There will be a TL;DR present at the bottom.

PROS:

Art Direction
- The Cyanide & Happiness visual style is well represented and appreciated. The art is easily the best part of this game.
Gameplay
- It's more or less the standard battle royale gameplay, open chests for loot then kill other players for their loot, it's main distinction from the genre is in the isometric graphics and rotation system. Weapons come preloaded to ensure first encounters are even more deadly.
Game time
- Fast and short games lead players to experience more diverse and varied spawn locations and weapon loadouts.
Loot progression
- Toting three different levels of wearable gear and a decent slew of diverse weapons, it feels rewarding to go from a nail-gun to the trombone shotgun. Also, they have airdrops called Arks which guarantee one level 3 wearable, it's usually important to get the gear from an Ark, or be there to murder other players. As of writing this, the disguise kit feels sort of useless, whereas the F-Bomb (grenade) is the only usable gadget.

CONS:

Long lobby times
- You're stuck waiting in the lobby for 5 minutes if not enough players join and since game times can be as short as a minute, it's almost just a waiting simulator.
Low player count
- The closed beta period had weekly tests where Friday's saw filled lobbies (10 players), while the rest of the weekend was lucky to net 5 or 6. Compare this to the free beta period, where 50 man lobbies is all you encountered.
Bad gameplay balancing
- This is a point that can change very easily, but currently the Toaster is in a very weak position and the trombone shotgun is overly strong. Pistols are also almost useless past the first minute of the game. Removing the air-hump from game also seems pretty ludicrous.
Community (Discord)
- The community is very tight-knit, which is good, however the Discord server is ruled like a Nazi regime. The humor you expect in-game is shunned in the server and moderators throw their weight around in unusual situations.
Optimization
- For an Isometric game, you'd expect an easy to run experience, however that is not the case with this game. I have an i5 4960K and a R9 Fury and in some cases I cannot hold a constant 60 fps, I could understand if I was running The Witcher 3 on Ultra, however no “modern” build should have any issues running this title at a constant 60 fps.

With the pros and cons out of the way, it's time to “deep dive” into the gameplay, design choices and community.

Gameplay

The gameplay for RR is a mixed bag, it feels like they nailed down certain parts of the battle royale genre, while missing some easy staples. Like I said earlier, it has exhilarating combat, fair loot balance and short game time. Fights can change just from one well placed trombone alt-fire, or one well thrown F-bomb, endangering yourself and pushing the fight closer to people is exactly what this game encourages. The toaster allows quick movement with it's alt-fire rocket-jump ability reminiscent of the TF2 soldier. Encouraging this further is the well spread out loot, assuming the RNG gods haven't frowned upon you, any fight is a winnable one. No matter the gear you have, or the gear your foe has, it just requires more skill on your part to best them. And to top it off are the short game times, 5 man games average about 3 to 4 minutes, some even less if spawns are close enough for early game combat. This is good and bad, because the lobby time is a solid 5 minutes if you're the first person waiting.

Design Choices

The art direction like I stated in the pro/con section is easily this games best asset. You feel like you're in an anarchist end-of-the-world scenario. Everything is going to all hell and you want to be the lucky person to get raptured. It doesn't matter who you kill, doesn't matter how you do it, all that matters is you're the last man standing to enjoy that goblet of wine on your cloud throne rising to Heaven. The character customization allows for creating whatever your heart desires. Do you want to look like a crazy hobo, or a suave suit-wearing handlebar mustache gunslinger, the choices are never-ending. Like how crotch bulges and breasts can be included on the same character, which is exactly something you'd expect in the Cyanide & Happiness universe. This is easily the most expandable section of the game, with kill/win rewards being added for every weekly test.

Community

Presented by ExiRo

The community of Rapture Rejects as a whole is extremely small. Don't be tricked by looking at the population in the official Discord. Many of these people originally joined for the Rapture Rejects trailers before anything was even determined for this game, including a buy-to-access Alpha. Very few people chat, if any.

