Deadzone: Rogue is a roguelike FPS that takes you into the depth of space. Waking up with no recollection of who you are, or even WHERE you are, make your way through waves of enemies both mechanical and biological to figure out what the hell has happened and why you're here. Both developed and published by Prophecy Games, they've come into the FPS Roguelike space with guns blazing. As a massive fan of the genre, I was eager to sink my teeth into this one, and what I thought I was walking into did NOT end up being what I walked away with. Sinking a total over well over 30 hours of playtime into this review - with more to easily come - there is plenty to cover.

What exactly is going on here? What are these things... and where did they come from? 

Finding yourself awake on a spaceship that seems familiar yet shrouded in mystery, work your way through core zone mission, as well as side missions that take you deeper into the bowls of the ship. Along the way, you'll uncover Data Pads that feed you lore that you slowly can begin to piece together. It all starts innocently enough,  with food fabricators that could have used some testing pre launch to posting to social media accounts. However, as you delve deeper, things creeping beneath the surface start to come to light. You'll also come across visual aides in the environment to pull you into the story, though they seem to be much more specifically placed, whereas the Data Logs can be at random, and instanced in Co-Op.

Never underestimate the "Roomba".

The Cockpit area is where your central HUB is located, and the sigh you will be greeted with upon each impending death. This is where you will manage your missions, upgrade your stats and trinkets, as well as shower your one true friend, Planty, with words of affirmation.  The user interface of the missions as well as the stat upgrades is really easy to understand, and despite my initial hesitance at being awarded "shards" of trinkets for upgrades, you will have more than enough through mere gameplay alone. The systems in places are lacking frills, but are efficient and easy to understand- and that's really all that's needed. The same can be said with mission management, being clustered into multiple Zones. Currently Zone 1 and Zone 2 are available through Early Access, with Zone 3 being released later in development. Beyond each "story" mission, there are also challenges that will test your ability with various weapons, and situations. Though initially I found it frustrating, it did push me outside of my usual playstyle, and teaches players how to utilize other strategies.

Your one and only reliable friend on the entire ship: Planty.

Through my time spent with Deadzone, I found a ton of fantastic elements the folks at Prophecy Games have brought to the table.  Movement is absolutely buttery and a sheer joy. While I initially disliked the sprint mechanic, (it functions as a burst dash) over time I really found it useful in maneuverability, and quickly seeking cover in high-fire situations. Gunplay feels fantastic, from hipfire to ADS, I was pleased with how the gun functionality felt through and through. Melee became a personal favourite of mine, though I sincerely wish there were more options when it came to weapon choice. What augments the play the most is... well...Augments. Through an initial Augment choice, you can drastically change what will benefit your weapon and playstyle most, and from there, flesh out that choice through a selection of 3 Primary Perks. Each of the perks then has a selection of  secondary choices that allow you to even further customize you play. While there is some "luck of the draw" involved, you can just about make any build successful with some thought, especially when you've spend some time in game.

Between augments, abilities, trinkets, and to-be-released synergies, there's plenty of ways to make a build work.

There was a lot of thought put into the story as well, and while some may clump it under a bit of a "troupe", I feel it was executed in a way (so far) that has me wanting more. It's phenomenally crafted, and while I feel that the story lead in Zone 1 was lacking, players are absolutely drenched with partial reveals in Zone 2. Sadly there is such a stark difference, it leaves you wondering how and why the initial zone was so incredibly weak in terms of plot development. I feel like there could be a MUCH stronger lead-in, and potentially in an attempt to leave an air of mystery and confusion, it just washes what could have been a well-built initial plot. Despite that, I think it can be something polished on it's way out of Early access- and even if it's not, as long as the upcoming Zone 3 is as well done as the prior, I would be more than happy.

Zone 1, and all the specialty missions you can take. Some names do give a hint of what they entail...

While I had an overwhelmingly positive overview of Deadzone in it's entirety, that was not to say that I saw some places where some adjustments could be made. As mentioned above, the story elements in Zone 1 are insanely weak as compared to Zone 2. This also extends to the complexity of enemies. While most in the first Zone are fairly commonplace and "vanilla", Zone 2 introduces some crazy mechanics that you learn to deal with on the fly like enemy fabricators, teleportation and other niches that make your approach to combat far more interesting. I found it caught me off guard, but also made me wonder yet again why some of the spice wasn't shared with the prior area. Some of the voicework can feel like it falls flat, wishing for a much more emotional delivery. One of the biggest qualms I found myself having was the animation clip you are welcomed with every start of a new run, grasping your head, dizzy with blurred vision. Perhaps it would work when major plot points are revealed, but at the start of every run begins to wear incredibly thin.

You will die often, and frequently. And often right when you want to the least.

Overall, while at glace,  being in Early Access it could be easy to dismiss Deadzone: Rogue as not having nearly enough content to warrant a purchase, especially at $24.99 USD. However, for sitting at over 30 hours of game time, I would argue that fans of the genre will more than get their moneys worth. With fine-  tuned controls and enough plot intrigue to have you poking for me, there is a lot of ambition behind this project, and i sincerely cannot wait to see where it goes during it's remainder of time in development. The developers are active, and at the time of writing there is a major update on the slate for the week of May 26th in celebration of Zombies vs. Vampires Fest. In addition, there is co-op available. While not perfect and still requiring a little fine tuning, I had a literal and figurative blast making my way through the ship with a friend! In short: If you are a Roguelike lover, I would be hard pressed to pass up a title like this!

DEADZONE: Rogue is currently available in Early Access on the Steam Marketplace for $24.99 USD.