Rogue Cube Review

Developed and Published by Ratalaika Games and Bipolar Dawnby Rogue Cube is the latest rogue shooter in Ratalaika wheel of games. This is a very simple game where you must take your own rogue cube and fight your way through many randomly generated levels to get to the end. It has very simple cartoonish graphics and enemies seem to quack when you kill them regardless of what they are.

There is no story to this game as it is a no-nonsense action game. You get your choice from 3 cubes which each have their own strengths and weaknesses. There are 6 more cubes which you need to unlock before you can use. Each with their own look and abilities. The controls are simple, you have your shoot, change weapon and a special attack button. Each cube has a special attack which like a dodge or a circular attack or even a teleport move.

The game can be played solo or with others in local multiplayer. There is no online multiplayer although the game jokes about whether there is. There is a lot of different weapons you can pick up and use but you can only carry two at a time. The weapons range from melee, semi-automatic, automatic and just random. By this I mean the melee could be a frying pan or a broom. The semi-automatic could be an assault rifle or a staple gun. The random guns can be a glitch cannon or a rainbow laser beam gun.

The game is super tough and only gives you a small amount of health. Each enemy you kill drops either some ammo, a health pickup and or some experience. The ammo is needed for all the guns you use except the melee ones. The experience eventually allows you to level up which either can increase your max HP or increase the damage you deal. Once you lose all your health the game is over, and you go right back to the start. This means you need to be cautious and have great reflexes if you wish to progress. There is no reward for rushing as you will die many times.

I find the game is just a tad to unforgiving and I assume that might be down to the fact the game is not that long, not that I could reach the end. The low HP is the biggest gripe as even as you level up, I am sure it said that my max HP has increased but it doesn’t actually increase and certainly doesn’t feel like it. You notice this as you come across enemies that swarm in the later levels as you can become overwhelmed very easily and the health will last only milliseconds. The special moves are sometimes more hassle than they are worth as they dive you into danger.

Conclusion

Rogue Cube is a very tough but simple rogue shooter. It is aimed at those who want a quick and aggressive challenge. It encourages you to keep coming back to get further along in-game as you master the cautious approach. But for most, it will either be too difficult to be fun or once you have completed the game it is unlikely you will be back.

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox One console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.