It was at the beginning of December that tinyBuild brought out the first Cyanide & Happiness game for all to play. Hosting an open beta for a weekend and selling copies for a closed beta that followed. While any player can still get their hands on Rapture Rejects by Explosm Games right now, you might be better off waiting until the game is more developed.
Gameplay
With a top down view that can be turned in quarter segments, according to whichever way the player would like to focus their attention or just prefers their map to face, the map is incredibly open. There is no way to hide nor run to and instead the moment somebody else is within proximity it is just all out battle. There have been a few encounters that ended up in a running match, but unless you mutually agree to split ways, one will always chase down the other and it is no struggle to keep the other player within sight.
The amount of artillery to use is very scarce. Majority of the time you will only come across a shotgun, which has a secondary grenade-like attack, or the machine gun with its own secondary attack. While these are the main two kinds of weapons in these games, I didn’t see a lot of variety in styles or options, but instead a consistent appearance of the same weapons. It would be great if there were more powerful versions of those weapons or at least some more options like pistols and bows.
There is the consistent Battle Royale mechanic of an ever-closing circle that forces players to get closer and closer as time passes. This circle moves quite quickly though and doesn’t allot for a lot of time to set up, make a plan, or prepare yourself. Plus you load up at just a randomly selected section of the map that is out of your control, so this alone makes the game more luck based than it already is.
Despite this, there is one option to get some cover and hide for a little while and that is the homes. If you go inside a home, that is when the roof is removed to reveal what, or possibly who, is within. However, there isn’t a way to blast a wall open or anything so if the circle gets too close you will have to face the damage to get out - so don’t get stuck inside!
One of the best parts of the game is the character customization because even on early access there are tons of options. From hats or hair, shirts and color, all the way to having either boobs or a dong, each character can easily have their own unique look and style. This is sure to expand further as the game progresses to completion.
Overall
Rapture Rejects seems to be setting itself up to have a unique style to the battle royale game mode itself. It is fun to play, however more often short than even medium length games. While it needs a lot more in the arsenal aspect and that they seriously need to look into different ways players could take cover from being spotted so easily, there is definite promise that Eplosm Games is starting off on the right foot. All-in-all, while it has enjoyable qualities, I would say the Early Access was released a bit too soon, but I look forward to seeing how they continue to improve it through the next year.
