Rogue Continuum, which just released on Steam’s Early Access program for $9.99, is yet another in a long list of indie games in development that attempt to emulate games of the past. This twin-stick style shooter combines retro graphics and gameplay with contemporary bravado, genres and features.
Rogue Continuum
Developer: Rocktastic Games
Price: $9.99 (Early Access)
Platform: PC
MonsterVine was supplied with a PC code for preview.
The basic story behind Rogue Continuum is a popular one among indie games, although it is unique in its presentation. I would give a spoiler heads-up, but most of this is covered while booting up the game. Essentially, some unknown alien baddies have blown up the planet Earth some time in our future. An elite team of four have managed to escape the explosion with Humanity’s best kept secret, an advanced spacecraft that can go back exactly 28 days in time. What is our elite team’s solution to Earth’s destruction? Kill every known species in the galaxy that could potentially be a threat in an effort to stop it from every happening. This genocidal story would probably be offensive if it weren’t for the game’s obvious, and often hilarious, over-the-top presentation.
This goofy, macho and ridiculous style can be seen in nearly every aspect of the game, from the storyline to each individual character. Our team consists of: a Duke Nukem-esque character, complete with huge arms and a bad attitude; an African-American intellectual with a monocle, an old-fashioned mustache and a chainsaw for an arm; a behemoth of a robot who enjoys vaporizing foes; and a female sniper who I can only compare to Black Widow, except she has blue hair. Each character plays in naturally unique ways, and are quite fleshed out for an indie title. When playing this title in 4-player co-op a real sense of teamwork is present, due in part to the ridiculous challenges the game presents you with.
Almost every mission starts with a single objective, 
eliminate everything on the planet. While that may sound straightforward, it’s not quite that simple. For one thing, most things tend to shoot back at you, a lot. Not only do they shoot, but they run around like little maniacs most of the time. This is incredibly challenging, yet do-able, while solo, but the fun goes way up when playing with friends. Not only do they lighten the load, but the unique abilities and appearances of all 4 characters of the screen at once is something to behold.
What surprised me most about this game, other than the fact that I generally enjoyed it (I tend not to love twin-stick shooters or neo-retro titles), were the features. Rogue Continuum is far more than a twin-stick shooter and in fact probably has equally as much in common with linear RPG and rogue-like titles. Every character can be upgraded with minor permanent upgrades like increased health or damage, which is very helpful when an entire screen full of enemies is shooting right at you. There are also a number of different weapons and gadget to use that keep the game from getting too boring.
That said, like most titles Rogue Continuum is not perfect. While the music and presentation of the game is great, there seem to be a few graphical inconsistencies. Some assets appear to be pixelated while other smooth, and some animations appear a bit rigid. At times the Rogue Continuum seemed to have an issue keeping up with my laptop mouse clicks, although to be fair this could easily be some rare or specific issue and not really a problem. The environments are beautiful, but ultimately unvaried in their level design. Save for a few unique elements here and there, most worlds are fundamentally the same flat kill-zone which is all good and fun, but at times a bit of variety is desired. However, keep in mind that just about everything in the game is a work-in-progress and is subject to change.
While it is currently imperfect, what are you expecting from Early Access titles? Rogue Continuum is a surprisingly fun co-op twin-stick shooter with RPG elements and other crazy features scattered around. Mix in a dash of bad-assery and a few spoonfuls of ridiculousness and you’ll find yourself with a few hours of fun that’s well worth the asking price. If you enjoy anything related to this title, be sure to get it while it’s cheap!
