Hello and welcome back to The Backlog, the weekly column where I review video games based on a certain genre each month. As we get closer to Thanksgiving break, it’s important to reconnect with friends and family we haven’t seen in a long time. As such, November continues to be our “multiplayer” month. So, here’s a game I recently got into with my family: “Risk of Rain 2.”
“Risk of Rain 2” is a third-person shooter developed by Hopoo Games and published by Gearbox Publishing. The game is set on an alien planet where humanity is able to traverse the stars. It was released as an early access title in 2019 as a sequel to “Risk of Rain,” which came out in 2013, and the full release was in 2020. It’s available on Stadia, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Series X/S and on PCs through Steam.
The premise of this sequel is similar to the first game. In the first game, the player is a crew member of the ship, UES Contact Light. It crashes on a planet called Petrichor V and you have to battle against ancient enemies. “Risk of Rain 2” is a continuation of this story in that you play as the crew members from another ship that responds to the UES Contact Light’s distress signal.
Players can choose a variety of survivors to play as in “Risk of Rain 2.”
The default and most basic survivor is the Commando. He’s an experienced fighter and can be used by new players instantly. Other survivors include the Huntress, Artificer and the Bandit. Each one has their own skills and abilities. The Huntress’ arrows will auto-seek enemies, making it easy for players who can’t aim. The Artificer is similar to a mage and can shoot lasers or create walls of ice. The Bandit is — surprise — a cowboy with a shotgun.
Personally, I like to use the Railgunner, but she is available through the “Survivors of the Void” expansion for the base game. In most shooter games, I’m drawn to sniper rifles or these types of characters. The beauty of having a selection of survivors means players can change how they play each run.
Each time you play, you land on a certain biome on Petrichor V. In these stages you must survive and find a teleporter. Enemies will spawn constantly, and as players fight, they’ll be traversing their environment. Boxes around the map contain items to help boost different aspects of your character. The basic ones are health, movement speed or damage. Some items are more lucrative, but many of them can be stacked.
My strategy with the Railgunner is to stock up on Tri-Tipped Daggers, Crowbars, Kjaro’s Bands and Hopoo Feathers. Although it’s good to get a variety of items, in most cases, the item will benefit you in some way. The items vary in rarity as well. White items are common, green is uncommon, red is legendary and yellow items are dropped by bosses. There are also blue items which are considered lunar items. They provide some sort of buff but at a cost, so be wary. Purple items, or void items, are available through the “Survivors of the Void” DLC and are very useful for stacking effects. Orange items are considered equipment and can be used by the player. I usually stick with the Seed of Life item as it provides a second life, but it is consumable.
The goal in each stage is to collect as many items as possible and find the teleporter. Activating it will spawn a boss (or multiple bosses). Players must also stay within a certain radius of the teleporter to charge it and allow them to travel to the next area. Each stage gets more difficult; as time goes on the difficulty increases. Before you begin your run, you can choose a starting difficulty, the easiest being Drizzle and the hardest being Monsoon. But within the run, the difficulty increases on a scale. It starts off as Easy, but can quickly reach Hard, Impossible, I SEE YOU, I’M COMING FOR YOU and HAHAHAHA. Even though HAHAHAHA is the last difficulty, it still increases with time.
Most of the story is contained within descriptions of items, enemies and even the characters. But “Risk of Rain 2” isn’t a game for those looking for a coherent narrative. Instead, it’s for those who value gameplay and want to see how far they can go.
Every five stages, the player is given the chance to fight the final boss, but you can also choose to loop again and get stronger for another five stages. Mithrix is the final boss of “Risk of Rain 2” and is found on the moon of Petrichor V. As my brother knows, I’ve nicknamed Mithrix as “hammerhead shark guy” because that’s what he looks like: a shark, and he wields a hammer.
There are also other final bosses available like the False Son and the Voidling, given you have the proper DLCs.
“Risk of Rain 2” can be played online with friends or locally through a split screen. Although you can play by yourself, I believe “Risk of Rain 2” fits within our “multiplayer” category because it’s better with friends. I’d rather be stranded on an alien planet with friends than alone.