Developed by Squishy Games, Rogue Invader aims to mix roguelike gameplay with retro-style black-and-white graphics in a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi setting. It was announced for Steam five years ago, but was delayed for a long time due to the planned Kickstarter campaign falling short of its goals. Nonetheless, the team continued work on Rogue Invader during this period of uncertainty, and now it is finally set to launch on February 21.
Rogue Invader puts players in command of a human army in the middle of a war with a race of Xenomorph-like aliens. The battle has led to the alien homeworld of Zeno 1, where the humans are preparing a final attack to take out the aliens' surprisingly sarcastic leader, King Zeno. Since most of the army's supplies have been exhausted in the war, they can only send down one soldier armed with a single pistol. It falls on the player to find new weapons and elements on the surface of Zeno 1 as they tear through King Zeno's forces on a mission to win the war for the humans once and for all.
Rogue Invader’s basic gameplay unfolds in a 2D view, with players moving with the standard WASD key setup and aiming/firing their weapon with the mouse. Using other keys, players can reload or switch their weapon, perform a melee attack, or beam up new items for use in their inventory. Pressing the Spacebar allows them to jump or roll out of the way of enemy attacks, holding down the Shift key lets them sprint (which drains limited Stamina reserves), and the C key allows them to crouch. By clicking the mouse wheel, players can aim and throw grenades.
By crouching behind cover items like rocks or boxes, players can decrease the likelihood of an enemy shot hitting them, but this cover will be destroyed after a certain amount of damage. Players carry two weapons with them at a given time, and can either pick up the guns left behind by fallen enemies or beam them up to be either dismantled or equipped for a later mission. Weapons can overheat, and can even be broken beyond repair if players continue to fire them without letting them cool first. Additionally, carrying too many items at once can slow their soldier down and even render them completely immobile. When a soldier dies, a new one takes their place, with certain soldiers having their own unique traits and abilities. Since soldiers can be killed very easily, early missions are quite brief - though the battles get longer as players gain new equipment for their forces.
Players can call in airstrikes to help deal with large amounts of enemies, but so can King Zeno. There are plenty of environmental hazards littering the battlefield, such as ion storms and giant sandworms that emerge from the ground. Zeno 1's terrain changes frequently, meaning that the layout of the mission space is different every time a new soldier drops to the planet's surface. Between missions, players are taken to the Valhalla, the human army’s main battleship. From here, they can upgrade their weapons, research new equipment, read a listing of troopers who have been lost, and arm their soldier before dropping off into the next mission.
Rogue Invader’s art style is decidedly retro, with a black-and-white color palette and 3D character models cel-shaded in a cross-stitched style reminiscent of old Macintosh games. The story is told through brief, tongue-in-cheek cutscenes, and the quips that King Zeno occasionally taunts the player with after losing another soldier are amusing. The music consists of a rousing score that brings epic sci-fi military films to mind.
Rogue Invader can be a bit of a grind at first, since players will likely play through the opening area quite a few times before they can gather enough resources for a good loadout. Even players who put together a solid build will likely see their efforts swiftly undone by a sudden death. All the same, the game contains plenty of retro charm and challenge for players willing to push through the intense difficulty level.
Rogue Invader is available on Steam now. A digital Steam code was provided to Screen Rant for the purpose of this review.