Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder

Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder just feels like more Rock of Ages. That's not bad, since Rock of Ages was rather unique and fun, but it's not going to win over anyone who didn't care for the first game.

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"Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder" is a chaotic tower defense/boulder racing game. Players design defenses and guide a rolling rock to destroy their opponent's gate, while navigating through wacky and imaginative levels. With both single-player and multiplayer modes, engage in zany battles in this comedic take on historic events and characters.

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Reviews

82%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,921 reviews

humor327 positive mentions

grinding10 negative mentions

The game features a unique blend of tower defense and racing mechanics, providing a fun and engaging gameplay experience.
The art style and humor are reminiscent of Monty Python, with hilarious cutscenes and creative level designs that keep players entertained.
Rock of Ages 2 offers a variety of boulders and defenses, allowing for strategic gameplay and customization, especially in multiplayer modes.

The game can be prone to crashes and performance issues, particularly on certain systems, which can hinder the overall experience.
The single-player campaign is relatively short, leading to concerns about replayability once all content is unlocked.
Some players find the AI to be unbalanced, making certain levels frustratingly easy or difficult, which can detract from the enjoyment.

humor
331 mentions
99 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
1 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its Monty Python-esque style, featuring absurd and clever jokes, hilarious cutscenes, and quirky characters that enhance the overall experience. Many players find the comedic elements to be a highlight, making the gameplay entertaining and enjoyable, although some note that the humor can be hit or miss, with certain jokes feeling over-the-top or lacking payoff. Overall, the game's unique art style and humorous narrative contribute significantly to its charm and appeal, especially for fans of silly and historical humor.
- “It's a simple, but fun concept, further enhanced by the game's Monty Python-esque sense of humor.”
- “An extremely charming game, with hilarious narrative and farcical aesthetics.”
- “The cutscenes are hilarious, and the gameplay always stays fun by offering various game modes, multiplayer and innovative maps with different settings and beautiful art styles.”
- “I'd love a skip button for all these unfunny and pretty cheap feeling boss fights.”
gameplay
249 mentions
41 % positive mentions
53 % neutral mentions
6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder" is a unique blend of tower defense and boulder-rolling mechanics, praised for its humor, engaging multiplayer options, and improved features over its predecessor. While many players enjoy the fun and strategic elements, some criticize the repetitiveness and occasional clunky mechanics, which can detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game offers a solid and entertaining gameplay experience, particularly for fans of absurdist humor and creative game design.
- “The gameplay is fun and challenging, the art style is amazing, and the humor is wonderful.”
- “The cutscenes are hilarious, and the gameplay always stays fun by offering various game modes, multiplayer, and innovative maps with different settings and beautiful art styles.”
- “The gameplay initially seemed quite simple, but as you play you start pondering how to create the perfect trap and take great joy in screwing over your opponent with a fiendish layout of defenses.”
- “This game is awful, its gameplay is repetitive and awful and a waste of money.”
- “I still liked the historical references and the stupid humor, but the gameplay is so dumbed down I can't recommend it.”
- “Simply put, the core gameplay just won't and couldn't keep you (or me at any rate) interested after a few hours.”
graphics
225 mentions
48 % positive mentions
51 % neutral mentions
1 % negative mentions
The graphics in "Rock of Ages 2" have received widespread acclaim for their significant improvements over the first game, showcasing stunning visuals powered by Unreal Engine 4. Players appreciate the unique art styles that reflect various historical periods, along with beautifully designed maps and charming cutscenes reminiscent of Monty Python's humor. While some users noted minor issues with performance on certain systems, the overall consensus is that the game's graphics are a standout feature, enhancing the whimsical and engaging gameplay experience.
- “Rolling your boulder through roads spanning various historical periods, each with its unique art style reflecting the era, is fantastic.”
- “The graphics are stunning on ultra, and the physics are very fun.”
- “The art style is unique and beautiful.”
- “The downside is the graphics can be a bit harsh at some random times while rolling really fast.”
- “Does not work on every computer, some problem with the graphic card.”
- “I don't like the art style but the gameplay is good.”
story
158 mentions
31 % positive mentions
65 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The game's story is characterized by its quirky humor and absurdity, often described as both funny and nonsensical, with cutscenes that add to its charm. While the story mode is relatively short, lasting around five hours, it features engaging gameplay and a variety of missions that keep players entertained. However, some players feel the narrative lacks coherence and depth, suggesting that the focus should be more on gameplay rather than the story itself.
- “The story mode is fun and you battle mythical creatures, historic figures, and animals.”
- “The story is unique and stupidly funny, and the gameplay itself gives you lots of options to perfect your own playstyle.”
- “The story campaign is awesome, and the cinematics before every level are genuinely hilarious.”
- “The story is all over the place; you would be challenged to describe a cutscene to someone who hasn't played it without sounding senile, and the game wears that like a badge of honor, as it should.”
- “The entire story is just told by some weird cutscenes that are honestly at times just creepy and sometimes made me laugh quite a bit.”
- “The game overall doesn't make any sense in terms of character actions and story.”
