[Review] RAD

[#REDSTAR ♪ ♫]

Game informations:

Developer:Double Fine Productions
Publisher:Bandai Namco Games
Release: DateAugust 20, 2019
PlatformsPC, :PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One

 

now what the first thing I thought of when I saw RAD was? Toe Jam & Earl. The gameplay of this roguelike action-adventure, which is set in a twice-nuked future whose pop-culture sensibilities are permanently fossilized in the 1980s, shares a lot in common with that old Sega Genesis favorite. Combine that vibe with developer Double Fine’s signature playful sense of humor and near-endless variety from randomized mutation power-ups, and you get a surprisingly engaging just-one-more-run kind of game.
It’s bad enough when the nuclear apocalypse hits, but society eventually rebuilds and, in time, civilization moves forward. Cue the second nuclear holocaust - and you have to wonder why humanity can’t catch a break. By the time RAD begins, most of the planet is too dangerous to live in. And of course, even in the safe town you do have, the power goes out. So it’s up to the post-apocalyptic teenagers to venture out into the Fallow and try to get it back on and ensure the continued survival of the human race - no matter how much they have to mutate

 

 

 

 

It’s weirdly dark and goofy, but it’s enough of a plot to hang onto as you clear the wasteland by swatting the irradiated monstrosities with your trusty bat and whatever mutations you pick up along the way. RAD is almost entirely procedurally generated, which means sometimes your exploration and combat yields great and super-weird mutation power-ups. You might gain the ability to launch your own head as a projectile explosive, or a sentient neck-mounted blob that hurls its own attacks at your foes. Other times you might get an annoying ability like the egg-laying one where you have to hatch fresh helpers every time you pass through a doorway, or something else that just doesn’t gel with your playstyle. Or maybe you’ll be on a map layout that requires a ton of traipsing around. But those weak runs make the great ones feel even better. It’s fun to discover old-school secret walls and floors around the dungeons, too.

Of course, you’ll become more powerful as you go, too, with up to three active mutation abilities at your disposal at a time. But RAD is tougher than it looks - and it’s the good kind of tough. Health is tricky to come by, even with shops allowing you to cash in your collected currency (in the form of fittingly -’80s cassette tapes, with five-and-a-quarter floppy disks serving as keys to locked chests). As a result, death is always a very serious threat. But it’s not a complete wipe when you die, because you can bank cash for future playthroughs and unlock different, stat-enhancing bats to use at the start of a new run to give you progressively more of a leg up as you go.

 

While the neon-tinged color pallette and synth-tastic '80s soundtrack serve RAD well in the personality department, the sluggish framerate on a plain ol' Xbox One S and the long loading times at startup and whenever you go to and from town or a new level drag things down a bit.
Verdict
RAD is a lot deeper than it looks at first glance, and a lot more challenging too. Both are good things, and the procedurally generated layouts and mutations guarantee that variety will always be served. Sometimes you’ll play for minutes and other times for hours - I’m about eight hours deep so far - but the more time you spend with RAD, the more likely you are to click “New Run” when you finally die.

 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 10 (64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400, 3.10 GHz / AMD FX-8350, 4.00 GHz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 780, 3 GB / AMD RX 470, 4 GB
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 6 GB available space
Sound Card: DirectX compatible soundcard or onboard chipset

 

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by REDST@R