Originally posted by Mission Control:

"A game about mining? More like Beard Simulator 2020."

After over 400 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hours (almost over 800 1000 now) on this beaut, Deep Rock Galactic is without a doubt one of the best early access titles on Steam and has quickly become one of my all-time favorite games. There's so much to this game that I can barely get into it all without creating a 24-page essay! This review is already pretty extensive, so if you're sticking with me... buckle up.

• The general gameplay has good progression and customization
  
• The levels are all very unique and diverse for many reasons
  
• Heavily encouraged cooperative gameplay
  
• Action-packed wave sweeper combat
  
• Incredibly distinct sound design for all the enemies
  
• Staple exit procedure and plentiful rewards

As said before, there are four different classes in the game: Driller, Engineer, Gunner, and Scout. Each dwarf has specialized weaponry and unique equipment that help get the job done. All of their equipment can be modified to make them more effective or change the way the item is used entirely. Additionally you can earn special perks that apply minor or major buffs to make your dwarfs more effective in game. Level up your dwarfs by completing missions (levels/matches) and assignments (quests) and earn credits and resources to acquire better gear and upgrade preexisting ones. Most importantly, you can purchase a plethora of glorious beards and other hairy devices, facial or otherwise, to apply to your dwarfs.

There are five eight different mission types with their own unique objective as well as a randomly selected secondary objective. With each game having a randomly generated, completely destructible map, as well as a dozen or so random mutators, this game has a surprising amount of replay value. Once you've selected a mission from one of the eight ten unique biomes, you can hop onto your drop pod and drop down into Hoxxes IV, whether that be on your own with your personal assistant drone Bosco or with a team. Once you arrive it's up to you and your team to traverse the biome your mission takes place in. Each biome has it's own unique atmosphere and environment, dangerous hazards to be weary of, and exotic scenery. It's also worth adding that the generated terrain is just absolutely sublime and vigorous. Ghost Ship Games has hit the nail on the head with the level generation. It's awesome.

One of the highlight features that I just absolutely LOVE about this game is it's incredibly encouraged team-based gameplay. I love team-based mechanics in games and Deep Rock Galactic is no exception. Each class has unique mobility tools that can be used along side other classes to get around. A great example of this is the Engineer's platform gun and the Scout's grappling hook. In combination of each other, you can throw down platforms underneath high up resources for the Scout to easily grapple up to and collect. There's plenty of other examples of this such as how repairing/building machinery or reviving teammates is significantly faster when done together or how items that have to be heaved around are easier to transport if tossed between teammates rather than carried the whole way.

The combat aspect of Deep Rock Galactic is also amazing. And I'm not calling everything "amazing" willy-nilly either. When I complement this game, it's because it's ran over a thousand marathons to earn it. There are dozens of different enemies to face off against which invoke different responses when fighting them. There are the basic Grunts that just spawn in hordes and charge at you, but from there on all other enemies are quite unique. There's the big, armored, Praetorians that deal heavy damage and spray acid at you which you either have to shoot them in the face or in their weakspot on the rear. There's the small but chaotic Swarmers and Shockers which spawn in numbers and overwhelm you and your team. There's the Webspitters and Acidspitters which hide in the shadows and shoot you from a distance. There's the Mactera Swarm that fly around in spastic movements and fire spike projectiles. All the enemies are overall very unique. Even the basic grunts have alternative counterparts with their own unique attributes.

Additionally, a less notable but equally remarkable feature is that every single enemy has an incredibly distinct auditory cue that you can listen for. One of the best examples of this is the Bulk Detonator. It's a ginormous, powerful, and explosive monster that semi-rarely spawns but can be detrimental when it does. It has this very distinctive, deep, garbled cackling noise. For experienced players, this is an immediate cue to call it out as a possible threat.

