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[chubigans]

PSN Exclusive, $9.99 ($7.99 for PS Plus Members, good till Oct.10th)

http://www.rochardthegame.com/en/about-the-game/

Rochard is a PSN-exclusive game where manipulating gravity and using the G-Lifter (a gravity device used to easily move weighty objects around) are crucial elements for success. With the help of his sci-fi mining tools and taking advantage of the laws of physics, the protagonist John Rochard will carry you through a game packed with puzzles, action, humor, great music, excellent level design and a story rich of twists.
Rochard features:

5 long Chapters crammed with fast-paced platforming action and mind-bending puzzles based on gravity
A beautifully crafted cartoonish visual style, rich with humor and personality
Incredible items able to influence gravity and grab, swing and throw objects to solve puzzles or get rid of enemies
A groovy soundtrack composed by Markus “Captain” Kaarlonen from Poets of the Fall, mixing southern rock/blues and 80′s inspired electronic music
The legendary performance of Jon St. John as the voice of protagonist John Rochard
The most advanced use of the Unity engine in a videogame

More on the story:

John Rochard, leader of the lowest producing team of astro-miners the Skyrig Corporation ever employed, accidentally discovers an ancient alien structure hidden deep in an asteroid, thus proving mankind isn’t alone in the universe.

Soon afterwards, John’s team goes missing without a trace and he finds himself stranded on the asteroid and under attack by space bandits. John quickly realizes that dangerous forces are at work, determined to use the discovery for their own sinister means…

So this game just came out of nowhere for me. It's basically 2D adventure puzzle solving with action bits and a gravity gun. And it did a superb job of sucking me right in. There's a demo on the store to check out, but so far I really recommend this game. It's very good so far.

REVIEWS:
IGN- 8.5 (Editor's Choice) - Video Review available

SCREENS:

 

[ipukespiders]

Looks awesome! I'll have to give this a try.

 

[neojubei]

I'll download the demo. thanks

 

[GeoramA]

Nice OT. Really loving this game.

The humor, the space setting, the art style...it's the 2D Captain Quark game that we've been asking for.

 

[PuppetSlave]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXLz5wFEsi0

The same video as on the site but without the stamp size. Just for convenience.

Looks kinda fun. gonna try the demo after work.

 

[Duffyside]

Interested in this, but not convinced enough yet to pull the trigger. I do remember thinking the Giant Bomb Quick Look seemed fun though...

 

[DireStr8s]

Really enjoying this game. Huge Valve influence & all the better for it.

 

[JasonUresti]

Demo surprised me. I went in expecting to form a negative opinion, but by the end I was digging just about everything about Rochard.

The main character design is very nice, an excellent homage to Mario. Moving Rochard and using the gravity gun feels right, the puzzles and platforming seem to be in perfect balance. You can figure out the solution to puzzle in glance and a moments thought, but they still require some platforming dexterity to see through successfully. Too often in puzzle platformers you get problems that too slow in revealing the correct path, and then compound the error by demanding only very basic jumping and moving to deal with the puzzle.

I found it very enjoyable that the working class nature of the protagonist and his crew seems to be handled in a more subdued, natural approach rather than the working man and redneck caricatures found in games like Starcraft.

Demo gets a thumbs up.

 

[anddo0]

Had fun with the demo. I know the game is 5 chapters.

But how long is it?

 

[revolverjgw]

Enjoyed the demo and the price looks good, so I bought it. I just hope the low price isn't an indication that it's too short.

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

i will definitely try the demo, looks very good to me...


i need to be careful though, the last time i bought a game based on forum hype was Joe Danger, which is good but it just wasn't for me somehow

oh come on now it's not ON the EU PSN Store

 

[donkey show]

Enjoyed the demo and the price looks good, so I bought it. I just hope the low price isn't an indication that it's too short.

The IGN review said it took more than 6 hours to complete, but it does have speedrun trophies for completing it under 3 hours.

 

[Shearie]

If this would have came out just a week earlier, I would have bought it because the demo is great, but with U3 MP coming out in a few days and RAGE next week, I just know it's going to be shoved aside for a long while.

 

[revolverjgw]

The IGN review said it took more than 6 hours to complete, but it does have speedrun trophies for completing it under 3 hours.

Cool. I'll be fine with anything over 5.

 

[chubigans]

I found it very enjoyable that the working class nature of the protagonist and his crew seems to be handled in a more subdued, natural approach rather than the working man and redneck caricatures found in games like Starcraft.

Yeah, the main characters are really great. They all have a pleasantness about them that most games lack/or instead go for a zany stereotype.

 

[Duke Togo]

I enjoyed the demo, I'm going to pick this up when I get another PSN card. The way you can manipulate gravity is pretty cool.

 

[Neuromancer]

OK you guys convinced me. I'll give the demo a shot.

 

[GeoramA]

Deeper in the game, I'm getting a major Oddworld vibe. I love the variety of ways you can take enemies out. Also there's a nice stealth element in this as well.

Yeah, the main characters are really great. They all have a pleasantness about them that most games lack/or instead go for a zany stereotype.

Loving John St. John as Rochard. Fits the oversized character perfectly.

 

[PuppetSlave]

Is the stealth forced or optional?

 

[GeoramA]

So far, completely optional.

