What would you get when Sonic and Asteroids have a baby after a Red Bull and cocaine fuelled night out? Rive… you’d get Rive…

So before I began, I decided to watch the Rive – Epic Conclusion Trailer in which it states that this will be the last game that Two Tribes will be making but that they’d be going out with a bang. They didn’t lie. Admittedly I haven’t played a game by Two Tribes before and I’m already asking myself, “Why not?”

To begin, Rive is a shooter/platformer that takes everything you ever loved about retro games and combines them into one absolute modern masterpiece. It’s unforgivingly difficult at times, extremely fast paced and mental… absolutely fucking mental.

You take control of Roughshot, a space scavenger that’s checking out a spaceship in his little scavenger bot, spider thing. You get stuck and pretty much have to shoot your way out. That’s about it for the story but that’s all it needs to be. No more, no less. Throughout the game you’ll encounter the robot that’s responsible for your predicament and this is where the humour breaks through. The relationship between the pair is hilarious, often referencing the kind of games that clearly influenced Rive.

As I stated above Rive is mental. The gameplay is ridiculously fast at times and just throws absolutely everything at you. I can’t remember the last time my adrenaline was pumping so fast, trying to cope with rising lava, platforms and shit loads of enemies. I couldn’t count the amount of times I died and had to go back to a certain check point. There was even one instance that I had to take a break. My left hand was tired, it literally couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game and I had to come back an hour later to finish that particular section off.

Rive is full of set pieces and boss battles, reminiscent of games past but with the added speed and craziness. The enemies come in droves and they don’t hold back. Controlling the robot is easy, left analogue to move, right analogue for your basic attack, L2 to jump and R2 for your special weapon (PS4). You’ll need all 360° as the levels alter, sometimes you’ll be running, sometimes you’ll be flying and you’re almost guaranteed to be panicking. This is the only game where I’ve ever felt hindered for having a large TV (55″), my eyes constantly jumping around screen to focus on what’s coming at me next and from what angle. These set pieces are crafted so well and offer such challenge that you’ll breathe a huge sigh of relief once it’s finally over on your 10th attempt.

Apart from the basic weapon, you’ll also be able to upgrade your little craft with new weaponry and shields. A quick bit of advice, don’t hold anything in reserve. This isn’t the type of game where you’ll want to save your special attack for when the time is ‘right’. You’re going to need it and you’re going to need to switch between weapons fast but don’t fear as you’re restocked often.

Graphically, Rive is beautiful. The effects and explosions pop out at you and almost blind you there’s often that much going on. But it’s not too much. Everything on the screen is still obvious and the game keeps up and performs perfectly.

The controls are absolutely on point and extremely responsive. And they’re responsive because they have to be. You’ll be turning, dodging, jumping in one direction, firing in the other and if your reactions are slow, you’ll die, simple as that. This is no longer the 90’s where you can blame crappy controls and slow movement for failing. Your robot is fast and agile, you can turn, spin and move with a delicate touch and you need to be on the ball to avoid everything Rive throws at you.

I beat Rive in approximately 8 hours and it felt right. I was ready when it came to an end. Ready to go a have a heart attack in a cold empty room somewhere.

Also note that i said I ‘beat’ Rive. I don’t want to say I finished it or completed it. Rive demands you to beat it. There’s no easy mode. In fact your only choice when you begin is Hard Mode, only giving you the extra options of Speedrun and Single-Credit modes once you’ve beaten the game.

It’s been too long since I can proudly say that I beat a game and thankfully Two Tribes gave me this feeling of accomplishment. I would recommend Rive to everyone; the old school that moan about todays generation of shoddy games and DLC, the ‘pro’ gamers looking for their next challenge and the young ‘uns that have stayed clear of retro because the graphics are pants and the games are too slow. It’s a fresh instalment to the genre and has been crafted into the modern era awesomely.

To summarise, Rive is a heart attack inducing, crazy nostalgia rollercoaster that will have you on the edge of the couch seat from beginning to end. I highly recommend it.

Check out Rive on Steam here.

Check out the trailer below…