Once you've completed your objectives, grabbed as much gold as you can carry, and groomed your beards, you can press the big red button located on your handy depository robot the M.U.L.E., or more commonly referred to as Molly, to confirm your ready to leave and call in the Drop Pod to pick you up. When the drop pod arrives, Molly will head towards it leaving behind a trail of blinking light posts for you to follow. You have five minutes to make your way to the escape pod with your hard earned valuables and your less profitable but equally valuable lives. Once the MULE is secured, the doors will open and you can hop on board to be extracted. Some mission types have unique completion procedures such as holding out til the pod arrives or repairing the drop pod itself so you can leave, too. Completing the mission rewards you for actions done in the mission such as enemies killed or gold mined with a sum of credits that can be used to purchase mods, new gear, or cosmetics, and experience to level up your dwarfs which in turn increases your player rank. Additionally, any crafting resources you gather in the mission are yours to keep.

There are so many things I could talk about in this game: the dwarfs, the epic music, the attention to detail, endgame rewards, the assignments, etc. I'd highly recommend you just try it for yourself, because believe me it is so worth it. For the most part Ghost Ship Games is going for triple A title quality. I think it's very important to mention however that this game is unspokenly really, really, REALLY ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ long. Missions require at minimum a good 15-20 minutes to complete. As for the average game, it can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. It's never talked about and honestly this gets in my way alot cuz I don't always have the time to do a full match.

Nonetheless, it is one hell of a game with so much crammed into it for just an Early Access game. It's been out for almost two four years now and it's just getting better and better as the days go by. If you're willing to spend some hours on lengthy missions with in-depth team-based gameplay mechanics, intense swarm sweeping combat, and dwarfurious devotion to the art of the beard, I highly recommend it!

