DeadZone : Rogue Demo Impressions

Deadzone: Rogue is a first-person shooter roguelite set in space. Each run will have you battling hordes of enemies while acquiring loot such as weapons and skill augmentations. For example, during my several hours with the demo, I discovered a variety of weapons, ranging from single-shot guns to fully automatic ones, some of which had additional effects like burn or frost damage. As you progress, you’ll encounter kiosks that allow you to enhance these benefits further. Some upgrades are temporary and last only for that run, while others are permanent, such as increased overall health or reduced shield recharge delay. The temporary upgrades are key to building your character for each run. These might include abilities like 50% more burn damage or multipliers for certain skills. Even though, the demo for Deadzone: Rogue only contains the first chapter, I still had an itch to start another run every time I died.

Just….One More Time!

Roguelite-style games need to have solid gameplay above all else. This is because players repeatedly traverse the same zones, so there must be a compelling gameplay hook to keep them engaged. With that said, I’m happy to report that Deadzone: Rogue feels fantastic to play. Even with zero upgrades or abilities, the controls are agile and responsive, creating gunplay that is both fun and addictive. It reminds me of other excellent games in this genre, such as Returnal. Every time I died, my first thought was always, “I can do better next time. Let’s jump back in!”

Not everything is perfect, though. My biggest issue with the demo was that the AI seemed a bit off at times. Occasionally, the enemies appeared clueless when engaging me. However, this seemed less of a problem as I progressed further into the demo and encountered higher-ranked enemies. Additionally, I didn’t try all the difficulty levels, so this issue may be addressed to some extent in those settings.

Click.Click.Boom!

Deadzone: Rogue is developed by Prophecy Games, the studio behind the Tribes series, which, honestly, I have no personal experience with. Despite that—and the issues I had with the demo—I am very excited to see how the full game turns out. These days, I feel like there is a shortage of original first-person shooter titles, and I hope the full release captures the success I know the developers are aiming for. If interested in checking it out yourself, the demo is still available on Steam. At this time, I am unaware if Prophecy Games is planning a console release.