Rochard

K. Fields
2024-02-12T17:00:40-05:00
Video Games

I finished another game several days ago but forgot to write about it. It was Rochard, a side-scrolling platform game. Rochard has 3D backdrops but the action and movement is all 2D. Because it was originally released for the PlayStation 3, I decided to use my gamepad instead of mouse/keyboard controls. I'm glad I did. It made good use of almost every control: both joysticks, the d-pad, all top buttons, and all four triggers. You play as John Rochard, an asteroid miner for the Skyrig Corporation. John uncovers an ancient structure and danger ensues. The game is all about gravity. You can change between normal and low gravity on the fly. Rochard also has a G-Lifter device, which can also manipulate gravity with a focused beam. It also serves as a rock blaster gun. Most of the early action revolves around solving puzzles using gravity. Later, bandits arrive and there is a fair amount of shooting. As you might expect in a platform game, it concludes with a big boss battle.

Rochard was a really fun game. I greatly enjoyed it except for one problem. I experienced occasional hangs when loading saved games or loading new areas. Thankfully, the game has a nice autosave feature with frequent checkpoints. Therefore, I rarely lost any significant progress.

Rochard Approaches the Asteroid Casino