RICO

RICO has a cracking central idea, but it's strained by awkward mission design, shaky performance, and a whippy aim that often misses the mark.

60%Game Brain Score

gameplay, graphics

story, music

64% User Score Based on 514 reviews

Critic Score 74%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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About

RICO is a single player and multiplayer arcade shooter game. It was developed by Ground Shatter and was released on March 14, 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Rico" is a shooter game with both single-player and multi-player modes, supporting up to 2 players in local or online co-op. As a member of the RICO task force, your mission is to take down criminal gangs in procedurally-generated cases, with a wide variety of weapons and mission types to unlock. With its hilarious buddy-cop style gameplay and pretty visuals, "Rico" offers an exciting and replayable experience.

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64%

Audience ScoreBased on 514 reviews

gameplay36 positive mentions

story10 negative mentions

Local couch co-op is a blast and enhances the overall experience.
The gameplay loop of kicking down doors and shooting enemies is satisfying and fun.
The leveling up process is fair and adds to the enjoyment of the game.

The game can feel repetitive quickly due to limited enemy variety and objectives.
Online co-op is often broken, making it difficult to play with friends.
The purchase mechanics for upgrades are random and frustrating, leading to a lack of meaningful progression.

gameplay
142 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
67%
8%
The gameplay is characterized by a repetitive loop of clearing procedurally generated rooms, which can become monotonous over time despite its initial fun and satisfying mechanics. While the shooting feels solid and the game offers enjoyable co-op experiences, many players criticize the lack of variety in enemies and levels, as well as issues with AI and upgrade mechanics. Overall, the game has potential but suffers from shallow execution and limited content, making it feel less engaging in the long run.
- “The game mechanics are smooth, weapons feel just right, graphics are nice.”
- “The core gameplay is pretty fun and the shooting feels satisfying but it is way too repetitive and just feels unfair towards the end, with tons of enemies and objectives to complete.”
- “Absolutely great game, the mechanics are fantastic and though the AI could be better, the game is still great.”
- “Gameplay is clunky, the game is repetitive, just as any rogue-like, some could say, but this one doesn't have a lot of content and the locations are so-so. No modding tools so no new weapons, locations, or anything at all that could have helped the game a bit. More content would have made it better too.”
- “The repetition is everywhere - the gameplay, the music, the moments of 'hey I thought I reloaded, I guess that didn't count because I was a hair too fast,' and it gets frustrating fast.”
- “It's a gameplay loop that almost never changes and there's really no depth in the moment-to-moment gameplay beyond that.”
story
112 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
87%
9%
The game's story is largely criticized for being minimal and lacking depth, with many players noting that it feels non-existent or repetitive. While the procedural generation of missions adds variety to gameplay, it does not compensate for the absence of a compelling narrative, leaving players wanting more context and progression. Overall, the story is considered bland and underdeveloped, making it unsuitable for those seeking a narrative-driven experience.
- “Let me tell you a story about 2 brothers: fear and Rico.”
- “The method to traverse through the 'story' reminds me heavily of FTL (Faster Than Light), because you choose what diverging paths you wish to take to get to the end of the game.”
- “The main campaign is a case (a randomly-generated set of randomly-generated missions with randomly-generated level layouts with randomly placed objectives, enemies, and pickups) which is made of close quarter combat on mostly tight spaces with enemies that have the reflexes and speed of a squirrel on Red Bull.”
- “People are right - the story is non-existent.”
- “They could’ve also added a bit more story, even if it was a freaking text screen for crying out loud, just something to keep the sense of progression from becoming stale.”
- “There's not much of a story but a whole lot of gameplay.”
graphics
62 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
51%
10%
The graphics of the game are generally described as cel-shaded with a comic-book style reminiscent of the Borderlands series, which many players find appealing. However, there are notable issues with optimization and graphical glitches, such as clipping and repetitive visuals, that detract from the overall experience. While some appreciate the art style and smooth performance, others feel it lacks depth and variety.
- “The graphics are cool, totally have a Borderlands vibe.”
- “Great art style with loads of variety regarding props, scenes, and enemies, and the procedural generation is very good.”
- “I really love cel-shaded graphics; that's the biggest selling point for me, and it would be a less unique game without it.”
- “But my god, the optimization is so bad for something so low-end graphically.”
- “There are also lots of graphical glitches where things get stuck in walls and clipping.”
- “The comic-book style graphics are serviceable, and the bad guys have a diverse set of terrible-looking outfits, but it can get repetitive after a while.”
music
