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Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews What's this?

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6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 27 Ratings

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  • Summary: RAD – a 3D action rogue-like set in a post-post-apocalyptic world, where humanity has faced armageddon not once, but twice.

    Playing as a teenage protagonist, you must venture into the Fallow — an ever-changing, radioactive wasteland filled with unknown and unspeakable creatures. It is
    RAD – a 3D action rogue-like set in a post-post-apocalyptic world, where humanity has faced armageddon not once, but twice.

    Playing as a teenage protagonist, you must venture into the Fallow — an ever-changing, radioactive wasteland filled with unknown and unspeakable creatures. It is here that you will find the solution to heal the world, and transform the cracked, barren landscape into a lush source of new life.

    But humanity’s future comes at great personal cost, as the deeper you journey into unknown lands, the more you will expose yourself to gnarly toxins which will wreak havoc on your fragile human form.

    The fate of the world depends on you, your trusty bat, and whatever strange new abilities you gain as the world around you ravages your body — twisting and mutating you into something far less than human, but far more powerful.

    But forget all that — go grab that sweet bat and help save the world…or what’s remaining of it anyway.
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RAD - Official Reveal Trailer
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 14
  2. Negative: 2 out of 14
  1. Sep 9, 2019
    85
    RAD is a nice throwback to the eighties alongside being a decent roguelite. It won't be a roguelike you put over a hundred hours into, but it will give you enough value for its $19.99 price point. Double Fine hit the mark on making RAD stand out, despite having shortcomings around combat and performance issues when too much is going on.
  2. Sep 3, 2019
    80
    An enjoyable retro-style rogue-lite; in RAD you should expect brutal gameplay in a gaudy and synthesised world. The random nature of the world sometimes proves to be a problem, but not enough to diminish what is a fantastically loud take on the genre. If only for letting players smack about mutants with their engorged limbs and a baseball bat, RAD lives up to its name. Just try to stop playing it, you’ll struggle.
  3. Sep 25, 2019
    80
    RAD is an excellent roguelike, that oozes the signature Double Fine charm from its terrifyingly mutated pores. Beautiful art direction from Lee Petty’s team and solid replay value from the extensive combination of powers each run make it extremely worthwhile.
  4. 70
    You’ll want to check out Rad for its unique concept, addicting gameplay and beautiful style, you just may want to consider it on a different console. The Switch version has too many aesthetical issues for me to feel confident that it represents its true potential. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t — it still plays great and personally, I’m going to keep perfecting my runs to, maybe eventually, become rad.
  5. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Apr 28, 2020
    65
    A hit-and-miss mix painted up in '80s neon. It's not bad – just not as rad as it could've been. [Issue #42 – October 2019, p. 25]
  6. Aug 27, 2019
    60
    RAD doesn’t do anything particularly new for the roguelike genre, but it doesn’t necessarily need to in order to be an enjoyable game in its own right. The over-the-top '80s neon aesthetic is consistently charming, the level-to-level gameplay is both rewarding and nail-bitingly intense, and there’s a good amount of ‘meta’ progress to be made beyond the limits of a single run. On the other hand, the RNG can be brutal in how it distributes power-ups between runs, and overall performance on the Switch (especially in handheld) leaves something to be desired. Even given these shortcomings, though, we’d give RAD a cautious recommendation. If you find yourself drawn to the likes of Dead Cells, Risk of Rain, Ironcast, or any other release in the massively popular roguelike genre, RAD could be right up your alley – assuming you can look past its annoying problems.
  7. Oct 28, 2019
    40
    Had the development team put together a point-and-click adventure or platformer set in this world, it would have been much more enjoyable. Because we could focus on a story, we could investigate, see the causes of mutations and inspect why life has been reduced to this ramshackle society. Instead, we’re used to dying in the wastes before being recycled ad infinitum. And what grates the most, is that I wanted to love this game. It has ideas, it has scope, but everything is hidden beneath a smudged ‘CRT’ veneer.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 11
