Rad

 Xbox One
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Video Chums
    Aug 15, 2019
    72
    RAD is the sort of roguelike that's enjoyable once everything starts to click but after that, repetition and frustration unfortunately rear their ugly mutated heads. It's still a fun game but one that you'll likely only pick up and play every once in a while.
  2. Xbox Tavern
    Aug 18, 2019
    71
    RAD is actually quite a fun game to play, the different mutations keep the game interesting and, as the game doesn’t give you much about the story, a lot of things are a mystery, and enjoyable to discover. The long loading screens when you start or when you die do ruin the games flow a little bit, but there is enough content, and it is challenging enough, to keep you interested for a while.
  3. Xbox Achievements
    Aug 19, 2019
    70
    A fairly unique 3D roguelike, RAD is colourful, wilfully silly, devilishly difficult, and imbued with 1980s style. This is pure Double Fine, but will have limited appeal for some.
  5. Press Start Australia
    Aug 16, 2019
    70
    RAD is a great little roguelike that differentiates itself from others with its unique setting and visual appeal. It’s really what you’d expect from a roguelike in terms of gameplay (and is solid in that regard), but everything it does to differentiate itself is largely superficial.
  6. Game Revolution
    Aug 15, 2019
    70
    Rad does more right than it does wrong. Because it has some money behind it, it probably spends a bit too much time on worldbuilding and presentation. It’s all truly great stuff, but it ultimately gets in the way of the gameplay, making what should be a satisfying loop feel bloated.
  7. GameCritics
    Sep 24, 2019
    60
    There are kernels of good ideas throughout RAD, and none of my problems with it feel like they can’t be fixed or tweaked to make the experience less frustrating. Unfortunately, its current iteration falls squarely into the Double Fine catalog of work that’s great to look at, but only fleetingly entertaining to play.

Awards & Rankings

74
#74 Best Xbox One Game of 2019
100
#100 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2019

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 4 out of 13
  1. Xbox_Alive
    Aug 25, 2019
    8
    RAD is an isometric top down Rouge-Lite Beat-Em-Up adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world. In some time, lost to the future, glowing rocksRAD is an isometric top down Rouge-Lite Beat-Em-Up adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world. In some time, lost to the future, glowing rocks fall to the planet and bring about the second Apocalypse. The entire world is broken, and irradiated, covered in strange plants, and deadly mutants following not one, but two world ending events. You are chosen to become the Altered One, to be remade when you die. You venture out into a procedurally generated world to find effigies known as respirators, that have to power to restore life to the world. As you progress you gather Rads, now normally this would be a bad thing, radiation and all, but the Remade absorbs this corruption and slowly mutates. These mutations are random and provide you with a wild array of abilities from throwing fireballs to laying eggs that hatch into little spider things with your head on them. Equip with a bat and these mutations, you take on tons of enemies and massive bosses. Collect floppies to open locks, and cassette tapes are money to grab up useful items from the games random stores. The downside to all this Awesome, when you die, you lose everything on your body, Mutations, tapes, and floppies. The entire game is saturated with the 80s from the feel of the music to the characters. RAD is an incredibly addictive game, with wild combinations of powers that should be fun for most. Challenging in a fun way RAD is a must have for Rouge-lite and Beat-Em-Up fans alike!… Full Review »
  2. PanzerJack82
    Jun 22, 2020
    10
    This is one of my favorite games. It is fantastic. Terrific gameplay. I like the neon graphics style. The music is great. Very nice ambientThis is one of my favorite games. It is fantastic. Terrific gameplay. I like the neon graphics style. The music is great. Very nice ambient tunes mixed up with some 80s electro beats. This game deserves a lot more recognition.
    You start out with just a bat, wandering around beating up enemies. After a couple of enemies you gain a mutation. This is random and you have to make your way to the final boss with whatever means the game gives you. This system goes pretty deep. Many possible combinations cause there are so many different mutations. Add in some perks, and items on the way and you become a powerful, mutant.
    Getting to the boss is quite hard, but you get better with each run. It took me 53 runs to even get to the boss once, only to get wiped out. I keep coming back to this.

    This is one of my top favorite games, and I have played games for over 30 years starting with Nes.
    I want to thank the team behind it for this jewel of a game. Absolutely fantastic    … Full Review »
  3. 519MaLoNeY
    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… Full Review »
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