#rockandstone

Within the darkest confines of mines full of arachnoid aliens the only comfort you shall find are your fellow dwarves, a mobile minecart named Molly...and gold. Mountains and mountains of gold. Spend your time completing missions on a wide variety of planets. Each with unique fauna and structures for the boons to spend on upgrades and alcoholic celebrations as you carry onto the next mining expedition. Be you and your relationships you build with your fellow dwarves be as durable as rock and stone in this wonderful cooperative 1st person shooter known as Deep Rock Galactic. 

Playing as one of four classes, your mission as a Galactic Miner is to secure the valuable ores and fauna on a planet, destroy hostile creatures threatening the company’s main objective, and whatever else the bossman may throw your way. Through the vast odysseys of adventure venturing into the darkest caverns, you’ll find boon galore which you can spend at your leisure for upgrades to your weapons, cosmetics to further express your dwarfiness, and alcohol for your fellow miners. Your paycheck is for you to spend on whatever your heart desires. This gives a long lasting progression line to the player that is rewarding, consistently entertaining, and a reason to continue your tenure with the company. If a class’ weapon doesn’t feel satisfactory, you can find upgrades and features that can change the way it feels and looks to further adapt your game plan. If this doesn’t suit you, then you have access to new weapons after completing several missions as a class, so it’s quite easy to find a class that truly suits your playstyle. 

Each class carries a specialty, the scout with his grappling hook, the driller with the expected drill, the engineer with turrets and a platform gun, and the gunner with a defensive shield. You always have the chance to play any class so try to experiment with what you enjoy. If you do find a class you fall in love with, you can specialize in it. Completing several missions with a class grants promotions, allowing more upgrades to be bought and gear to be obtained before finally prestiging. This allows you to upgrade your character further and show all of your co-workers how dedicated an employee you are. If teamplay isn’t your forte, you can always team up with a little robot named Bosco who can shed light on the caverns, shoot missiles, and assist with hostile lifeforms. 

The game excels in its ability to enforce team unity as a necessity, from various hazards such as insects that can carry you off, to creatures which shall grab you from the ceiling and leave you helpless as you are devoured, all aspects of this game supports teamwork.  Since the mission objective and rewards are shared amongst the group, there are no benefits of being a stingy dwarf. In fact, all mechanics of this game revolve around being a teamplayer to the organization. The Scout has difficulty truly mining from the walls without the assistance of the Engineer’s platform gun. The Driller is weak in traversal across large gaps in the Earth in which the Gunner’s zip line gun can solve. Even the core ammo which can be called in by using the team’s resources called Nitra in each cave is limited to four packs, one for each dwarf. With this in mind, it’s best to let your fellow employees grab a single pack of ammunition each since there is no reward for having a dwarf without ammo. Each class solves an issue with another class, and it is pertinent to try playing with a full group to fully round the strengths of each with their unique resources. 

The worlds and strategies explored outside of the Orbital Space Rig vary vastly in each new mission. Some planets have large portions of the ground covered in flaming stone while others shall contain massive blizzards which obscure your vision and take away your heat. This, alongside the procedurally changing environment, guarantees the player a different adventure each time they venture out of the station. Speaking of the station, the federation provides its miners with quite the amount of benefits! Barrel kicking games and dancing parties await in the lobby with a wonderful AI barkeep eager to serve only the best alcohol credits can buy. The beers regularly go on sale for events and give buffs to the upcoming missions such as extra gold or stronger pickaxe damage. Nothing like a cold brew after a long mission to celebrate a great success. Just as each world is different, new employees shall be tasked with constantly changing, but similar missions. From mining Morkite on the walls to escorting a giant drill through a cavern. The one feature that remains similar amongst all the missions is the end: once the mission is complete, you have 5 minutes to return to a dropship while insects spawn from all crevices of the map to stop you. Goodluck. 

 The generous boons stuck to the walls of these beautiful caves do not come without price. A swarm of insectoids defend their territory with claw and acidic spittle against your lead. You’ll fight arachnids which crawl from the ceiling, flying creatures that shall carry you away, and more. Each come with their own weaknesses and strengths, and it’s up to you knowledgeable miners to find out first hand the ferocious beasts which dwell below. Shooting off the armor, ripping into the glowing gel sacks, or tearing into eyeballs, you’ll find it all down here. The swarm is a vast species with a singular hive mind purpose of halting your progress. It’s a strong antagonist which shall constantly challenge you and your teammates. Compared to other four person cooperatives with a similar premise such as Left 4 Dead, the swarm succeeds in staying as both a foe that is ferocious, yet is capable of being held back by a competent miner. It doesn’t place far too much stress on being stuck together in a team like GTFO...but it does it well enough to the point swarms are nearly unbearable to face alone. 

The art style is cunningly simple yet expressive. Using voxels and polys, the game’s visuals succeed to give the player a brilliant amount of information without taking too much computer memory. This allows even low end rigs to play the game without a drop of sweat. In combination to using simple voxels, it allows the player to carve out the world quickly and easily with their pickaxe to show where the player has been and allows a smart dwarf to make shortcuts, arenas, and more with their surroundings. The art truly emphasizes the stone of each cave, fully immersing the player in an empty cavern full of the biggest crawlies and shiniest loot. This voxel style also assists in creating easily noticeable weak points and armor on insects. Alongside a wonderful visuals with no slowdown, the soundtrack is top notch, fully encapsulating the mood of a dwarven looter shooter. The music ramps up with each swarm and continues to push the miner forward to adventure as they carry on through the abyss. The sounds of the ambient bugs and strong guns also make for a killer impact and makes the guns truly feel heavy and effective. 

Stick together with your fellow miners in this grand rendition of a four person cooperative shooter. Grab a beer, dance with your fellow employees, and most importantly: Rock and Stone. 

That's it lads! Rock and Stone!

2 orders of these super cool Deep Rock Galactic inspired fan bundles are preparing for launch (international post)!

Get your own gamertag + class coaster today, or go all out and get yourself the coasters and bottle opener bundle.

Available on the Spoon Lagoon Etsy!

--

Attention Miners! Can't get enough Deep Rock? Then nab yourself a custom coaster with your player name and class or an Oily Oaf giftset.