Is Deep Rock Galactic Worth It?
Danger. Darkness. Dwarves. Deep Rock Galactic’s popularity and gameplay has caught our attention before, and we decided to give it a shot. 300 hours later into the inhospitable caves of Hoxxes II, we have had a chance to experiment with all the classes, most of the overclocks and experience all mission types extensively. Now we’re here to give you our final verdict on whether this game is worth your time. We’ll be doing a deep dive into DRG, explaining to you what it's about, what you can expect, and if it’s worth it.
About Deep Rock Galactic
Deep Rock Galactic is a co-op shooter about dwarves mining, blasting through the diverse environments of Hoxxes II with intricate arsenals, and drinking beer. It was released in an early access state on February 28, 2018, to then be fully released on May 13, 2020. This game was developed by the Danish company Ghost Ship Games, and published by Coffee Stain Publishing. When the game was released, it was met with great reviews and the gaming community embraced this game fully, being very successful from the start. Ghost Ship Games stated that in January 2021, the game was bought over 2 million times, which then doubled by June 2022, reaching 4 million units sold.
Deep Rock Galactic’s Story
Molly carries minerals, and we shoot bugs and mine. Dwarf life in a nutshell.
Deep Rock Galactic is a mining company that specializes in securing resources from the most inhospitable planets in the galaxy. To do so, they call onto the dwarves, mercenary miners, famous for their ability to thrive underground and known for their brutality and effectiveness in combat. This game has no storyline, but it throws bits and pieces of lore at you once in a while. This lore is unexplored, leaving the community to conjure theories about it.
Deep Rock Galactic Gameplay
From left to right: Engineer, Driller, Scout and Gunner.
When you first start Deep Rock Galactic, you’re given the Gunner to go through the tutorial. After you finish it, you will be able to choose from one of four classes: Gunner, Driller, Engineer and Scout. The Gunner is your traditional heavy weapons guy, starting with a minigun and a shotgun pistol in his arsenal, along with a sticky grenade and a zipline launcher. The Driller is the tunneling specialist and area of effect class, since he starts with a flamethrower and a pistol in his loadout, along with throwing axes and drilling gloves. The Engineer is your specialized weapons class. He starts with a shotgun and a grenade launcher, along with a lure grenade, a platform gun to help the dwarves traverse the hazardous terrain, and his signature turrets. Finally, we have the Scout, known for his mobility. He brings a flare gun to light up the caves, along with an assault rifle and a sawed off shotgun. To move around he uses a grappling hook, making him the most mobile of all classes.
When you go into a cave, you’ll be met with sprawling tunnels and wide open areas, which boast resources for you to mine. Gold is your quintessential credit making mineral, and Nitra is the mineral you’ll need to call for Resupply Depots, which will replenish your ammo and health. Every cave also features Red Sugar, a mineral that when mined will also replenish your hit points. DRG features 12 biomes, each with their own characteristic look, terrain generation, precious minerals and hazards. These become available through a rotation that takes 30 minutes, and each area boasts several missions you can undertake. You’ll be able to find different resources depending on the biome, and you can be met with side missions inside each cave. Some are tied to the Season (in Season 2 you would be able to find Data Centers or Satellites that would give you a specific Season resource), some will let you infuse a Matrix Core, so you can get a new overclock, and some are simple cosmetic grabbing missions.
In DRG you’ll be able to do assignments, strings of missions that the company gives you that will grant you rewards during and at the end. These missions can range from collecting minerals to defeating tough bosses. You can also run any mission you want to without having to do these assignments. Later down the line, you’ll be able to go on Deep Dives and its harder counterpart, Elite Deep Dives. These are 3 straight missions that get increasingly harder as you go down, which will give you great rewards as you go through them. You will be able to do those once you prestige a class.
Between missions you’ll be on a space hub, which is where you’ll be able to start missions, enroll on assignments and upgrade your characters and weapons. The hub also features some areas to explore: a bar with a jukebox, where you can order beer and listen to music while your character is chugging down yet another mug, a minigame that lets you try to get as many points as possible by kicking a barrel onto a moving target and a memorial area that features imposing statues of the dwarves, and where you prestige your characters. Exploring the hub is fun and you’ll be met with some fun easter eggs along the way.