Speaking of Discord, I wouldn't suggest even joining it. Any jokes, memes, and even curse words are moderated and will get you swiftly banned if the developers or moderators see you as a threat to their Christian Discord. Want to curse? Better go through private messages.
Due to the lack of players, this game went from a battle royale of 30+ player map down to a 10-player map. A forced change that was imminent when those 30-player maps would at times be a battle between you and one other player. A change that has diluted the competitiveness of this game and made the player vs player encounter at the end of the game into a player vs closing-in circle.

Once you get in game, you will find lobbies have difficulty filling the maximum 10 players per map. Good luck even finding one opponent during the non-peak hours. A majority of the people that played this game were given the game for FREE, whether it was active participation early on or involved in the Patreon for C&H.

Videos:

https://youtu.be/smZzi1v1Jyg (Older beta footage)

This particular clip was before health-indicators and preloaded weapons, back during the free betas. With absolute certainty, I believe this was the games golden period. 50 man lobbies are honestly amazing, the large map felt perfect for what the game stood for.

https://youtu.be/UkHjJX7fJ4k (Newer footage)

Ignoring the fact that I believe the two players were teaming, this gives a good representation of the gameplay changes, notably you'll see how weak the toaster is and how exciting end game moments can be. This however is was only a 4 man lobby to begin with, which teeters back onto the issue of a low player base.

I have more footage present on my YouTube channel if you're interested in seeing more of the game. I also do plan on releasing more content as the game matures and receives more updates.

While Rapture Rejects is a very solid battle royale, it is crippled by it's price-tag, low player count, optimization issues and community. The main component of this game is other people, if it's lacking that then it has nothing to stand on. No doubt it will have a rise in players when it launches into early access, but that number will teeter quickly once more and more people see the flaws present in the game. Sadly, these reasons are ultimately why I cannot recommend this game to other people.

