Streets of Rogue 2's Steam Next Fest demo is catnip for immersive sim and Dwarf Fortress sickos, and nothing proves that like my time as a Chef on a quest to kill the mayor

GamesActionStreets of Rogue 2Streets of Rogue 2’s Steam Next Fest demo is catnip for immersive sim and Dwarf Fortress sickos, and nothing proves that like my time as a Chef on a quest to kill the mayorWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Matt Dabrowski)

A chaotic traffic intersection in Streets of Rogue 2 that seems toe be undergoing a simultaneous car accident and attack by a knife-wielding assailant.

My attempt to ingratiate myself with the mayor went awry when I attacked several people with a fire axe in the Town Hall. From that point, my reputation never recovered. People with guns and bats hounded me in the street. My main quest-giver perished in an explosion I can’t say for sure I’m not responsible for. At some point my attempt to create a chicken sandwich outraged the local conservationists? It’s all gotten out of hand and everyone hates me. Plan B is to kill the mayor. Wish me luck!

These are my adventures inStreets of Rogue 2’s Steam Next Fest demo, a loose assemblage ofsome ofthe mechanics that will eventually make up the game’s full release that you can give a whirl yourself right now. It’s an immersive sim roguelike set in a 2D, procgen open world. Think of it as a kind of Deus Ex meets Dwarf Fortress, but hold your horses. Yes, I know that sounds like the greatest game ever made, but Streets of Rogue 2 is, very forwardly, not done yet.

(Image credit: tinyBuild)

A tutorial in Streets of Rogue 2’s Next Fest demo explains that the skills menu is far from finished.

In the demo, there are skills that aren’t yet implemented, mechanics that aren’t quite done, and tutorials that patiently explain that, one day, the thing they tutorialise will actually work in its entirety. If the game actually meets its currently listed release date of Q4 2024 I’ll be astonished.

I don’t say any of that to damn the game, mind you. Even in its unfinished demo form, I’ve had a blast with Streets of Rogue 2, and it’s quickly become one of my most-anticipated releases of… whenever it comes out. Even in this state, it’s a fun procgen chaos generator—the exact kind of thingI go absolutely nuts for—with bizarre emergent systems that careen into and off of one another.

I’m the cook

(Image credit: tinyBuild)

A chef wields an axe in the street.

Anyway, I had a quest and my feet were swift to answer it. I hopped in my sedan and headed downtown. Streets of Rogue 2 is, claims the dev,10,000 times biggerthan the first game. Driving about is a necessity. There are also new, Stardew-y elements like farming and building, but I was really focused on this axe thing.

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Problem one: It was about 2 am and everyone who ordinarily works in the Town Hall was in bed at home. Solution: Smash a window round the back and climb into one of the building’s many ground floor offices. Icouldhave smashed down the front door, but I’d have had to do it right there on the street and risk provoking NPC wrath. Easier to smash my way in and take the 15 HP penalty that comes from traversing broken glass.

(Image credit: tinyBuild)

A resistance leader tasks the player with killing the mayor.

Problem three: The elevator to the mayor’s office needs a keycard. Solution: Um.

(Image credit: tinyBuild)

A scene of carnage in the aftermath of a fight: Giblets everywhere and a wall torn down.

All incredible demonstrations of my prowess, yes, and I only needed to complete a couple more missions for my bartender friend before I’d be reputable enough to murder the mayor. Unfortunately, he had been killed after attempting to involve himself in an altercation between a police officer and a drug dealer. Only marginally less dramatic than the time I watched someone—presumably not feeling the gags—knock a comedian clean through a wall and beat him to death in the street.

(Image credit: tinyBuild)

A chaotic fight aftermath.

I reduced somewhere around 10 public sector workers to giblets before they finally took me down, and not one of them had a keycard. Worse, they all still hated me even in my post-death, reformed, reborn form. It was shoot on-sight for Chefs at Town Hall, and the mayor still hadn’t even heard my name.

(Image credit: tinyBuild)

A big fight breaks out.

Anyway, long story short: I decided to pursue the other quest I started the game with—getting a job at a local restaurant. It’s going well.

Rogue legacy

So despite it being unfinished, I had a ball with my time with Streets of Rogue 2’s demo, and I eagerly await its full version. If you’re the kind of person who goes gaga for the weird emergent stories that the likes of Dwarf Fortress, Crusader Kings, and other games that are constantly rolling procgen dice can spit out, this is one you should keep an eye on. I just wouldn’t expect it anytime soon, no matter what that Steam page release date says.

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I’m the cook#

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Rogue legacy#

I’m the cook

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Rogue legacy