PixelJunk Raiders

PixelJunk Raiders is not completely to be thrown away because it has some interesting ideas, but this is not enough to make it stand out compared to other roguelikes: it is the classic wasted opportunity because it never manages to fully convince.

PixelJunk Raiders plays like an interactive sci-fi album cover from the 70s; one full of Vangelis off-cuts that you're going to try and share with a bunch of your friends despite the fact they're more interested in Rod Stewart.

PixelJunk Raiders has a unique vibe and some interesting ideas, including smart implementation of Stadia’s State Share feature, but it isn’t anywhere near as fleshed out or polished as it needs to be. Cheapo presentation, clunky combat, unbalanced roguelike mechanics, and a lack of variety combine to extinguish the game’s promise. PixelJunk Raiders may stand out like a minor oasis on the desolate Stadia release calendar, but there’s a much wider, more vibrant world of roguelike-flavored games out there to explore.

From an academic sense, there is a lot to like about PixelJunk Raiders, but not enough to overcome its obvious shortcomings. Combat slowly gets interesting over time, but hunting for weapons never feels like anything but filler. Levels change color schemes, but the objectives mostly remain static and encourage going through the motions to grind out experience and rewards. There aren't any treasure rooms or weird run-specific perks to make missions stand out, and the support of Stadia's State Share feels like a tech demo rather than something anyone would actually use. Google is still searching for a killer app for its cloud platform, and it's sad to say that the latest from Q-Games just doesn't fit the bill.

PixelJunk Raiders is almost a good game and certainly isn't horrible, but its best bits, the roguelite systems and some tough melee battles, are still better done in other games in the genre, and those games aren't built around saving survivors who behave more like statues.

In a world where games such as Hades, Slay The Spire and Into The Breach have found ways to elevate the Roguelike to new heights, PixelJunk Raiders sadly fails to make a mark. [Issue#357, p.118]

PixelJunk Raiders may look like an inventive and colorful world to wander around, but it stumbles hard when it comes to darn near everything else that makes a roguelike fun.