities slivering past.  Sneak out after they're gone and grab the last diamond crystal.  Then begin the treacherous return journey to your ship, where the lights and noise have certainly drawn the attention of something unpleasant.  

Alternatively, it could go the other way and embrace being a fast cooperative platformer, where all the dwarves work together to zipline from platform to platform, cliff face to cliff face.  Maybe the floor could always be solid lava or something like that, but the grab radius for ziplines or similar movement perks could be large enough to make you feel skilled and heroic and you flew through above it.  

Will I play it regularly?

Nope.  Sea of Thieves scratches my casual social itch far better, and Minecraft covers my desire to actually mine and adds more tension and sense of danger as well.