Runway: So, how can I help you?
Ronin: I'm looking to make a statement.
Ronin: I'm looking to make a statement.
Rogue Company is a free to play 4v4 competitive multiplayer Third-Person Shooter game developed by First Watch Games, and published by Hi-Rez Studios (who previously published SMITE and Paladins). The game started in a closed beta, which began on July 20th, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch (the port is now defunct), and the PC (via the Epic Games Store and Steam), with various "Founders Pack" editions offered to give players beta access as well as some help getting into the game.
The gameplay borrows elements from the Counter-Strike series, and there are so far three online game modes in the game:
- Demolition: Alpha Team needs to plant the Bomb, Bravo Team needs to defend those sites and stop the enemy team. The two teams swap roles at half-time, and the first to win seven rounds wins the match.
- Current maps: High Castle, Skyfell, Favelas, Windward, Canals, Icarus, Vice and The Arena.
- Strikeout: Capture and hold an objective to refill your team's reinforcement tickets, and whittle down the enemy team's to win a round. Best three out of five wins the match.
- Current maps: Skyfell, Favelas, Windward, Icarus, Canals, Factory, Vice and The Arena.
- Extraction: A single life, neutral objective mode where teams will attempt to activate a device and defend it or eliminate the enemy team.
Rogue Company sets itself apart from Counter-Strike by adding Hero Shooter elements to the game. The Rogues are unique characters who bring their own weaspons and unique ability to the table, which shakes up any given match a player has. Like in Counter-Strike, the player's weapons and equipment are all bought in a store menu, as well as perks (such as reloading while sprinting and healing downed teammates faster) adding an economy management layer to the game, though which guns and perks you get varies on which Rogue you choose.
Also worth noting is that unlike its immediate competition, CS:GO and Valorant, Rogue Company offers cross-platform play and cross-progression between all four versions of the game from launch* , something which Hi-Rez's other games, Paladins, SMITE, and Realm Royale, also all have.
Enemies have planted the Tropes!
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The game seems to take place in the near future, where jetgliders are commonplace, and guns are futuristic, but the world looks to be mostly similar to our own.
- Announcer Chatter: A fair amount of it. A female voice chatters on what's going on within a match (such as downed teammates and if you're attacking and defending).
- A.K.A.-47: No weapon in-game shares its name with any real-world counterpart. The AK-47 is renamed the KA-30 in-game, the Desert Eagle is called the Executioner, the SPAS-12 is called the the SKL-6, the CZ-75 is called the Spitfire, the MK-18 Mod 0 is now the HRM-30KS, the AA-12 is renamed the Striker-8x10, the AUG-A2 is called the Arren L2-12, the USP45-Tactical is now the P12K, the SR-2M is now called the SL-C, while the M4A1 Carbine is now the MLX Mark 4.
- Blinded by the Light: Flashbangs. The game even gives the offensive player a sound queue when it's hit at least one enemy.
- Boom, Headshot!: As one would expect, a headshot is a good way to do increased damage against opponents.
- Boring, but Practical:
- Pistols have infinite ammo, but are generally quite inaccurate. Later levels increase the magazine and the handling, but that's about it.
- Basic map knowledge and positioning is vital to doing well. A well-positioned team has a significant advantage over a disorganized one, so learn the map and group up whenever possible.
- Concealment Equals Cover: No bullet penetration for anything, Unless you have the perk that it pierces opponents.
- Crossover: As with Paladins, the start of 2022 began with a crossover skin for Seeker than turns them into...Rambo, of all things.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: Played With. Averted in the sense that the game goes out of its way to use key commands other games have standardized for specific actions, such as Q being used for abilities (Like in Overwatch), the scroll wheel for changing weapons (as in Counter-Strike), Middle-mouse button for pinging locations (as in Apex Legends), while the interact key is F (as is standard in games like PAYDAY 2), but Played Straight when it comes to Crouching (it's C instead of Left Shift, which is uncommon in FPS's), while the Emote Wheel is Z, not G as it is in Hi-Rez's other game; Paladins.
