I must confess to being something of snob when it comes to the idler, bullet hell roguelikes such as Vampire Survivors or BallxPit. I tried both on recommendations of others, and though I had a lukewarm time with them, neither really grabbed me. Seemingly, it was only a matter of time before the genre sucked me in like a whirlpool. So it is, Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is the one.
Apparently, all it takes is throwing in some dynamic tower defence mechanics to make me a fan. Who knew? So, Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is a hybrid amalgamation of player augmentation, tower defence and resource gathering. Can it travel over rock and road alike to become the best in the demon-slaying business? Get your city moving and let’s find out.
Is It A Monster? Is It A Monster?!
Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is upfront and to the point, which I appreciated. You start a run by selecting your city type, environment and difficulty. Hit start and you’re immediately dropped into the environment, enemies closing in and your city on the move. The objective is to reach the Ark, which is a fair ways south from your landing point, with three pitstops along the route.
You play as a simple villager, tasked with harvesting wood or stone from nearby destructible environments, while fending off hordes of increasingly challenging demons. The caveat is, while the devastation of the city means the end of the run, being felled yourself is nary a problem. Another villager pops up and off you go to see the job through to the bitter end.
As a result, Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is quite the thrilling ride. You attack and harvest automatically, while collecting blue gems provides XP to level up your city with towers. These provide either defence by mowing down the horde, or increased resource generation. So begins the juggling act of hoovering up resources, collecting XP and aiding your city in its defence.
Hit The Road, Jack
If you’ve played Vampire Survivors or a variation of it, you’ll feel right at home here. It’s by no means an imitator, as it has its own evolution of the formula, but the basics of how to play are very familiar. As a roguelike, it’s got that moreish quality that screams at you for “just one more run”. Each game becomes a carnival of explosions, fire spitting, ice launching and minion spewing joy.
The variety of tower types impressed me a lot. While you start off with a small selection of weapons and towers to utilise, you’ll unlock more through cumulative or run-specific objectives which then enter the RNG for selection in future runs. Couple this with a persistent upgrade system that significantly improves both your villager and tower effectiveness, and you have a perfect recipe for a snackable roguelike.
What I also liked, is that the choice of city adds a dose of spice to proceedings. One may place 2 towers for every one you acquire, while another may have far fewer grids to place on, but upgrades your villager every second level. Adapting to the specifics of your city is part of what makes each run more challenging and satisfying. The choice of environment has a less noticeable impact overall, but ramp up the difficulty to Hard before you’re ready and you’ll be given a firm smack to the ego.
Rock Out With Your Tower Out
I do have a couple of minor gripes I need to expand on with Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road however. First is the mid-way chunk of grinding you’ll need to do to consistently step up from Normal to Hard difficulty. You simply need those persistent upgrades to even have a chance, and there’s two more difficulties after that. While it adds a nice longevity cycle to the game, the grind to get there can become slightly wearisome.
Moreover, some of the weapons you unlock for the villager are far less exciting or viable compared to the wealth of towers for the city. I found a core 4-5 options that worked best and just stuck with them, as upgrading the rotating saws each run was a guaranteed flurry of spikey violence. Just what I needed, and never needed to deviate from.
On the whole however, I have much more praise for the game than I do complaints. Towards the end of each run, you’ll face a super-powered boss, who’ll push your city and your villager to their limits. If you’ve not been strategic with your buff placements or failed to upgrade towers along the way, they’ll sniff out your weakness and dismantle you. They’re brutal and brilliant additions, each with their own unique attacks and visual flair.
Chase The Monsters Away
Speaking of visual flair, Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is pleasant on the eyes thanks to a vibrant and fun art style. Ice beams cannon out of your villager with the depth of the Alaskan wilderness. Little green minions charge out from your city with an exuberant zeal. Fire spreads amongst trees with a pop of orange glow. Then there’s the circular saws which just carve through anything and everything, allowing you to rip through trees and demons alike.
More than that though, is the detail on the cities, such as the Mirror variant, which just looks wonderful. Towers have unique aesthetics, that also change and expand with upgrades. By the end of a run, there’s a cacophony of vibrant effects happening everywhere and anywhere, and it’s just a blast to behold it all.
There are only four environment types, which means things do become more visually repetitive rather quickly. Alongside the lack of significant differences in enemy visuals, it can start to look quite same-y after just a few rounds. Even so, I very much like the art style and appreciate the wild spectacle it regularly descends into. Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road isn’t the most incredible title visually, but it has some real high moments.
Towering Above
I played Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road exclusively on my Steam Deck, as it’s verified for the system, and boy was that a great and terrible choice. Great in the sense that it’s the ideal on-the-go addicting roguelike with 10-20 minutes runs. Terrible for the fact that it had me glued to the screen and completely distracted from the world around me while playing. Who needs to be mindful anyway?
If you’re into the genre of bullet hell roguelikes and are partial to a bit of tower defence strategy, you’re going to love Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road. While I wouldn’t play for hours at a time, I would consistently have the hankering to get back for a run far too often. Like a moreish snack for which you just can’t quite satiate your appetite for.
While not quite the best in the field, Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road was a jolly fun time. I’d recommend it on PC too, but Steam Deck is what it feels like it was made for. Now, if that’s quite enough writing for you, I have a new city I need to go turn into a fortress to reach the Ark… Good day to you.
Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road is available November 20th on PC via Steam (review platform).
Developer: Ludogram
Publisher: Raw Fury
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.
If you enjoyed this article or any more of our content, please consider our Patreon.
Make sure to follow Finger Guns on our social channels –Twitter, Facebook, Twitch, Spotify or Apple Podcasts – to keep up to date on our news, reviews and features.