 

[Speevy]

Looks fun, may buy it later.

 

[OnPoint]

I'm definitely interested in this one.

 

[boingball]

nice OT. Still downloading though, will play it on the weekend.

 

[rocksolidaudio]

what i played last night was awesome.

shadow complex + portal-lite + dash of firefly vibe.

 

[DireStr8s]

This game continues to impress. Rochard features alot of funny ways to die.

 

[Oneself]

what i played last night was awesome.

shadow complex + portal-lite + dash of firefly vibe.

Definitely. The demo convinced me to buy it and it certainly doesn't disappoint. It's VERY good so far.

Too bad it's been overlooked. Hopefully word of mouth & NeoGAF will rescue the sales...

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

No idea where this came from, and I can safely say I'd never think twice about skipping this if not for GAF.

Will give the demo a whirl.

 

[Zweisy1]

It's a crime that Rochard isn't getting more attention. Absolutely loving the game so far.. Im only a couple of hours into it, but if it keeps the quality up it'll easily be the best PSN game i've played all year.

Everyone should at least give the demo a shot.

 

[Trevelyan]

Bought the game on Tuesday, and I've put around 2 hours in so far. I can safely say this game, so far, is my PSN game of the year. Lots of charm and charisma, not to mention a fantastic art style with some great gameplay mechanics, such as being able to control gravity and using your gun to grab objects. Really loving it. Hope more people pick it up!

 

[sephi22]

The image in the OP reminds me of Mario and the Red Scout from TF2.

Also I thought the name is pronounced Roc-Hard (as in "Rock-Hard"). I dunno made too much sense to me.

 

[Pyccko]

Oh man, I knew as soon as I saw the QL that I'd be into this one. Loving it.

 

[V_Ben]

The opening cinematic is amazing, the new song by poets of the fall is super awesome. I love this game.

 

[chubigans]

It's a real shame this didn't come out in the summer...would have gotten a ton more attention than its getting. Can't wait to play more.

 

[Spaulding]

The demo was great. Gave me a little Dead Space vibe. Will buy when it's on sale due to the amount of relaesed games at the moment.

 

[Shtof]

Nah, doesn't every 2D scroll'em up have some kind of gravity gun these days? What makes this one special?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I will play it later but I just have to download it. BF3 on PC has taken up most of the bandwidth the last 2-3 days but I will definitely play the full game later today hopefully.

 

[AEREC]

I noticed screen tearing and little bit of framerate issues in the demo...does that happen throughout the game?

 

[tusken77]

I've been interested in this ever since watching Giant Bomb's QL. I really enjoyed the demo, it feels really good, and the music is AWESOME.

 

[Withnail]

It's a great game that's been sent to die by SOE, both in terms of scheduling and the lack of marketing. Hopefully they'll make more of an effort with Sideway, though I doubt it somehow.

Also this would have been perfect for SCE's PSN Play thing. I wonder why they decided to make it about multiplatform stuff like The Baconing when they have interesting and exclusive games like this coming through.

 

[Wis]

I was very skeptical about this game, but the demo won me over.
Original puzzles and mechanics, original gravityless shooting action, amazing music and characters featuring more than adeguate charm (more than 90% of the games nowaday, anyway).
Check it out and you'll be surprised.

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

crap still no demo for PAL PSN... oh well i will have to take the word of you guys then i suppose

 

[benny_a]

crap still no demo for PAL PSN... oh well i will have to take the word of you guys then i suppose

You can create a US PSN account for free and download the demo that way.

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

You can create a US PSN account for free and download the demo that way.

doh i even HAVE a US account just for that but i totally forgot i could do that tx for the reminder will do asap!

 

[Sintoid]

I was very skeptical about this game, but the demo won me over.
Original puzzles and mechanics, original gravityless shooting action, amazing music and characters featuring more than adeguate charm (more than 90% of the games nowaday, anyway).
Check it out and you'll be surprised.

This month's "Wisky's Nerdata"????

 

[Wis]

This month's "Wisky's Nerdata"????

Lol.
Very likely. ^___^

 

[freemantim]

Definitely have enjoyed the game so far. The characters are definitely not caricatures. I love the rockabilly number that opens the game too.

Games need more rockabilly.

 

[benny_a]

Tried the demo. It was 40 minutes for me which seems to be twice the demo time that is normal from my experience.

Very fun puzzle platformer. Think debating whether or not I should get PSN+ as I now have several things I want that makes the PSN+ price (for 3 months) be paid for.

 

[DireStr8s]

Just wrapped it up. My game clock had me at around 8 hours (I died alot).

I didn't see a option for a new game+. Unless I missed that option, it looks like you'll have to upgrade again if you attempt the speed run trophy.

It does keep track of collectibles in stage select so thats pretty helpful.

GREAT game. I would definitely bite on DLC.

 

[GeoramA]

Good to see this game getting love. It's really good and well worth the price.

It feels like this should be $15 since it's not your typical 3-4 hour downloadable game. So $10 is a steal.

If you have PS+, the $7.99 tag is a no-brainer.

 

[GeoramA]

Gamepro - 4.5/5

Rochard's gravity-altering adventure is a polished piece of puzzle/platforming that stands among the best of its genre in recent years.

Really wished Sony marketed this harder. It's one of PSN's best games.