Rochard Review

Rochard (PC)
Developed By: Recoil Games
Date of Release: November 15, 2011
Price: $9.99

To sum up Rochard in a nutshell: Metroidvania's gameplay and Team Fortress 2's visuals made a baby, and that baby grew up a redneck miner with a gravity gun. Rochard starts the titular character John Rochard, a deep space miner who is tough enough to get 'er done. Voiced by Jon St. John of Duke Nukem fame, John Rochard is a very likable character with plenty of personality. So many games these days feature faceless nameless protagonists, to have a character-driven game of this caliber is a refreshing treat.




The gameplay in Rochard is a very effective and well-executed blend of platforming, exploration and physics based puzzle solving and combat. With a vast gameworld to explore, devious enemies to fight, and plenty of puzzles to solve, Rochard has plenty to keep you busy. John's main weapon is the G-Lifter, which is extremely similar in function to Half-Life 2's gravity gun, however the G-Lifter also has the added ability to turn off gravity, which is extremely helpful in solving the game's myriad puzzles. Later on however you will gain access to the Rock-Blaster, which is purely an offensive weapon. And you'll need it, there are plenty of foes to face off with.

As amazing as the dialogue is in Rochard, the soundscape shines even brighter. For most of the game you will hear impressive ambient sounds, as machines do their work in the background. However at just the right time the game's amazing score will pick up and set the mood and intensity for critical moments. The soundtrack itself is by none other than Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen, the rocking keyboardist of Poets of The Fall. The soundtrack starts off with a rockabilly number called "Grinder's Blues" and then switches gears to an amazing Sci-Fi experience. The amazing album is available both in a combo on Steam with the Rochard game, or as a separate download on the Poets of The Fall webstore.




In my experience playing Rochard I got a good solid 8 hours out of it, which is pretty damn satisfying for a game of this price and genre. From casual to hard core gamers, to the metroidvania junkies out there, Rochard is a must buy!