  2. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Aug 26, 2019
    10
    Don't listen to the bad reviews for Switch! The game is very fun, completely unique, and it is perfect for on the go! I really enjoy playingDon't listen to the bad reviews for Switch! The game is very fun, completely unique, and it is perfect for on the go! I really enjoy playing it and seeing what different mutation my character will get next. It may not look as good graphically as the other consoles, but the portability factor made me buy it on Switch. Turn off the CRT in display option and it looks better. It is definately worth checking out for $20. I'm not a big rogue like person, but I can't stop playing it! Expand
  2. Aug 20, 2019
    9
    DISGUSTING... IS... BEAUTIFUL? I would love to say it's an 8.5, but that's not an option and it's NOT AN 8. As far as rougelikes go, this isDISGUSTING... IS... BEAUTIFUL? I would love to say it's an 8.5, but that's not an option and it's NOT AN 8. As far as rougelikes go, this is absolutely different & so GORGEOUS. This game reminds me of what a game of the movie FREAKED (1993) meets Stanger Things would be. I'm sorry guys, I wish I could say this is one to save money on, BUT THIS ISN'T ONE TO SKIP, this is one to play and tell your friends about! That's because somehow this gem has managed to stay under the radar. Get your freak on, Get'cha, get'cha, get'cha freak on! Expand
  3. Feb 17, 2021
    8
    Rad is a very, VERY fun game. I feel that it takes quite a while to get in the groove of exactly wtf is going on. It’s got an immediate eyeRad is a very, VERY fun game. I feel that it takes quite a while to get in the groove of exactly wtf is going on. It’s got an immediate eye catching style and it’s done really well, in terms of the visuals, audio and the dialog and text descriptions of the world and its lore. You basically go in runs and have to make it as far as you can defeating the various monsters etc using a baseball bat and the powers (mutations) you gain when you level up. Fighting through and also finding the correct places to raise certain monuments to progress means you’ll be looking for a couple points at first and then progress down into a tunnel like system for boss fights. It’s pretty tough right off the bat but it gets easier and it is fun. Not having multiplayer kinda sucks but it’s still fun. There’s various unlocks you can unlock n upgrade in the main town square area like a bank, power item shops etc. All in all it’s a super smooth kick ass game. One of my favourite features of the game is the “assist features” in the game menu...it allows you to add more starting health/higher attack power/start off with a ranged mutagen etc. My younger daughters really started to get into the game after we found these as it was brutally hard for them to play the base game. It’s good enough that I bought it for my switch lite and play it regularly, even today still after owning it on both consoles since launch(Xbox one since launch, switch a couple months after that). *Note* I own both the XB1&Switch versions so this review will be posted to both consoles’ metacritic Rad reviews respectively. XB1 version gets 1 point higher (8) for visuals, and switch makes up that difference for being available in handheld. Expand
  4. Sep 28, 2019
    7
    Its difficult, It should have a difficulty setting or something! If you lose you have to start from begging and it's no fair!!
  5. Nov 25, 2021
    7
    Рогалик Rad впринципе неплохой и даже первые 3-4 часа затягивает. Но к сожалению мутации начинают слишком часто повторяться и это немногоРогалик Rad впринципе неплохой и даже первые 3-4 часа затягивает. Но к сожалению мутации начинают слишком часто повторяться и это немного раздражает. Но их хотябы можно будет заменить с помощью специальных алтарей и на этом спасибо.
    Лично для меня главный минус это то что у игры слишком сильное мыло. Игра вроде не такая уж и требовательная, но спустя час игры начинают болеть глаза.
    Как рогалик на портативке это очень даже не плохая игра. Но лучше брать по скидке
    Expand
  6. Jul 19, 2020
    7
    Pros:
    + nice atmosphere
    + good hit feedback
    + creative mutations

    Cons:
    - bad frame rate on switch
    - too short
    - boring to replay after beaten
  7. Aug 20, 2019
    5
    Game is pretty fun, but graphic downgrade turns it to the blurry mess, at least in handheld mode. Looks like Mutant Year Zero got a company.

See all 11 User Reviews