Moros Protocol is essentially a new, 90s FPS, right down the gorgeous crunchy low poly textures, but with rogue elements… and it is mostly awesome.

Spawning on a claustrophobic, decaying ship, it is you versus everything that want to kills you. Initially armed with only a melee weapon, stronger guns can be found along the way. As a way to keep balance, ammo is limited but sometimes things explode so knowing when to strike and when to keep your distance is a still that is learned over time. Some guns shoot faster. Some take longer to reload. Some have larger ammo capacities. You never know what you are going to get since each run is random.

Like any rogue game, death is inevitable and only the beginning. Throughout each run, XP coins are collected and then spent in the menu screen to unlock permanent upgrades. However, the slow progression strikes a nice balance of keeping the game at a nice pace; it is always difficult but fair. In fact, this might be my favorite aspect about this digital download (besides the modern takes on retro visuals). Moros Protocol is a beatable game which makes it more enjoyable. It is possible to make some decent progress even in the first few runs when you are mostly underpowered. However, this unfortunately leads to biggest overlooked feature – the lack of a save feature. At the time of this writing, runs must be completed in one sitting which is a tremendous ask of the player. The first time I made it to the end of the first world to fight the first boss, I played for more than thirty straight minutes. Since there are numerous worlds to complete before reaching the end, not having the ability to save borderline makes the game unplayable. I guess you can use the console’s quick resume feature but that is always a little risky.

Runs can take a while to clear because each floor, almost every room, contains a secret or two. Whether is it finding and shooting a XP sack sneakily hanging in a corner or blasting through a wall to open a passageway, there are secrets and extras all over the place. The game encourages exploration and found myself wanting to clear every room of each floor before venturing deeper. Local co-op is also available which only amplifies the dividing, conquering, and entertainment.

Over the last few years, I’ve made it very clear that I am exhausted of the rogue genre. Ever since Vampire Survivors was released, the die-and-retry gameplay seemingly has made its way into just about every game released since then. Even though I desperately want to see this overused rogue fad transition into something else, Moros Protocol is fun, nicely balanced, rather pretty, and mostly hits all the nails on the head. It is quality as it stands but if patches are released to clean up some of the overlooked blemishes, Moros Protocol is a rogue title that stands above others in this horribly overcrowded genre.

By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com

X/Twitter: @ZackGaz

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