At PAX East 2019, I had the chance to check out Double Fine’s recently announced Rad, and while it didn’t have the best first impression, as I kept playing it kept revealing more awesome and enticing reasons for me to change my mind.
Rad is a top-down hack-and-slash style roguelike that, upon first viewing, feels like any other game in the genre with combat that seems good although not great. However, as I continued my 20-minute or so demo, I kept hitting moments of pure joy and hilarity. By the end, I didn’t want to put the controller down.
For those unfamiliar, Rad takes place following two apocalypses that began in the 1980s and players assume the role of an endless stream of teenagers who have to explore the wasteland and help protect an un-radiated town, which also serves as a hub.
As I began exploring the aforementioned wasteland, there was a moment that made me smile and I started to fully understand the potential of this game and the main mechanic at the forefront, mutations. As enemies are killed and the player progresses through the world, a bar is filled that eventually activates a mutation that really changes up the gameplay. The first one I unlocked was a crazy monster arm that can be thrown as a boomerang. It added some ranged combat to my repertoire and changed the way I approached combat. There are plenty of other satisfying mutations, like turning the adventurers head into a cobra that spits poison.
Finding out what crazy mutation will take over next was a part of what made Rad click for me.
My demo had me activating certain towers and fighting through underground bunkers, all while just exploring every nook and cranny of the world. One feature that I really loved was that a trail of grass and flowers is left in the player’s wake. This was both beautiful by bringing back nature to the wasteland and also helped serve as a guide to previously tread areas.
First impressions mean a lot, but sometimes they can be overcome and I’m so glad Rad was able to break those expectations for me because now I am so excited to jump back into Double Fine’s new world and see what other secrets it may hold this summer.
Rad will release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. For more information, check out the official website.
For further PAX East coverage, check out our delightful romp through Dragon Quest Builders 2 or our deducing of mysteries in the eerie Alt-Frequencies.
