Ghost Ship Games put Rogue Core into Early Access several days ago, which begs the question: guess what we’ve been doing these past few days? Even before the game came out, as big fans of Deep Rock Galactic and huge fans of the DRG: Survivor spin-off, we had been wondering how they would turn a chill mining game into a brutal roguelite. Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is definitely its own thing, far more ambitious than a simple DLC expansion. It is meaner, and in turn, it makes you meaner to your friends. Trust us, there will be a lot of arguing and shouting.
Pickaxes and Timers
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core hands you a pickaxe, and that is your bread and butter at the beginning since there are no more customized loadouts. Instead, you are forced to spend the early game just scrounging for guns inside the caves.
Speaking of the caves, don’t expect to build crazy pipe networks or drill massive staircases. The maps are way more linear now. We spent most of our time fighting around ruined industrial platforms. Because the focus is mostly on the action and shooting, you might be a bit disappointed that you can’t reshape the terrain to the same extent as in the first game. We didn’t mind this. We loved that the focus is on the action; it gave the whole universe a different, much more intense feel.
While you’re exploring and shooting, you need to keep in mind that there is a strict timer running in the background. The longer you hang around, the worse the threat level gets. And this is where the arguing with friends starts. We were constantly bickering about whether to grab a side objective for more loot or just run away from the new Core Spawn bugs before we got wiped out. It all comes down to your personal situation and how strong, healthy, and cocky you are (or aren’t) feeling. It absolutely sucks when you know you’re not going to make it, yet one of your buddies feels invincible and wants to push forward.
Expenite Crystals
The more bugs you kill, the more of these green rocks you can grab. Sooner or later, the game pauses for an upgrade station. The team has to take turns picking from a shared pool, which sadly stops the action completely. We spent a lot of time just playing sheep-dog, trying to get the whole team into one spot to trigger the menu. Then, someone takes the buff you desperately needed. It causes actual resentment—so the arguing continues!
Uninspiring Statistics
A lot of the upgrades are just basic math, too. Getting a bit more crit chance doesn’t really change the way we play. We haven’t seen many wild, game-breaking combos yet. It’s still in Early Access, so here’s to things changing for the better in this area.
Five Super Cool Classes
The classes, however, are a lot of fun. We played the Slicer at first, and it was great hacking bugs apart with an energy sword. But then there’s the Guardian—a class that drops concussive blasts. The Falconer has drones, the Spotter marks targets, and the Retcon rewinds time to heal. They feel totally different from the old game. No matter what class we picked, we had an unforgettable time that made us think and strategize in very unique ways.
Surprisingly, for a day-one build, it actually runs fine.
Waiting for the Good Loot
If you want to chill, you should definitely go play regular Deep Rock Galactic. Rogue Core is meant to make or break friendships (most likely the latter).
The guns and classes are beyond cool, but they need to fix how the loot sharing works or the player base will end up destroying their friendships before they can even enjoy this otherwise great game. Also, we weren’t big fans of how it leans a bit too hard on boring stat bumps. Still, the game has great potential and is an amazing experiment in an otherwise known and well-loved universe.
ID Card
- Developer: Ghost Ship Games
- Publisher: Ghost Ship Publishing / Coffee Stain Publishing
- Platforms: PC (Steam)
- Release Date: May 20, 2026 (Early Access)
- Genre: Co-op FPS Roguelite
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