I am a diehard fan of pixel games, but when I say diehard, I don’t mean… literally. Die. Hard.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what I did in Drop Troop, until I got the hang of it. Oh boy, and once I did, I died some more, but I made sure to take a lot of aliens with me. Whenever I play a roguelite (or even roguelike) game, I have a very strict mentality: kill a lot, die a lot, and see what it gets me. Well, that’s the story I am going to tell you in today’s Drop Troop review. It’s one that involves love, death, and tears. Tears shed by me, when I was 2 seconds away from being picked up, of course.
Let’s start with the sound and graphics
Before we talk about the gameplay and what makes this game so brilliant to me, we will cover some of the other aspects some of you might consider key in games like this. As I mentioned in my very first sentence, Drop Troop is a pixelated game, but it has amazing animations that are integrated well within the gameplay.
With the slightly “spastic” animations and the music that plays right into them, you constantly feel the adrenaline rushing through your veins as you try to escape large clusters of aliens nested up or try to solve the puzzles.
I have played and replayed the levels a million times, and I can’t seem to get bored with the sound. Even though it can get a little repetitive after a while, it is exciting. The music playing during the levels is a blend of electronic music: trance, techno, and some “ambiental” sounds. It is a treat if you miss going to a rave.
The graphics are up my alley, because as a lover of pixelated games, I am all about seeing those elements of the environment done in unique ways, as well as characters, weapons, and various biomes.
The gameplay is fast-paced and unforgiving
Given the genre, one should expect the gameplay to be this fast-paced. However, you need to be prepared, because it IS unforgiving. If you played some Souls games, you know that death means starting over. The same principle applies here.
When you start a new mission, you have 4-6 minutes to complete it, depending on which planet you drop on. There are up to 3 missions you can complete, and you can destroy up to 3 hives (monster nests) within this time, for extra rewards.
Once you have completed all of your missions without kicking the bucket, you can then wait for your pickup ship to take you far away from there, and to get the much-desired screen that reads you have completed your mission (successfully, too!).
Of course, there are no upgrades that allow you to increase your passive HP, DEF, ATK, or anything like that. It all depends on which equipment you are picking at the start. Since each stage is so fast-paced, you have virtually no time to sit around and take the aliens on slowly. You have to kite them, move around in circles to avoid them, and just pray that you don’t run into more.
You have several loadouts to pick from
As you complete your missions, successfully or unsuccessfully, you will still get some rewards. These rewards are some sort of medals, which you can save up and use in the shop to purchase new weapons, armour, or gadgets.
Each weapon has a different charge mechanic – some charge while you walk, and for others, you have to be stationary to recharge. The armour can have different effects, from granting you increased HP or movement speed, to slowing down enemies by leaving a trail behind you.
Last but not least, you have the gadgets, which can be drones attacking on your behalf, boots, or shields. These are useful depending on what enemies you’re up against, but unlocking them is also pretty tough. They are costly, but nothing a few runs cannot fix.
There are missions and puzzles too!
Drop Troop has several missions you can find on each map, and some of them can be a little frustrating, especially if you are not someone who dabbles in puzzle games. I found the sound one to be the most annoying out of all of them because, for this puzzle, you have to listen to a sequence of keys, and then step on them in that order.
If you happen to miss just one, you are doomed. You can get re-listed to it, but by then, you have lost precious time for your mission.
Other puzzles include finding the right sequence for some pillars, and my favourite: escorting the scientist. That is no puzzle, but it is a simple mission, and by far one of the easiest ones you can run into.
The one that caught me by surprise is the hive destruction – be wary of these, because once you’ve planted the bomb, you need to RUN. Don’t let the red area find you, because it will just “help” you end the mission sooner. And not in a good way.
Overall? This game is fantastic! If you love the genre and pixel graphics with a little bit of rave, you need to give it a try. It has some replay potential, but honestly, I would’ve loved it to have even more. It is nice that it’s easy to pick up anytime for a quick gaming session.
If you want to learn more about the game, feel free to head to the official website for Drop Troop or Google Play.