Steel Rats™ Review Summary

Despite stunning visuals, great sound, and high replayability, overly complex controls, frequent early crashes, and unusable keyboard controls hold it back.

Impressive graphics and visuals: Multiple reviewers praise the game's graphics, describing them as beautiful, pleasant, and 10/10. The 2.5D art style and retro-futuristic atmosphere are frequently highlighted.

Great sound and music: The soundtrack and sound design receive consistent praise, with reviewers noting excellent musical accompaniment and respectful work. This is a standout feature alongside the graphics.

High replayability with characters: The ability to switch between four unique characters with different skills, weapons, and customization options adds significant replay value. Players appreciate the tactical depth and diversity.

Unique gameplay mechanics: Players highlight the game's originality and unique mechanics that distinguish it from other games in the genre. The fresh approach to gameplay is a key positive point.

Fun and well-designed levels: Most levels are described as fun, not overly difficult, and well-crafted with secrets to discover. The platforming is enjoyable and well-received.

Controls are overly complex: Many players find the controls frustratingly complex, unintuitive, and difficult to learn, with awkward button combinations and a steep learning curve. This issue is highlighted across multiple clusters, indicating widespread dissatisfaction.

Keyboard controls are unusable: Keyboard and mouse controls are frequently described as terrible, unplayable, and an insult, with specific complaints about requiring too many simultaneous button presses. This suggests a fundamental design flaw for PC players.

Final boss is poorly designed: The final boss is heavily criticized for being extremely difficult, random, and buggy, with inconsistent hitboxes and physics issues, forcing players to repeat near-perfect runs. This common complaint indicates a major endgame frustration.

Gameplay is janky and frustrating: The overall gameplay is described as janky, frustrating, and with poor execution, contributing to a negative experience beyond just controls. This broad criticism points to fundamental design problems.

Game crashes frequently: The game crashes repeatedly on startup and during gameplay, especially on high-end hardware, with some players reporting crashes every few minutes. This suggests serious stability issues that hinder basic playability.

2.5D motorcycle combat platformer: The game is a 2.5D side-scrolling action platformer where players ride motorcycles and engage in combat, combining platforming and destruction elements.

Unique character abilities and switching: There are four playable characters, each with unique weapons, skills, and combat styles. Players can switch between characters on the fly, and each has separate health bars and special ultimate skills.

High-speed motorcycle action: The game emphasizes high-speed motorcycle driving, fast-paced action, and responsive controls that involve leaning back and forth or using a controller.

Chainsaw wheel cuts obstacles: The motorcycle's front wheel is a chainsaw that can cut through obstacles and enemies in half, supporting combat and traversal mechanics.

Motorcycle parkour and wall riding: Players can perform motorcycle parkour, including lane-based movement, wall riding, and ceiling riding using the front-wheel saw for vertical traversal.

Frequent early crashes: Players report crashes at the start of the game, often within seconds or during the first level. This severely disrupts initial gameplay experience.

Crash on specific hardware: Steam Deck users experience crashes at the splash screen despite full compatibility claims. High-end PCs with RTX 4070 also crash repeatedly.

Environment variable requirement: The game requires manual configuration of system environment variables to launch, which is unusual and frustrating for most users.

FPS drops in combat: Players report significant framerate drops, from 60 FPS to 5 or less, during boss fights. This makes combat unplayable and is a common performance complaint.

Optimization issues: Lowering graphics quality does not improve performance, suggesting poor optimization. One review claims no issues, but this contradicts other reports.

Not worth the cost: The game is criticized for not justifying its price, with some suggesting it is only worth buying on sale. Many reviewers feel the content does not match the asking price.

Do not recommend overall: Many reviews express a general lack of recommendation for the game, citing it as not fun or disappointing. This sentiment is shared across multiple clusters.

Controller required for play: Players frequently mention that the game is not playable with a keyboard and mouse, requiring a controller for an acceptable experience. This is a significant barrier for some.

Challenging game for players: The game is noted for its difficulty, being recommended only for players seeking a challenge or with strong patience. Casual players are advised to skip.

Not for casual players: The game is not recommended for those seeking a casual and fun experience, as it is described as stressful or requiring strong nerves. It may be frustrating.

Community fair range: $4.00 - $7.00.

Game completion: 15.0h.

Session length: 0.1h.

Most players report that the game never becomes fun due to repetitive gameplay, unresponsive controls, and a tedious structure that feels like a chore from start to finish.

Friction: Repetitive combat and obstacles; Unresponsive controls; Clunky camera angles; Steep learning curve; Tedious maps with no progress saves on failure; Lack of mission variety.

Achievement Hunter: Completionist, pushing through bugs and difficulty for 100% achievements. Motivation: Unlocking achievements despite frustrating game design. Stance: no buy.

Nostalgic Old-School Gamer: Score-chasing, non-linear exploration, embracing old-school design. Motivation: Nostalgia for retro arcade difficulty and unlocking high scores. Stance: buy.

Casual Frustrated Player: Casual, short sessions, expects intuitive controls. Motivation: Relaxing, casual entertainment without frustration. Stance: no buy.

Steam Deck: The game suffers from frequent crashes, severely unresponsive controls, and physics issues, making it nearly unplayable on Steam Deck. Additionally, language options are missing for Chinese users.