A genre that has been popular for quite some time especially on PC is that of roguelikes, whose long wave has had a certain The Binding of Isaac as its main promoter in the last decade. Thanks to the procedural generation of levels, a large number of items and other game variants, the countless exponents of the genre can easily capture the interest of legions of players, snatching them within their warm and welcoming embrace for dozens if not hundreds of hours. A roguelike, however, is based on very fragile balances and getting the right formula right is therefore not easy at all.. In fact, a moment is really enough to ruin the balance of the game, overshadowing the positive aspects of the work in question. A good roguelike, however, has all the credentials to become a great little commercial success and, with these intentions, Danger Scavenger, a top down shooter with roguelike mechanics and cyberpunk aesthetics, arrives on the market today. A mix, therefore, at least on paper irresistible.
Danger Scavenger: roguelike but not only
Danger Scavenger to the test of the facts is exactly as we expected: fresh, dynamic and particularly adrenaline. The top down shooter skeleton is in fact more than successful and blends well with the structure of the levels, which go into the work of Star Drifters to wind among the roofs of futuristic cities full of lights and neon. Unlike other similar titles, where the procedural nature of the various game areas is married to a proceeding within them that is, after all, linear, in Danger Scavenger we will be faced over and over again in the course of our crossroads adventures, in which we will decide how to proceed within the game. This possibility of choice gives the title a decisive and very welcome dose of replayability, with the players who will then be able to decide in total freedom which rooms to face, what type of rewards to receive and, also, which gill of opponents to add to the enemy ranks. We will in fact be the architects of our matches and it will be up to us to choose whether to risk our lives for a potentially useful object or if instead take the easy way towards the inevitable boss of the level. Bosses who unfortunately are certainly not the flagship of the title and who are characterized more by the large amount of health points than for some other more noble reason.
Obviously, several handfuls of weapons could not be missing in a title like this, with our predators who will be able to equip themselves with a fair amount of offensive tools to demolish any enemy resistance. Among assault rifles, laser pistols, bazookas and much more, the choice is in fact quite wide and, fortunately, the same can also be said of the various items, also present in large quantities both in terms of number and type. . During the levels of Danger Scavenger we will in fact be able to find both passive boosts, such as upgrades to aim or damage, and companions, such as automatic turrets. Finally, we also add objects with cooldowns, such as aerial bombardments or invisibility blankets, which we can use to remove ourselves from the most thorny situations. Of course, don't expect the myriad of objects and possibilities of The Binding of Isaac at all, but what Star Drifters set up is still more than satisfactory from this point of view.
Another point in which Danger Scavenger differs from most of the most famous roguelikes is that relating to the presence of a central hub between one level and another, where we will be able to sell the useless items obtained shortly before, craft new ones and upgrade our equipment. This is not anything transcendental or innovative, but rather a valuable addition that allows players to have even more grip on their destiny. thus also partially reducing the risk of frustration in some particularly unhappy game.
Is everything perfect then? Not really
Unfortunately, Danger Scavenger is not perfect and the work of Star Drifters in fact presents several problems. In fact, during our numerous game sessions we ran into two really annoying bugs more and more times: the first prevented us from continuing from a room despite having eliminated every opponent present in it, while the second caused an upside-down turret to appear, thus inhibiting us from hitting it with most of the weapons in the game. As easily imaginable there are two bugs, more the first than the second, which forced us to restart the game several times from scratch, losing very promising games and the progress of even more than an hour of play. These problems will probably be resolved by return of post, and we do not feel therefore to condemn the title too much for them, having tried it anyway before the official release, but it is undeniable how rarely we have been faced with such debilitating bugs during some reviews.
Another weakness of Danger Scavenger is the design of the various enemies, with the antagonists of the opera who all look a bit alike, sometimes making it difficult to identify out of the corner of the eye which danger we are facing. The levels, although artistically nice and different from each other thanks to the procedural generation, are then full of obstacles that are difficult to observe in the most excited moments of the game and they will cost us more than a few games due to the poor readability of some sections of the title. An applause goes instead to the soundtrack which, although not excellent, knows how to be pounding and pressing at the right point and well knows how to accompany the players in their crazy missions between the roofs of Danger Scavenger.