[code] Let me preface this review by stating that my first experience with this game was during the first public alpha test back on July 13th. I have participated in every play-test that has been live since then and have spent over 30 hours playing in the early alpha period. I plan to touch on the general game in a pro/con style, then take a deeper dive into the gameplay, design choices and community. This game is very well made, it's evident that Galvanic Games understands what it takes to make a good battle royale game. To me, a good battle royale should have exhilarating combat, fair loot balance and short game time. [/code] There will be a [b]TL;DR[/b] present at the bottom. [b]PROS:[/b] [b]Art Direction[/b] - The Cyanide & Happiness visual style is well represented and appreciated. The art is easily the best part of this game. [b]Gameplay[/b] - It's more or less the standard battle royale gameplay, open chests for loot then kill other players for their loot, it's main distinction from the genre is in the isometric graphics and rotation system. Weapons come preloaded to ensure first encounters are even more deadly. [b]Game time[/b] - Fast and short games lead players to experience more diverse and varied spawn locations and weapon loadouts. [b]Loot progression[/b] - Toting three different levels of wearable gear and a decent slew of diverse weapons, it feels rewarding to go from a nail-gun to the trombone shotgun. Also, they have airdrops called Arks which guarantee one level 3 wearable, it's usually important to get the gear from an Ark, or be there to murder other players. As of writing this, the disguise kit feels sort of useless, whereas the F-Bomb (grenade) is the only usable gadget. [b]CONS:[/b] [b]Long lobby times[/b] - You're stuck waiting in the lobby for 5 minutes if not enough players join and since game times can be as short as a minute, it's almost just a waiting simulator. [b]Low player count[/b] - The closed beta period had weekly tests where Friday's saw filled lobbies (10 players), while the rest of the weekend was lucky to net 5 or 6. Compare this to the free beta period, where 50 man lobbies is all you encountered. [b]Bad gameplay balancing[/b] - This is a point that can change very easily, but currently the Toaster is in a very weak position and the trombone shotgun is overly strong. Pistols are also almost useless past the first minute of the game. Removing the air-hump from game also seems pretty ludicrous. [b]Community (Discord)[/b] - The community is very tight-knit, which is good, however the Discord server is ruled like a Nazi regime. The humor you expect in-game is shunned in the server and moderators throw their weight around in unusual situations. [b]Optimization[/b] - For an Isometric game, you'd expect an easy to run experience, however that is not the case with this game. I have an i5 4960K and a R9 Fury and in some cases I cannot hold a constant 60 fps, I could understand if I was running [i]The Witcher 3[/i] on Ultra, however no “modern” build should have any issues running this title at a constant 60 fps. With the pros and cons out of the way, it's time to “deep dive” into the gameplay, design choices and community. [b]Gameplay[/b] The gameplay for RR is a mixed bag, it feels like they nailed down certain parts of the battle royale genre, while missing some easy staples. Like I said earlier, it has exhilarating combat, fair loot balance and short game time. Fights can change just from one well placed trombone alt-fire, or one well thrown F-bomb, endangering yourself and pushing the fight closer to people is exactly what this game encourages. The toaster allows quick movement with it's alt-fire rocket-jump ability reminiscent of the TF2 soldier. Encouraging this further is the well spread out loot, assuming the RNG gods haven't frowned upon you, any fight is a winnable one. No matter the gear you have, or the gear your foe has, it just requires more skill on your part to best them. And to top it off are the short game times, 5 man games average about 3 to 4 minutes, some even less if spawns are close enough for early game combat. This is good and bad, because the lobby time is a solid 5 minutes if you're the first person waiting. [b]Design Choices[/b] The art direction like I stated in the pro/con section is easily this games best asset. You feel like you're in an anarchist end-of-the-world scenario. Everything is going to all hell and you want to be the lucky person to get raptured. It doesn't matter who you kill, doesn't matter how you do it, all that matters is you're the last man standing to enjoy that goblet of wine on your cloud throne rising to Heaven. The character customization allows for creating whatever your heart desires. Do you want to look like a crazy hobo, or a suave suit-wearing handlebar mustache gunslinger, the choices are never-ending. Like how crotch bulges and breasts can be included on the same character, which is exactly something you'd expect in the Cyanide & Happiness universe. This is easily the most expandable section of the game, with kill/win rewards being added for every weekly test. [b]Community[/b] Presented by [url=https://steamoss.com/id/ExiRo/]ExiRo[/url] [quote] The community of Rapture Rejects as a whole is extremely small. Don't be tricked by looking at the population in the official Discord. Many of these people originally joined for the Rapture Rejects trailers before anything was even determined for this game, including a buy-to-access Alpha. Very few people chat, if any. Speaking of Discord, I wouldn't suggest even joining it. Any jokes, memes, and even curse words are moderated and will get you swiftly banned if the developers or moderators see you as a threat to their Christian Discord. Want to curse? Better go through private messages. Due to the lack of players, this game went from a battle royale of 30+ player map down to a 10-player map. A forced change that was imminent when those 30-player maps would at times be a battle between you and one other player. A change that has diluted the competitiveness of this game and made the player vs player encounter at the end of the game into a player vs closing-in circle. Once you get in game, you will find lobbies have difficulty filling the maximum 10 players per map. Good luck even finding one opponent during the non-peak hours. A majority of the people that played this game were given the game for FREE, whether it was active participation early on or involved in the Patreon for C&H. [/quote] [b]Videos:[/b] https://youtu.be/smZzi1v1Jyg (Older beta footage) This particular clip was before health-indicators and preloaded weapons, back during the free betas. With absolute certainty, I believe this was the games golden period. 50 man lobbies are honestly amazing, the large map felt perfect for what the game stood for. https://youtu.be/UkHjJX7fJ4k (Newer footage) Ignoring the fact that I believe the two players were teaming, this gives a good representation of the gameplay changes, notably you'll see how weak the toaster is and how exciting end game moments can be. This however is was only a 4 man lobby to begin with, which teeters back onto the issue of a low player base. I have more footage present on my YouTube channel if you're interested in seeing more of the game. I also do plan on releasing more content as the game matures and receives more updates. [h1]TL;DR[/h1] While Rapture Rejects is a very solid battle royale, it is crippled by it's price-tag, low player count, optimization issues and community. The main component of this game is other people, if it's lacking that then it has nothing to stand on. No doubt it will have a rise in players when it launches into early access, but that number will teeter quickly once more and more people see the flaws present in the game. Sadly, these reasons are ultimately why I cannot recommend this game to other people.