People can’t seem to get enough of roguelikes these days. Titles like Dead Cells and Enter the Gungeon won the attention of both players and critics in recent years. While that’s great, I’m not one of these folks. Dying and losing all of my progress in a video game isn’t my idea of fun. Randomly generated levels and power-ups aren’t my thing either. With that said, I’m always willing to give new roguelikes a shot in hopes I’ll finally see the appeal. One of the latest entries in the genre is Double Fine’s Rad. If you’re a fan of roguelikes, you’re going to love this quirky title. If you’re not a fan, Rad won’t change your mind.
Rad takes place in a colorful wasteland which suffered not one, but two apocalyptic disasters. Humanity struggles to survive in a new world overrun with dangerous mutants. As one of the survivors, your mission is to venture out into “The Fallow” and find a power source to help mankind reclaim dominance over the earth. Though Rad has a central narrative, it isn’t the game’s focus. It’s all about going out into the wastes and seeing how long you can survive for.
Thanks to the randomly generated environments, no two playthroughs are ever the same. Yes, you’ll see the same assets each time, but never in the same configuration. You start your adventure with a simple baseball bat to beat mutants over the head (or tentacles) with. As you dispatch foes you’ll gain different mutant abilities. Sometimes you’ll grow a tail, other times a boomerang arm. You’ll find VHS tapes and floppy disks to trade in for items and boosts.
Controls are tight and responsive. Smashing mutants with a bat feels great, as does rolling away from attacks. Traversing by jumping to different platforms or elevation levels works well for the most part, though your character can feel “weighty” sometimes. I never got to a point where I felt I had to fight against the controls. You have no control over the camera, but the fixed camera does a good job of showing you all of the action. There were points when I couldn’t see enemies, but instances like that were rare. Mechanically speaking, there’s little to complain about.
Like most roguelikes, you’ll have to worry about permadeath. If you die during your adventure, you’ll lose all of your progress and have to start over from scratch. Certain boosts and modifiers carry over across playthroughs. Being able to buy better equipment and weapons on subsequent playthroughs makes things a bit easier. But the vast majority of your work is undone upon death. This feature is the biggest point of contention for those (like myself) who aren’t into roguelikes. Playing for hours only to lose everything you’ve earned is a huge bummer. On the flip side, the threat of losing everything ensures you play carefully and strategically.
Make no mistake, Rad is a punishing, difficult game. There is no hand-holding. You’re thrown into the world and forced to figure things out on your own. That means dying. A lot. Much of your survival comes down to pure dumb luck. Sometimes you’ll get a beneficial mutation that lets you attack from afar. Other times you’ll get bat wings — which are great for traversal but not-so-great for combat. Some stage layouts make progressing to new areas easy while others make it tricky to find one’s way. Many players will appreciate the luck aspect as it adds an air of unpredictability. I found it more frustrating than fun, especially when you’re prematurely cut down during an otherwise excellent run.
The best part of Rad is its 80s-inspired art design. The world oozes (pun intended) bright, vibrant neon colors. This includes not only the environment but the very enemies. You’ll find CRT TVs and arcade cabinets at every turn. Even the soundtrack is appropriately 80s with its synth-pop tunes. You can even take things further by adding a CRT graphical filter in the options menu. The scan lines and blurry screen edges almost make Rad look like a game from the 80s. As a child of the era, I am a huge fan of Rad’s overall presentation. It’s like watching Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Back to the Future, and The Goonies all at once.
Rad has great controls, an addictive gameplay loop, and some truly awesome 80s aesthetics. Double Fine doesn’t reinvent the wheel with this title. What it does is deliver a game that contains everything folks love about the genre. Though I appreciate what Rad does, I can’t say it won me over. The random nature of the procedurally generated environments and ever-present permadeath are things I can’t get past. Despite that, it is a very well-constructed roguelike experience. If you’re curious about the genre or are a fan of it, Rad is worth trying out.
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