music
126 mentions
51 % positive mentions
47 % neutral mentions
2 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many players praising its fantastic soundtrack that features clever remixes of classical pieces, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. While some noted a decline in sound design compared to the original, the majority found the music to be engaging, humorous, and well-integrated with the game's whimsical art style and mechanics. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout element, contributing significantly to the game's charm and enjoyment.
- “Genuinely might be one of my favourite games ever, in no small part to the amazing soundtrack.”
- “The music got even better than the original, the visual style is the same but improved; if you've played the first game you will love this one, and if you haven't, you're in for a wild ride.”
- “The soundtrack and visuals are whimsical and wonderful, and the gameplay, while fairly simple in concept, has a surprising amount of depth and replayability.”
- “The music is somewhat irritating.”
- “- worse sound design (for me music is extremely important in the game and here it isn't as good, it doesn't get as lively when you hit enemy gates and my personal grudge, song when you destroy enemy gates, I know it is minor, but I would love to have Requiem in D minor as it was in the 1st game)”
- “3- no music when escape menu is pressed”
replayability
31 mentions
48 % positive mentions
42 % neutral mentions
10 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability, particularly in multiplayer modes, which many players find enjoyable and engaging. While the single-player experience is also fun, some users noted a decline in replay value after unlocking all content. Overall, the combination of various game modes, difficulty levels, and the potential for additional content contributes to its replayability, making it a worthwhile experience for both solo and group play.
- “The soundtrack and visuals are whimsical and wonderful, and the gameplay, while fairly simple in concept, has a surprising amount of depth and replayability.”
- “Not to mention that the campaign has lots of replayability with many different difficulty modes.”
- “A great game with a lot of replayability even if you don't have any friends to play with.”
- “I'm not a fan of online, so it doesn't have much replay value.”
- “I played this game for 6.6 hours with a friend and it lost a lot of replayability once we unlocked everything.”
- “It's an occasional party game that could become more replayable if more maps could be made (via workshop or whatever).”
optimization
14 mentions
57 % positive mentions
29 % neutral mentions
14 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is praised for delivering impressive performance, particularly on high settings, with many players achieving 45-60fps at 1440p. However, issues arise with online play, where users experience significant lag and crashes when connected via Wi-Fi, suggesting that server optimization may need improvement. While the game is visually appealing and generally well-optimized, some players feel that further enhancements could elevate the experience.
- “This game is also very well optimized.”
- “- Incredible optimization for Unreal Engine 4, 45-60fps at 1440p with an HD7950 (medium settings).”
- “If it were optimized better, I would definitely recommend this.”
- “But when I'm playing online only, I lag so bad. I just bought fiber optic at my house, so connection to the internet is no problem. I am wondering if it's the servers themselves that are not optimized or if it's a problem talking to my friend. We play many games together and we don't lag, but we do lag on this game.”
grinding
12 mentions
0 % positive mentions
17 % neutral mentions
83 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often leading to a sense of monotony as they repeatedly aim to break enemy gates. While the art style and humor are appreciated, the grinding process, particularly during boss battles, is seen as essential yet frustrating, requiring significant time investment without offering much variety. Overall, the grinding can detract from the enjoyment of the game due to its repetitive nature and the potential for analysis paralysis during the building phase.
- “On the other hand, it could lead to analysis paralysis, making it take too long for some players to do the slightly more tedious building part of the game.”
- “Very nice art style and the humor is Monty Python-esque, but it has unpredictable physics, tedious defense building, monotonous gameplay, and it's the same repetitive goal every time to break the enemy gate.”
- “They're not hard, they're just tedious.”
stability
10 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent freezes and crashes, particularly when using dual monitors or navigating menus. Players report that these bugs severely impact gameplay, making the game nearly unplayable and causing loss of progress. Overall, the stability of the game is a major concern for users.
- “I bought this game and the first minute was great, until it freezes and then crashes.”
- “Game is barely playable and extremely buggy.”
- “Clicking 'back to map selection' freezes the game, which in turn resets your game progress.”
monetization
6 mentions
50 % positive mentions
17 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The monetization of Rock of Ages 3 has been criticized as a rushed cash grab, offering minimal new content for players who already own Rock of Ages 2, with no microtransactions or season passes present.
- “There are no microtransactions or season passes.”
- “There are no microtransactions or season passes.”
- “No microtransactions.”
- “Rock of Ages 3 is essentially a rushed cash grab in terms of the content it adds; very little to justify the purchase if the player already owns Rock of Ages 2.”
atmosphere
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game varies significantly between lighthearted, comedic elements reminiscent of "watching funny cartoons" and the more serious, intense vibe associated with "tactical and strategical planning." This contrast creates a diverse experience that caters to different player preferences.
emotional
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that the emotional aspect of the game is hindered by a lackluster story and tedious gameplay elements, such as traps, which detract from the overall experience. Players express a desire for a more engaging narrative and gameplay that emphasizes the emotional connection to the tracks instead.