Rochard PC Review

In the last half of 2011 we were flooded with an array of high quality download games, ranging from truly stunning ones, like Bastion, to impressive titles like Orcs Must Die. Now, after a bit of a delay, it’s time we took a look at Recoil Games’ Rochard, a sidescrolling platformer with various physics-based puzzles.

While the game looks quite impressive on paper, delivering a pretty interesting story of a miner in space forced to use his own tools against invading mercenaries, it’s time to see if Rochard is worthy of an investment or if it should just be sent into space via an airlock.

Navigate tricky platforms ...	... and use your G-lifter

In terms of story, the game is pretty original. You play as John Rochard, the leader of a team of asteroid miners employed by Skyrig, which hasn’t exactly had the best of luck, as several years have already passed and no actual mineral deposits were found.

Thankfully, right on his last day on the job, he uncovers a strange ancient structure on an asteroid. Before he gets to check it out, his base is invaded by mercenaries that want to plunder it. You’re then forced to fend them off, rescue your team, and get to the bottom of things using just your faithful G-lifter.

The G-lifter is a pretty impressive tool that, at first, can just help John pick up and throw boxes. Throughout the story, you upgrade it with improvements like a rock blaster, effectively turning it into a machine gun, or a detonator, that allows you to launch grenades at your unlucky enemies.

Besides using the G-lifter at its full potential, the game also relies on gravity manipulation. Most of its action happens in man-made bases that use artificial gravity to keep things grounded just like on our native Earth. Once John gets to override the systems, you can freely swap between regular and low gravity, thus allowing you to jump higher or farther, while manipulating heavy objects.

While these gameplay mechanics may seem simple at first glance, they can get fiendishly complicated, especially once enemies start outnumbering poor John. As you progress through the story, you also get to deal with things like deadly lasers, turrets, flying robots, or various force fields that stop either humans, objects, or bullet fire from passing through them.



You’re always kept on your toes while playing Rochard, whether it’s scanning the environment for hints at what you need to do, looking out for enemies that can easily kill you, or just searching for hidden nooks or crannies where Gold Collectibles are hidden.

Sadly, while most of the times the gameplay in Rochard is fun, there are a few areas that can get frustrating to solve, especially when you’re dealing with the pesky lasers that have a one shot, one kill effect. Thankfully, there are always helpful boxes that can aid you in the puzzle solving process and you’re never sent too far back, as there are plenty of checkpoints scattered throughout the campaign.

That’s what makes Rochard a great game to play in small intervals, as when you start playing it in extended sequences, you get either bored or annoyed with some of the platforming sections, which require pinpoint accuracy and perfect timing towards the end of the story.

In terms of graphics, the game has a cartoonish visual style that, while endearing, looks a bit awkward during the cut scenes that are rendered with its Unity engine. Fortunately, those moments are few and far in between, so most of the times you’ll have a general view of John and his surroundings.

The voice work is pretty good, with the main characters sounding lifelike thanks to accents that you don’t usually hear in other types of games. The regular enemies also have a few hilarious taunts, with some of them even humming the Star Wars Imperial March while patrolling their areas.

Go through different environments ...	... and solve tricky puzzles

Conclusion

Rochard is a pretty good game, which delivers a decent mix of platforming and puzzle solving. The fun factor tends to wear off if you play in extended sessions, however, so you might want to experience the game in smaller pieces, for a really good time.