- Emergency Weapon: Melee weapons. Each Rogue has a melee weapon they can buy, which is only really useful in close encounters with the enemy. Still though, it does a fair amount of damage, so it is possible to down someone by using it if you're smart enough.
- Enemy-Detecting Radar: The minimap offers a limited form of this: it can pick up the source of enemy gunfire, and shows where enemies you've seen are, which slowly fades out if they stop firing, if you no longer see them after a few seconds, or if they die. Equally useful is the ability to see your teammates' locations at all times, so if you hear approaching footsteps and there's no one nearby on the radar, you can ambush the enemy pretty easily.
- Good vs. Good: In season 2 Justicar imprisoned Ronin for unknown reasons, and they got into a big fight. They eventually resolved it to fight Jackal again.
- Gun Porn: At present, there's about 18 unique weapons of varying types (pistols, shotguns, SMGs, rifles etc.).
- Hand Cannon: The Executioner is the Desert Eagle in all but name and ammo count. Hard to use due to it's stability, but a good gun for early rounds, which is why most characters have it as their starting weapon.
- Hold the Line: The goal of Alpha in Demolition (Bomb Defusal) matches is to protect two bomb-sites from the Bravo's. Conversely, once the bomb has been planted, the roles switch: the Bravo's need to defend the bomb-site from the assaulting Alpha's so they can't just waltz in and defuse with impunity.
- Hero Shooter: Much like that other game Hi-Rez works on, you have a game with a cast of unique characters with special abilities, such as Anvil, who is a defensive character who deploys a shield and can C4 that can be remotely detonated.
- Incredibly Obvious Bomb: The bomb in Demolition is in a Cylinder Chassis.
- Instant-Win Condition: A Demolition match is won when either the Alpha's have their bomb reach detonation, even if there's still enemies remaining. On the other hand, the Bravo's instantly win if they defuse a planted bomb, regardless of if there are more enemies remaining. Time out will result in Bravo's winning.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: It's possible to simply hide in the map until the round is lost when severely outnumbered by the enemy and unlikely to win. The rationale behind this is that holding onto found equipment that you've picked up off the floor that your character cannot carry over to the next round if you're killed is a safer bet than taking the large risk of trying to win against multiple opponents.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me:
- Anvil carries a mechanized deployable 3-panel shield. Unlike other things in the game, even if Anvil dies, the shield will not go away until it is destroyed.
- Sigrid also has a portable shield that negates all damage.
- The Musketeer: Every character but Scorch can do this.
- One-Man Army: Averted. While it is possible for a skilled player to single-handedly carry their teammates, it is very difficult to do so if the enemy team is also competent enough. Basically, don't try unless you're at an advantage in round points, because otherwise, it simply is not worth the effort.
- Player Tic: Constant quick-switching between players' current weapon and their secondary/ melee weapon, a permutation players of Counter-Strike are all to happy to carry over into this game.
- Poor Communication Kills: Enforced. The game has no text chat or hotkey system to speak of as of writing, so intel on enemy locations and calling strategies can only be done via a mic. Barring significant differences in skill level, the better communicated team usually wins.
- Quick Melee: Even after buying a melee weapon a single button press will let the character quick switch to it.
- Regenerating Health: Going out of combat for about 2 seconds allows you to regenerate health slowly.
- Smoke Out: Smoke grenades give players concealment for advancing or retreating.
- Sniper Rifle: The weapon of choice of sniper characters.
- Sticky Bomb: Semtex Grenades will do more damage to stuck characters. Players will need to be careful as the stuck player will be notified they were stuck.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Or any melee weapon. If you hit someone with it the enemy is guaranteed to go down.
- Unnecessary Combat Roll: Averted. Combat rolling is very useful for getting out of bad situations or even winning gunfights.
