Earn to Die Rogue Review

Riding Shotgun

Australian studio Not Doppler released Earn to Die Rogue last month. While the developer calls it a sequel, the term spinoff might be more accurate. While the first two games were 2D platformer driving games, Rogue sees the vehicles take a back seat. The driving is still there, but the new game offers a more conventional action-platformer experience. Whether that’s good or bad is a matter of preference, though I wonder if Earn to Die fans might be disappointed.

I know I was a little disappointed at first, though that might not be entirely the game’s fault. When I initially heard of Earn To Die Rogue, I thought the two aspects would be roughly equally prominent. However, driving almost feels like a minigame here. There are reasons to engage with it, namely, gathering money and items. It’s also fun to plow through zombies and ramp off wrecked cars. However, the vehicle physics doesn’t seem as good as it was in the previous games, and it’s clear that driving wasn’t the focus.

Now that I’ve interrogated the game’s Earn to Die credentials, I’d also like to question its roguelike status. At every level, players choose between one of three randomly chosen upgrades. However, the room layouts and enemies are the same every run. This isn’t inherently a problem for me, though it’s another mark against the accuracy of the game’s title.   

Good Platformer, Bad Sequel

But here’s the twist: I like Earn to Die Rogue

Controls are pretty simple; you can move, jump, and double jump, with your character firing automatically at the nearest enemy. The challenge here is about avoiding attacks, with raged enemies turning it into a lite bullet-hell shooter.

There is also a good amount of enemy variety. You start off fighting basic zombies and turrets, but things escalate quickly as you move from stage to stage. Drones will zip around, shooting you from above, while special zombies hurl explosive barrels or wind up for charge attacks. It really tests your reflexes, though it never gets to a point where the game feels unfair.

Is it the most hardcore action platformer out there? No, not really. It’s also a pretty simple game, all things considered. Different weapons have different effects, such as the shotgun firing a cone of three bullets instead of one. However, you’re usually better off sticking with whatever has the most damage. The sniper rifle is the exception, since I found it too slow for the fast-paced gameplay.

Spend to Live

While I wouldn’t call Earn to Die Rogue pay-to-win, it’s definitely in pay-for-advantage territory. You can probably beat the game as a free player, but getting there will take much more effort. However, I’m not sure I’d go as far as to call it grindy since you can generally do a little better each run. This is especially true when you figure out which upgrades are worth grabbing.

I won’t say Earn to Die Rogue is everything I wanted it to be. I still would have preferred the vehicle combat to play a more significant role in the game. As it stands, I’m not even sure you need to use the cars. Still, judged on its own merits, Earn to Die Rogue is a solid action platformer with a less-than-stellar driving mode tacked onto the side.