The open world sequel to indie hit Streets of Rogue is coming to Steam early access on August 14.
Announced in 2022, Streets of Rogue 2 multiplied the size of the original game's procedurally generated levels by 10,000—yes, 10,000—and has stuffed everything in one big open world. There are no loading screens; just one big world that reacts to whatever you want to do in it.
That was the appeal of the first game: a sandbox for getting into trouble and seeing how the game world reacts. Developer Matt Dabrowski compares Streets of Rogue 2 to classic immersive sims like Deus Ex and complex world building games like Dwarf Fortress. You play as all kinds of people, including scientists, hackers, and ninjas, as you run around and poke things until they inevitably catch on fire, explode, or cause a zombie outbreak.
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- This ancient city sim constantly simulates 1000 NPCs in a clockwork murder sandbox where you can poison someone's drink and leave 'confident that you've pulled off the perfect crime'
When it gets too loud, you can chill out Stardew-style and build a farm or a house now, too. Streets of Rogue 2 is a big bucket of activities that Dabrowski hopes will keep you playing it over and over again. In the trailer at the PC Gaming Show, I spotted vehicular combat, seaside building, a craftable "Bear Burger", and a player defending themselves from the undead with what looked like a hose.
Streets of Rogue 2's world also allows more elaborate things to happen over time as a consequence of what you do. Food prices, for example, will go up if you wreck the food factories nearby, or a mob will grow in power if you mess with the wrong people. Part of the fun is finding out just how flexible the game really is.
Streets of Rogue 2 releases in early access on August 14, and you can wishlist it on Steam right now.
