Deadzone: Rogue Review | Void Slayer
For someone who doesn’t typically play roguelites, I am as surprised as you that I’m writing about two back-to-back. However, Deadzone: Rogue from Prophecy Games is an easy-to-learn roguelite that’s satisfying and responsive to blast away in. The game came out for PC in August of 2025, and a console release on Xbox followed a few weeks later. I initially thought I was late to the party, but then, as I began to write this review, a Nintendo Switch 2 version was announced at this week’s Indie World Showcase, so I guess now is as good a time as any to talk about it.
I want to start with the “bad news” here: Deadzone doesn’t have a very interesting story. That’s not to say it’s outright bad, and there are hints of a more intriguing plot littered throughout, but it’s not a game you play for the narrative. There’s not a lot of dialogue exchanges explaining what’s going on or extensive cinematics that set the stakes. In fact, if all you’re here for is a good story to dip in and out of, Deadzone isn’t that game. And, then again, I suppose most roguelites on the market aren’t either.
It’s the gameplay that makes Deadzone fun, so it’s a good thing that that’s what you’ll be doing for most of it. You spawn in on a space station, with a little room to kick back in, play some tunes, unlock permanent upgrades, and change cosmetics on your weapons and armor. Once you’re ready for action, you can select the zone you want to enter on a terminal and hop on the elevator.
Along with selecting the zone, you can also pick the run difficulty through the mission terminal. You can choose between Adventure (being the easiest), Normal (being the default), and Hard. Doing so changes enemy health, damage dealt, and movement speed. For those wanting even more of a challenge, Expert and Nightmare difficulties can also be unlocked. It’s really up to you how far you want to push it, but I don’t think the reward for more challenging runs is worth the added frustration.
There are three zones in Deadzone: Rogue, each one unlocked after the other as you play through the story for the first time. There is an additional fourth zone that is part of the Apophis Expansion. Even if you aren’t too hooked on the story, there are narrative seeds planted throughout the zones that share a bit of background on the situation, and while they are worth seeking out for the Tech alone, they can also be quite amusing.
Each zone is comprised of 30 sectors that you’ll have to shoot your way through to face the final boss and reap the rewards. Upon clearing each sector, you will get a reward. A Weapon Cache offers you a new weapon, an Augment Orb gives you the pick from three gameplay enhancements, and Item Orbs give you the choice between 3 unique items. These items, like all these sector upgrades, come in a variety of rarities and are run-exclusive, ranging from stat boosts and new skills to robot companions.
When you drop into a zone, you have nothing but a pistol, a grenade, and a knife. Enemies drop different weapons and equipment when they die, and it’s in your best interest to sort through them once the cybernetic dust settles. Stats are pretty easy to read thanks to the handy icons, and though it can take a bit to get used to understanding the elemental effects of certain items and how they stack, it gets easy to make a decision quickly.
On your way to the final boss, you’ll also encounter mini-boss rooms and safe rooms where you can upgrade weapons and armor at the Fabricator. To afford this, you’ll need to pick up Scarps. To make things easy, there are “Max All” buttons at the Fabricator that automatically upgrade item quality or level. As much as your Scraps can afford, of course. This may sound like the game is systems-heavy, and I’ve not even talked about Superior Orbs or using Tech to unlock permanent upgrades back at base, but Deadzone is optimized in a way that you don’t get stuck staring at menus for long.
Okay, now let’s finally get to the most important part. The minute-to-minute gameplay of Deadzone involves running (and dashing with L3) around enemies until you clear each sector. Deadzone takes inspiration from a lot of different games and genres, with dodgeable projectiles like a bullet hell shooter and tight, satisfying gunplay that’s akin to Destiny, and the good thing is, it feels cohesive. It’s easy to get into a flow state with the game, switching between primary and secondary weapons, chucking grenades at grouped-up enemies, and dashing away from incoming shots.
Bringing all this together is what’s at the heart of any good roguelite, and that is the build. For me, no two back-to-back runs were the same in terms of my weapon loadout and character build, but it remained engaging nonetheless. Even as I longed for the drops from the last run, I was still excited about what I picked up. The choices I made in what to take and what to drop slowly added up through the zones, and by the end, it was always fun.
Being set on a space station, one might assume the game would just be a maze of narrow metal hallways and dark rooms adorned with futuristic lights. And they wouldn’t be wrong. There are quite a few of those. In that mix, however, are some really cool-looking rooms too that offer a peek out the station windows or make you want to slow pan up to take in the level design. These can grow familiar on repeated runs, but they make for a strong first impression.
In the sound department, Deadzone: Rogue sounds good. Gun effects are clean, and shots ping off enemies in a satisfying way. There is some voice acting too, which serves the purpose of creating the gruff and mysterious action hero. But the crown jewel of Deadzone audio is the soundtrack from Justin Goren, Fat Bard, and Bod. This OST rips with what I can only describe as a blend of DOOM‘s frenetic energy and Cyberpunk‘s pulsing electronics. Both of which are apt for the game at hand.
There is a sort of elephant in the room to discuss, which is the use of AI. We’ve been pretty vocal about our opinion on the use of AI in art, so I won’t reiterate it here, but there’s been a lot of discussion in the community about AI in Deadzone. It seems Propehcy Games used quite a bit of AI assets during the beta and early access, a lot of which was seemingly replaced by original artwork for the full release. There are still some that retain the signature look of an AI-generated image, which we even called out in our first impressions live stream, but seeing as the game doesn’t have an AI tag on its Steam Page, I am inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
All that said, assuming the best, there are really two ways to enjoy Deadzone: Rogue. The first is solo. If this is you, I recommend playing through the game at least once with headphones on and immersed in the sound and level design before dipping back in for additional runs with your favorite podcast or show playing in the background. (I powered through some runs to the voice of Ray Porter reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.) The second way is with friends. Deadzone: Rogue features co-op play with up to 3 other players, and if you can convince a few friends to pick up the game with you, it’s even better.
While it might not be a game the friend group returns to frequently, blasting through sectors and optimizing builds as you chat is very fun, and it feels unique from solo play as a result. No matter what way you play, however, if you like first-person shooters and have even a little interest in roguelites, then I definitely recommend checking out Deadzone: Rogue. It’s intense, satisfying, and it runs well on Xbox, too. For a $25 price tag, it’s well worth the price of admission. Assuming you know what you’re in for. Deadzone: Rogue is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC, and the Switch 2 version will be out later this month on March 17. A code was provided for review.
