I recently received an early-access key for Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core. After playing for a few hours, I’m sharing my initial impressions.
If you played the original Deep Rock Galactic, you already know the core idea: mining, shooting, and gathering resources. Rogue Core is set in the same dwarven universe, but the gameplay takes a different direction. Where the original focused on mining as the primary objective, Rogue Core casts you as an elite military unit entering caves to fight monsters and survive until you face the final boss.
The Gameplay Twist
The major twist is the game’s roguelite structure. Each mission is self-contained: any upgrades and weapons you earn during a run are lost when that run ends. You do, however, carry currency between runs that you can spend on unlocking skills, cosmetics, and new classes by raising your account’s clearance level. Levels and their elements are procedurally generated, so you’ll encounter new layouts, enemy placements, and loot on every run.
Feels Like Original One?
Visually, Rogue Core feels very much like the original, both games share a similar art style, but gameplay-wise, it’s noticeably different. I only played the original for 20–30 hours, so I’m not deeply familiar with every mechanic, but I know enough to tell these two apart.
My Take
I’m a big fan of roguelite shooters, and Rogue Core might become a favourite. The game’s file size is small, the gameplay is fun, and the graphics are colourful. One standout for me is optimisation: in 2026, even PS2-like games can perform poorly on decent PCs, but Rogue Core runs smoothly and performs well even on older GPUs like the GTX 10 series.
In my initial opinion, the game succeeds at what it sets out to do, whether you’ll enjoy it depends on whether you like roguelikes. Rogue Core is available in Early Access on Steam.
You can Wishlist it from here.
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