Everything In Deep Rock Galactic's Season 2: Rival Escalation Update
Out of all of the games that started off in early access, Deep Rock Galactic is one of the few that has come out the other side and gone far beyond what was initially promised, with the latest Season 2 Rival Escalation update bringing much more content and variety to the game. With Deep Rock Galactic leaving early access back in 2020 and releasing updates on a consistent basis since, the game has gained a significant following with over 125,000 positive reviews on Steam and a player base that revels in the game's cheeky dwarven culture of rock and stone. With multiple different classes, dozens of weapons, a changeable setlist of maps and events, and a seemingly endless supply of character cosmetics, along with a Deep Rock Galactic board game Kickstarter funded in 18 minutes, this dwarven adventure has become an indie darling, with Season 2 expanding on everything that makes the core game great.
Deep Rock Galactic started off as a grab-and-go mining game where a group of players are dropped into a map with an objective and must make their way through caves of a mysterious alien underground to acquire and extract with rare materials. Years later and dozens of updates down the road, Deep Rock Galactic has solidified itself within the genre and has integrated community support along the way to add player-requested features and benefits for players with season pass rewards. Beyond including extra resources through the season pass, the update surrounding Season 2 also provides many new enemies, events, and weapons to expand the dwarven arsenal, all of which are coming completely free like Deep Rock Galactic Season 1.
With Season 2's update to Deep Rock Galactic, the theme of the update centers around a rival force patrolling the caves to hunt down the player and stop them from extracting. There have always been a seemingly infinite number of alien insects and bosses that live within the underground, but now there are also mysterious robotic forces in the way. Many of the other inclusions to this update follow a similar trend to previous patches, including new seasonal events, challenges, and a host of new fixes and community requested features.
Deep Rock Galactic's Season 2 update focuses on the rival escalation, introducing a new Rival Nemesis robot that can grab the player and keep them in the air until they shake free, making Deep Rock Galactic's overclocking system for weapons more important than ever. This Rival Nemesis appears in many of the new mission levels and serves as one of the more dangerous enemies that can be encountered. Along with this new enemy comes a seasonal event that focuses on disrupting the Rival's communication systems, as well as a new warning signal to warn players of an incoming Rival presence. This new system also affects the season pass, creating a separate performance pass that rewards players with more resources for completing missions with Rivals.
Along with this unique enemy type patrolling the underground, dwarves now have access to four new secondary weapons, with one for each class. The Scout has access to a new crossbow that can fire electrified bolts, making Deep Rock Galactic's Scout class more diverse, while the Engineer can utilize a short laser blaster that clears anything in its path. The Gunner can now equip an electromagnetic coil gun that can punch through solid rock, and the Driller can access a device that cooks the inside of enemies, bursting them from within. These new weapons provide an extra level of variety to each class and help to add interesting complications to each run.
Deep Rock Galactic has expanded beyond what was initially promised and has created a dwarven community unlike any other. With the game still releasing new content and graphical updates - including bringing FSR and DLSS support with this update - it is on track to continue growing in popularity and scope, drawing more people into Deep Rock Galactic's mining expeditions and loveable dwarven culture. Deep Rock Galactic's Season 2 Rival Escalation update is free and available now.