Combining tower defence with a Vampire Survivors-like bullet heaven felt like a step in the right direction for gaming, but Monsters are Coming: Rock and Road fumbled the bag hard. The concept again held some value, but repeated playthrough proved it was no experience, just something to experience.
Developed by Ludogram and published by Raw Fury, Monsters are Coming: Rock and Road is a bullet heaven roguelike in the same vein as Vampire Survivors, with tower defence and base building added.
When I first started to play, I had high hopes for the game, and while I enjoyed it a little, once my base became big enough, the shortcomings of Monsters are Coming became quite evident. Nothing against anyone, but this could have been handled much better.
Monster House
Imagine Vampire Survivors meets tower defence… What does that mean?
Well, Monsters are Coming involves the same gameplay model as Vampire Survivors. Ya know, run around while with auto-attack, all the while collecting points to get new or upgrade current weapons, get stronger and eventually die.
BUT, things differ in one huge way. Unlike the aforementioned, you do not have the ability to run in all directions. Instead, you must follow a moving plot of land, defending it as you go. All the points you collect rarely go to upgrading your characters. Instead, they are used to add construction to your plot(or to upgrade). This could be fireball shooters, iceball shooters, health regen area, bonus points area, etc.
The rest you can pretty much imagine how it would play… Actually, you couldn’t. Despite it sounding fun, the execution is lacking at best.
Issue I had
The game doesn’t really let you move away from the plot. The moment you try, it floods you with enemies from every direction. It feels forced. It takes away the whole point of weaving around the map like you would in similar games, because here, there’s nowhere to actually run.
Then the upgrades start to lose their charm. They look different at first, but once you use them, they feel almost identical. Fireball, ice ball, it doesn’t matter. The effect on the run barely changes, and it all becomes visual noise more than anything meaningful.
After each round, there isn’t much to look forward to. The menu is plain. The progression barely registers. Nothing feels like a reward or something that pushes you into the next attempt.
Eventually, the pace of the game starts to feel off. Sometimes it rushes you. Other times it drags. Enemies blend. The whole loop stops feeling like growth and more like something that just repeats without giving you anything back.
Monster-osity
Monsters are Coming: Rock and Road feels like a game that had the right idea but couldn’t carry it to the finish line.
The mix of genres should have worked. The tower defence angle could have added something fresh. Instead, it all ends up getting in its own way, turning what could have been a fun twist on the bullet heaven formula into something that plays against itself.
There are moments when you can see the potential. A few upgrades feel nice. Clearing a wave can be satisfying. But those sparks never turn into anything bigger. The repetition sets in fast, and the lack of meaningful progression pulls the excitement out of every run.
It is not a bad idea. It is just unfinished in spirit, like a proof of concept that made it out the door too early. With more time and clearer direction, this could have landed. As it stands, it just doesn’t.
