Risk of Rain 2

Risk of Rain 2 is a roguelike third-person shooter game developed by Hopoo Games and published by Gearbox Publishing. A sequel to 2013's Risk of Rain, it was released in early access for Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2019 before officially releasing on August 11, 2020.

Risk of Rain 2
Promotional artwork
Developer(s)	Hopoo Games
Publisher(s)	Gearbox Publishing
Designer(s)	Duncan Drummond Paul Morse Jeffrey Hunt
Programmer(s)	Jeffrey Hunt Duncan Drummond
Artist(s)	Duncan Drummond
Composer(s)	Chris Christodoulou
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox One
Release	August 11, 2020
Genre(s)	Roguelike, third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

See also: Risk of Rain § Gameplay

Risk of Rain 2 follows a similar approach as the first title, in which one to four players must progress several levels while killing enemies. On each level the goal is to locate a teleporter, randomly located on the level; once activated, the players must defend themselves from an onslaught of aliens, including bosses until the teleporter is fully active. Killing aliens gains experience and currency; the currency can be used to open chests that randomly drop items on the level. These collectible items offer a wide range of boosts to the players carrying them and provide both synergistic effects and the potential to stack their effects if multiple copies of the same items are acquired. However, the strength, difficulty, and numbers of aliens increase every five minutes, thus making the game harder the longer the players stay on any level. In the metagame, players unlock access to new playable characters, items, and game modifiers by completing certain in-game achievements; once unlocked, new characters or modifiers are available to select from at the start of the game, or the new items can start appearing randomly in-game.

Risk of Rain 2 features several of the same playable characters, creatures, and items from the first game, but transitions the game from 2D to a 3D environment.

Development

In May 2017, Hopoo Games announced that they had been working on a sequel Risk of Rain 2 over the previous 6 months. The sequel was to maintain the same core loop as the first game.[1] While the game was still at the early stage of development and other features might change, Hopoo affirmed that they were transitioning the game from 2D to 3D, as the 3D option provided "much deeper design spaces and more possibilities for cool gameplay" as well as more ways to artistically express themselves.[2] When they started development on the sequel, Hopoo started with a 2D-based prototype with the player in control of one of the monsters in the first game, as to mix up the formula for the sequel. Part of the addition for this was inspired by Risk of Rain fan art that showed the various objects the player collected shown on the character, and Hopoo wanted to use this approach for the sequel, but the 2D graphic approach did not give them enough visual space to work with. They transitioned the prototype from 2D to 2.5D, representing the character in 3D graphics but otherwise playing as a 2D platformer, but when they completed that, they felt it was better to move the game fully to 3D, with the transition being relatively quick to complete.[1] The sequel will use the Unity engine, which Hopoo had to learn for this, as well as the time in developing the 3D worlds.[1]

The sequel brought back most of the same classes of characters and monsters from the first game, but with modified or new abilities reflecting differences between 2D and 3D. Hopoo explained that some monsters that were difficult to avoid in the original game due to their size could easily be kited around with the added space of 3D, so they added additional attacks for these monsters to make them more difficult.[1] The map design is similar to that of the first game in that there is random placement of the teleporter and other items along with different permutations of the same level. As of the December 2019 update, different versions of stages, called 'variants', were added so as to improve the replay value. Hopoo plans to improve the multiplayer options, including using Steam peer-to-peer connectivity, matchmaking including private matches, and split-screen play.[1] Hopoo released the game into early access on Windows on March 27, 2019, for building the game's community and gaining feedback. Hopoo planned to provide frequent content updates to avoid a content drought while they finished development, a process they anticipated would take another year.[3][4]

During the early access period, Hopoo signed with Gearbox Publishing to release the game on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.[5] It was also released in early access for those platforms on August 30, 2019.[6] The game was released out of early access for all platforms on August 11, 2020.[7][8]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic PC: 85/100[9] Review scores Publication Score Destructoid 8.5/10[10] GameRevolution [11] GameSpot 8/10[12] IGN 9/10[13] Nintendo Life 8/10[14] PC Gamer (US) 84/100[15] Push Square 8/10[16]

On its launch into early access, Hopoo Games offered Risk of Rain 2 with a "buy one, get one free" promotion for the first few days. A week from release, Hopoo announced that over 650,000 players had played the game, with about 150,000 of those having taken advantage of the special promotion.[17] Within a month of the game's early access release, it had sold over a million copies.[18]

References

1. Wood, Austin (December 22, 2017). "We finally get our first look at Risk of Rain 2". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
2. Foxall, Sam (May 8, 2017). "Risk of Rain 2 is in development and it is making the jump from 2D to 3D". PCGamesN. Retrieved May 8, 2017.
3. Chalk, Andy (November 9, 2018). "Risk of Rain 2 Early Access release is planned for early 2019". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
4. Chalk, Andy (March 28, 2019). "Risk of Rain 2 makes a surprise appearance on Steam". PC Gamer. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
5. Kim, Matt (March 28, 2019). "Gearbox Publishing Announces Partnerships With Astroneer, Risk of Rain 2, Justin Roiland, and More". USGamer. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
6. Devore, Jordan (August 30, 2019). "Risk of Rain 2 just popped up on Switch, PS4, and Xbox One". Destructoid. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
7. Winslow, Jeremy. "Risk Of Rain 2 Leaves Early Access This August, Price Increase And New Updates Coming". GameSpot. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
8. Bourdeau, Ian (August 11, 2020). "Risk of Rain 2 leaves early access with a tenth character, the Captain". PCGamesN. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
9. "Risk of Rain 2 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
10. Hancock, Patrick (August 11, 2020). "Review: Risk of Rain 2". Destructoid. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
11. Tucker, Kevin (August 11, 2020). "Risk of Rain 2 Review | Controlled Chaos". Game Revolution. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
12. King, Andrew (August 11, 2020). "Risk Of Rain 2 Review - When It Rains It Pours". GameSpot. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
13. Duggan, James (April 28, 2020). "Risk of Rain 2 Early Access Review". IGN. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
14. Vogel, Mitch (September 10, 2019). "Review: Risk of Rain 2 - Rough 'Early Access' Edges Can't Spoil This Rewarding Roguelike". Nintendo Life. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
15. Fenlon, Wes (August 11, 2020). "Risk of Rain 2 review". PC Gamer. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
16. Coombes, Lloyd (September 9, 2019). "Risk of Rain 2 - Frantically Challenging Action Makes for Compelling Co-Op". Push Square. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
17. Kerr, Chris (April 4, 2019). "Buy-one-get-one-free sale helps Risk of Rain 2 attract 650,000 players in first week". Gamasutra. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
18. Wilson, Jason (May 3, 2019). "Risk of Rain 2 storms to over 1 million copies sold after 1 month in Steam Early Access". Venture Beat. Retrieved May 3, 2019.