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
71%
21%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it generic, repetitive, and lacking in presence during gameplay. While some appreciate the ability to disable the in-game music and play their own tracks, others criticize the overall sound design as weak and unengaging. Overall, the soundtrack is seen as a missed opportunity, with players suggesting that it could benefit from more variety and polish.
- “As much as I can see all of the game’s problems and these pretty big issues, I can also perceive some really cool things; I like the art style, the music, while generic and monotonous, never really gets annoying, and above all else; I really like the gameplay loop of this game.”
- “Roguelike tactical action FPS, easy to learn, hard to master, become an action hero with music.”
- “To truly enjoy, play with your favorite metal tracks blaring and the in-game music disabled.”
- “The music is close to non-existent and totally unworthy of my attention.”
- “The repetition is everywhere - the gameplay, the music, the moments of 'hey I thought I reloaded, I guess that didn't count because I was a hair too fast,' and it gets frustrating fast.”
- “There is no in-game music, only 3 or 4 maps, no cool car chases or animations like in the trailer, and animation, in general, is sloppy.”
humor
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is a mixed bag, featuring a few genuinely funny moments, particularly in its writing and random level generation, which can lead to amusing scenarios. However, the low-budget voice acting and awkward gameplay mechanics detract from the overall comedic experience. Despite these flaws, players appreciate the humor in the co-op experience and the game's cheesy themes.
- “Thank you devs for making a great (and hilarious) co-op experience.”
- “The voice acting is what you'd expect from a low budget indie game (mostly bad) but the writing itself is often times hilarious.”
- “It gives me a lot of enjoyment in bite-sized missions, and the ragdoll animations can be quite hilarious.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
The game exhibits a mixed reception regarding replayability; while many players find it fun and engaging with strong multiplayer options and responsive gameplay, others criticize the lack of content and poor distribution, which limits long-term replay value. Overall, it offers enjoyable experiences for both casual and hardcore players, but the content issues may hinder sustained interest.
- “That said, the gunplay feels tight and responsive and the game offers endless replayability for both casual and hardcore players.”
- “A fun arcade game to play with friends or randos online, great replayability, and a decent price tag for how much fun you get out of this.”
- “Game is extremely fun with tons of replay value in single and multiplayer.”
- “Big problem with this game is that there’s not enough content to keep the player going, and the saddest thing is that the content is there; it’s just the way the game distributes it that makes it lack so much replayability.”
- “It's a fun and easy to get into game, but replay value-wise, the game is a bit lacking in content.”
- “The game lacks sufficient content to encourage players to return, which significantly diminishes its replayability.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
49%
38%
Overall, players have noted that the game requires significant optimization improvements, citing performance issues and bugs, particularly on launch day. However, some users reported no performance problems when playing on max settings.
- “No performance issues when maxed out.”
- “The game needs to work on its optimization.”
- “Improve performance, please.”
- “A couple of bugs and performance issues, but it's day one.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is marked by occasional bugs, primarily related to physics and graphical issues such as clipping and objects getting stuck in walls. While some users report minimal bugs, the presence of these glitches contributes to a perception of repetitiveness and instability.
- “There are also lots of graphical glitches where things get stuck in walls and clipping.”
- “Found barely any bugs yet, but they are there (mostly physics glitches).”
- “Buggy and repetitive.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious, as unlocking skins requires a significant amount of in-game currency that is difficult to accumulate through daily modes. Many feel that the effort needed to obtain even a few skins, especially the expensive gold ones, is not worth the limited enjoyment the game provides. Overall, the grinding experience detracts from the game's appeal, leading to frustration and a lack of long-term engagement.
- “You can only unlock them with a currency that you obtain when playing daily modes, and even if you were to play most of them, you don’t really get enough to only unlock a few skins, most of which are not the gold ones, which are absurdly expensive, about 500 bucks a pop; it’s in-game currency, but it’s grindy and tedious.”
- “Not worth $20, you will only have 1 hour of fun and then completely forget about the game, tedious as hell.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized for being poorly integrated, with technical issues like clipping and muzzleflash affecting gameplay, leading to a sense of internal conflict within the game's design.
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere in Rico is praised for its strong ideas and engaging elements, but many reviewers feel that the overall execution is too simplistic and lacks the polish of more mainstream shooters, limiting its competitive edge.