Drain Runner

About

Drain Runner is a single player tactical shooter game. It was developed by Nothing Interactive and was released on August 5, 2022. It received neutral reviews from players.

Survive the ever-evolving hazards of The Drain as you rail grind, magnetize, blast and ground pound your way through this fast-paced action roguelike!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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50%Audience ScoreBased on 14 reviews

graphics5 positive mentions

optimization2 negative mentions

The game features impressive graphics and appealing visual aesthetics, reminiscent of styles like Dorohedoro, Flushed Away, and Borderlands.
It offers fun and satisfying gameplay mechanics such as parkour, grinding, and rails that evoke vibes similar to Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Sunset Overdrive.
The soundtrack is well-received and enhances the overall atmosphere, contributing positively to the player's experience.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and technical issues, including game-breaking bugs like the boss failing to spawn and characters getting stuck.
It lacks polish and quality-of-life features such as a pause menu and settings options, leading to a less user-friendly experience.
Gameplay is criticized for being floaty, stiff, confusing, and aimless, and the game suffers from poor optimization resulting in unstable performance.

graphics
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
15%
14%
The graphics receive mixed feedback, with some praising the game's appealing and unique visual style, while others find them unpolished or even unpleasant. Overall, the visuals are noted as a strong point but inconsistent in quality, impacting the overall experience.
- “The graphics in this game are really quite good, which at least makes the game look more appealing.”
- “Combine the aesthetics of Dorohedoro and Flushed Away, with gameplay akin to Sunset Overdrive, and that's what you have here.”
- “Great visuals and music!”
- “The graphics are an eyesore, the controls are stiff, and the movement is floaty, which just makes it a chore to play.”
gameplay
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The gameplay offers satisfying grind mechanics and a rewarding ground pound move, providing a nice challenge and good replayability despite some minor quirks. However, it doesn't fully match the top-tier standards set by its visuals and comparable games. Overall, it's a solid experience, especially impressive for a free student project.
- “Combine the aesthetics of Dorohedoro and Flushed Away, with gameplay akin to Sunset Overdrive, and that's what you have here.”
- “I love the grind mechanics, and the ground pound is very satisfying.”
- “A few quirks here and there but it didn't take away from the nice challenging gameplay and replayability; I'll always be glad to support a free student game.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Replayability receives mixed feedback; while some appreciate the challenging gameplay and find it offers decent replay value, others criticize the game for bugs and lack of quality-of-life features that diminish its long-term appeal.
- “This game is pretty fun for being free to play and offers a decent amount of replayability.”
- “A few quirks here and there but it didn't take away from the nice challenging gameplay and replayability, I'll always be glad to support a free student game :)”
- “It's an interesting concept, but the game lacks basic quality of life features, has multiple game-breaking bugs that I found within 20 minutes of playing, including the boss literally not spawning, and the game lacks replayability.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music is highly praised, scoring around 9/10, with users appreciating its quality and fitting style. While there are minor bugs reported, they do not significantly detract from the overall positive musical experience.
- “9/10 music is great, a couple of minor bugs here and there but not terrible for a free game.”
- “Great visuals and music!”
- “But at least the music fits.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from poor optimization, resulting in underutilized CPU and GPU performance even on relatively powerful hardware, though it is offered for free.
- “The game is very poorly optimized; I have a 5600x and a 3060 Ti, and the game sat at 44% CPU usage and more than 50% GPU usage.”
- “It's unoptimized, but it's free.”