DRG is a co-op game, featuring fantastic replayability. It’s a game where you grind for resources to improve your arsenal, buy cosmetics and get overclocks for your weapons. Knowing this, you can be sure you’ll spend many hours inside Hoxxes II’s caves fighting bugs and gathering resources.
Deep Rock Galactic Combat
Deep Rock Galactic showcase
When you start the game, you’ll be met with 4 classes and their weapons. As you keep playing with them, you’ll get assignments that will let you unlock new weapons for your arsenal. Each weapon is unique and has its own playstyle, nuancing each class even further.
There will be threats inside the caves. Local wildlife that is eager to take you down. You’ll be able to bring a loadout with you so you can survive the onslaught to your best abilities. There are many types of enemies in Hoxxes II, and each has their own abilities and weaknesses, which you must learn to thrive underground. The enemies look unique and indigenous, ranging from simple oversized spiders to massive armored juggernauts. To avoid getting mauled by the immense selection of enemies, you’ll be able to shoot, run, jump and climb your way through the terrain, which feels intuitive and satisfying. The weapon selection is fun to use and unique, letting you keep the game fresh. The traversal tools the dwarves have add more to gameplay, since each class has their own way of creating shortcuts around the caves.
You will be able to improve each class through a perk system, which you’ll be able to unlock by nailing achievements in-game. These can range from being able to revive yourself once per mission to befriend a bug to fight by your side. Each weapon and tool also has its perk system, which will let you create your own builds to cater to your own playstyle. These are unlocked by spending resources on them, which you’ll get by harvesting from the caves. Finally, the game features a modding system, called overclocks. These will be specific to each weapon, and they can range from slightly improving them, to completely altering the way they function. These can be unlocked by doing weekly assignments that will give you either blank matrix cores (the resource needed to get overclocks) or fully built ones. These can then be unlocked in the forge by spending resources.
Finishing missions will give the class you played experience points, which will level up your character. The maximum level you can reach with each character is 25. When this happens, you’ll be able to do an assignment that when finished, will let you level up the class onto the next prestige level. You’ll reset back to level 1, but you won’t lose your perks or overclocks. This will let you keep raising your account level, unlocking new assignments and looking cool overall. Your account level is independent of each class’s level, and it’s only tied to how many times you’ve leveled up a character. Each 3 levels is equal to one level for your account.
The combat animations are simple yet fun, since they’re well ingrained into the gameplay. For example,trying to reload a full magazine will give you a fun animation that is different for each weapon. All of the weapons feel satisfying and unique, through what they can do and the sound design behind it. The quirky voicelines of the dwarves, along with the overall sound design is charming, funny and has even created some memes inside the community.
Deep Rock Galactic Quest/Mission System
The mission system is simple and easy to understand. You get an assignment, and you play through the string of missions necessary to finish it, so you can get the rewards at the end. These can range from cosmetics, resources, overclocks, new weapons or the ability to prestige a class. Weapon assignments will be locked behind your class level, and other assignments will be locked behind your account level. As mentioned previously, you can also play any mission you want, since you aren’t locked to only going through the assignment you chose. Since there is no storyline, you won’t be tied to linear gameplay; you are able to do anything you want.
Deep Rock Galactic Graphics
The inhospitable caves of Hoxxes II will greet you with native wildlife that will try to tear you a new one.
Deep Rock Galactic showcase
Deep Rock Galactic’s graphics won’t blow anyone’s mind. Ghost Ship Games went for a flat shaded texture for DRG, rather than a realistic, modern style. This might be seen as a limitation compared to other multiplayer shooters. Even though the graphics aren’t high-fidelity, the characters, caves and weapons are detailed and full with color and texture. Each cave has its own style, and you will know for sure in which biome you’re playing in just by looking around. The weapons look unique and it’s easy to understand what they should do by looking at them. The classes also look varied, and since you can customize them extensively, no character will look the same.
