The elevator pitch is a simple but effective one -- you take on the role of badass space Dawarves working for the space man in a 1-4 player co-op experience that is one part Minecraft and one part Left 4 Dead. After two-years in Early Access, Deep Rock Galactic is finally out in the wild and the end result is not only one of the best co-op games in years, but a definite Game of the Year contender.

Execution, especially in the co-op space, accounts for quite a lot. And on that front what the team at Ghost Ship has managed to create with Deep Rock Galactic is perhaps the finest slice of immersive co-op action and exploration we’ve seen in years. There is of course complexity and depth to be found, Deep Rock Galactic is as far from Pong as any videogame of the past few decades. But the general flow of a mission beneath the surface follows a pattern of exploration, mining, and combat even if the goal is to source x amount of shiny green Morkite or find and destroy a pair of Dreadnoughts.

The mad dash to your team’s drop pod at the end of a run becomes an exercise in pure tension, where trying to get back to your orbiting ship relatively unscathed, ready to do it all again, recalls some of the more hectic moments from Left 4 Dead. On the account of the big-beards at corporate being more interested in your haul than your livelihood.

With this blend of exploration, mining, and combat no single aspect takes precedent over another – with various Hazard levels to choose from, a mission can be as intense and nerve racking as you want it to be. Calling Deep Rock Galactic immersive isn’t a simple descriptor, and sure that’s a word we’ve thrown around quite a bit, but a key part of Deep Rock’s appeal is its presentation. A look and feel that is intrinsically tied to the mechanics and the three pillars mentioned above.

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