[quote=Mission Control][url=https://youtu.be/o4olNe83KX0?t=347]"A game about mining? More like Beard Simulator 2020."[/url][/quote] After over [i]400 god damn hours[/i] [b]([strike]almost[/strike] over [strike]800[/strike] 1000 now)[/b] on this beaut, Deep Rock Galactic is without a doubt one of the best [strike]early access[/strike] titles on Steam and has quickly become one of my all-time favorite games. There's so much to this game that I can barely get into it all without creating a 24-page essay! This review is already pretty extensive, so if you're sticking with me... [b]buckle up.[/b] [h1]What's so great about this game?[/h1] [list] [*]The general gameplay has good progression and customization [*]The levels are all very unique and diverse for many reasons [*]Heavily encouraged cooperative gameplay [*]Action-packed wave sweeper combat [*]Incredibly distinct sound design for all the enemies [*]Staple exit procedure and plentiful rewards [/list] [h1]Gameplay[/h1] As said before, there are four different classes in the game: Driller, Engineer, Gunner, and Scout. Each dwarf has specialized weaponry and unique equipment that help get the job done. All of their equipment can be modified to make them more effective or change the way the item is used entirely. Additionally you can earn special perks that apply minor or major buffs to make your dwarfs more effective in game. Level up your dwarfs by completing missions [i](levels/matches)[/i] and assignments [i](quests)[/i] and earn credits and resources to acquire better gear and upgrade preexisting ones. Most importantly, you can purchase a plethora of glorious beards and other hairy devices, [i]facial or otherwise,[/i] to apply to your dwarfs. [h1]Levels[/h1] There are [strike]five[/strike] eight different mission types with their own unique objective as well as a randomly selected secondary objective. With each game having a randomly generated, completely destructible map, as well as a dozen or so random mutators, this game has a surprising amount of replay value. Once you've selected a mission from one of the [strike]eight[/strike] ten unique biomes, you can hop onto your drop pod and drop down into Hoxxes IV, whether that be on your own with your personal assistant drone Bosco or with a team. Once you arrive it's up to you and your team to traverse the biome your mission takes place in. Each biome has it's own unique atmosphere and environment, dangerous hazards to be weary of, and exotic scenery. It's also worth adding that the generated terrain is just absolutely sublime and vigorous. Ghost Ship Games has hit the nail on the head with the level generation. It's awesome. [h1]Teamwork[/h1] One of the highlight features that I just absolutely [b]LOVE[/b] about this game is it's incredibly encouraged team-based gameplay. I love team-based mechanics in games and Deep Rock Galactic is no exception. Each class has unique mobility tools that can be used along side other classes to get around. A great example of this is the Engineer's platform gun and the Scout's grappling hook. In combination of each other, you can throw down platforms underneath high up resources for the Scout to easily grapple up to and collect. There's plenty of other examples of this such as how repairing/building machinery or reviving teammates is significantly faster when done together or how items that have to be heaved around are easier to transport if tossed between teammates rather than carried the whole way. [h1]Combat[/h1] The combat aspect of Deep Rock Galactic is also amazing. And I'm not calling everything [i]"amazing"[/i] willy-nilly either. When I complement this game, [b]it's because it's ran over a thousand marathons to earn it.[/b] There are dozens of different enemies to face off against which invoke different responses when fighting them. There are the basic Grunts that just spawn in hordes and charge at you, but from there on all other enemies are quite unique. There's the big, armored, Praetorians that deal heavy damage and spray acid at you which you either have to shoot them in the face or in their weakspot on the rear. There's the small but chaotic Swarmers and Shockers which spawn in numbers and overwhelm you and your team. There's the Webspitters and Acidspitters which hide in the shadows and shoot you from a distance. There's the Mactera Swarm that fly around in spastic movements and fire spike projectiles. All the enemies are overall very unique. Even the basic grunts have alternative counterparts with their own unique attributes. Additionally, a less notable but equally remarkable feature is that every single enemy has an incredibly distinct auditory cue that you can listen for. One of the best examples of this is [b]the Bulk Detonator.[/b] It's a ginormous, powerful, and explosive monster that semi-rarely spawns but can be detrimental when it does. It has this very distinctive, deep, garbled cackling noise. For experienced players, this is an immediate cue to call it out as a possible threat. [h1]Winning Games[/h1] Once you've completed your objectives, grabbed as much gold as you can carry, and groomed your beards, you can press the big red button located on your handy depository robot the M.U.L.E., [i]or more commonly referred to as Molly,[/i] to confirm your ready to leave and call in the Drop Pod to pick you up. When the drop pod arrives, Molly will head towards it leaving behind a trail of blinking light posts for you to follow. You have five minutes to make your way to the escape pod with your hard earned valuables and your less profitable but equally valuable lives. Once the MULE is secured, the doors will open and you can hop on board to be extracted. Some mission types have unique completion procedures such as holding out til the pod arrives or repairing the drop pod itself so you can leave, too. Completing the mission rewards you for actions done in the mission such as enemies killed or gold mined with a sum of credits that can be used to purchase mods, new gear, or cosmetics, and experience to level up your dwarfs which in turn increases your player rank. Additionally, any crafting resources you gather in the mission are yours to keep. [h1]Final Notes[/h1] There are so many things I could talk about in this game: the dwarfs, the epic music, the attention to detail, endgame rewards, the assignments, etc. I'd highly recommend you just try it for yourself, because believe me it is so worth it. For the most part Ghost Ship Games is going for triple A title quality. I think it's very important to mention however that [b]this game is unspokenly [i]really, really, REALLY[/i] god damn long. Missions require at minimum a good 15-20 minutes to complete. As for the average game, it can last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.[/b] It's never talked about and honestly this gets in my way alot cuz I don't always have the time to do a full match. Nonetheless, it is one hell of a game with so much crammed into it [strike]for just an Early Access game[/strike]. It's been out for almost [strike]two[/strike] four years now and it's just getting better and better as the days go by. If you're willing to spend some hours on lengthy missions with in-depth team-based gameplay mechanics, intense swarm sweeping combat, and dwarfurious devotion to the art of the beard, I highly recommend it! [h1]ROCK AND STONE, MINER![/h1]