The visuals might seem blocky and cartoony for some, but we think it adds to the charm of the game, as it’s still visually pleasing to look at, and it’s mostly clean and easy to get used to.
Deep Rock Galactic Developer
As aforementioned, the Danish developer Ghost Ship Games created Deep Rock Galactic with a team of around 40 members. It was founded in 2016, and it has only worked on DRG so far.
The developers are very active within the community, posting on Reddit and catering to jokes and memes that have surfaced from the game. They are well aware of what the players want, and have been launching fun and engaging content that is lauded by the community. This content ranges from Seasons (huge updates that introduce new gadgets, enemies and content to play through, along with a free battle pass that lets you unlock cosmetics for your classes and weapons), and content tied to major holidays or seasons, like Halloween, or Summerfest. Ghost Ship Games also added full modding support to their game, which is extremely easy to use. Creators can upload their mods to mod.io and users can download them in-game, enhancing their experience if they so desire. This game does have DLCs, but they’re for cosmetic purposes. Other than that, all the content is available at the moment you purchase the game.
Deep Rock Galactic has a few bugs here and there, but compared to many recent AAA titles, it barely has any, and they’re patched quickly. Our biggest complaint would be terrain collision, which sometimes decides to launch us if we’re trying to fit through a very tight space. It is usually just a nuisance, but it has thrown us into deep pits every once in a while, which can and will kill you through fall damage. Other than that, overall everything functions great.
Deep Rock Galactic Price
Deep Rock Galactic is currently available for $29.99. The price goes down somewhat often, during their own sales or Steam sales. The game is available to play on Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. There’s no crossplay available to this date.
The game has 0 pay2win elements, as all DLCs are for cosmetic purposes, and everything ranging from weapons to cosmetics are unlockable by using in-game resources that you get by playing. There are also no in-game purchases; you get all the content the moment you purchase the game.
FINAL VEREDICT
In our opinion, Deep Rock Galactic is worth your time. The gameplay is extremely satisfying, and the quirkiness of the dwarves won our hearts. The game loop is engaging and each mission you undertake will feel unique, thanks to the terrain generation, the weapons you bring and how many enemies the game decides to throw at you. Each class has its own playstyle, increasing the game’s replayability. The weapon selection might feel scarce compared to other games, but each weapon is unique, satisfying and highly customizable. The graphics aren’t hyper-realistic, but they have their own charm and the style is consistent, well done and vibrant. The developers are close to the community and have been delivering great content that you’ll be able to experience if you own the game, without additional purchases. If you’re a completionist, this game will bring you fun and entertainment for hundreds of hours.
If you enjoy co-op shooters, get this game, and be ready to spend countless hours surviving the caves of one of the most inhospitable planets in the galaxy. Rock and stone!
Pros
- Fantastic gameplay, going from mining to shooting hordes of enemies through different types of missions and biomes
- The missions and biomes feel varied and unique, through looks and terrain generation
- Co-op setting makes the game very fun to play, as the game leans towards teamwork as a way to thrive in each mission
- Each class has their own gameplay and they feel unique
- The voice lines in this game are quirky, funny and add to the experience
- The game has depth through its perk systems and overclocks
- The weapons and upgrades are well balanced, making each weapon fun to use and powerful in their own niche
- The game has no pay2win elements, letting you be as powerful as you are able to be without spending more money
- Tons of cosmetics to customize your weapons and characters
- Content is updated regularly, through Seasons and seasonal events, which you won’t have to pay extra for
- The developers have love for the game and the community, engaging with it regularly
Cons
- The game loop can feel a bit grindy after a while, especially after you’ve unlocked all the weapons and overclocks
- The lack of story can be a detriment to certain people who enjoy story based games
- Playing solo is fun, but the game is oriented to play with other people, which can be a downside if you prefer solo games
- The graphics aren’t amazing, since Ghost Ship Games went towards a flat shaded style rather than a realistic style
- The price might feel too steep for some people
- Lack of crossplay
SCORE: 9/10
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