I've been looking for a game in this genre. I saw it pass by and it looked interesting, so I waited for its release. I didn't expect much, but it turned out to be quite a bit better than I thought.
The game's main theme is pretty straightforward. It's a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic world where you just travel around, digging for oil. There's no story.
Let's start with [Classic mode], which is the default mode. The game has two main gameplay parts. First is digging for oil to buy upgrades for our car, which we use to handle bandits that come to rob us in waves.
The oil-digging gameplay is pretty fun, but the oil well and item locations are random. If you're unlucky, you won't find anything, so it relies heavily on luck. Another thing is the digging tools are quite limited. The deeper you dig, the more oil (fuel) it consumes. But if you don't find oil, the enemies might arrive first. That means you've just wasted that entire wave's time for nothing.
As for the enemies, they come every 1 minute or so. There's both a gauge and a change in music to let you know. You have to quickly run back to the car to fight them.
The other part is the battle section. It's actually pretty fun; it's lane-based action, similar to a Tower Defense game. Enemies run towards you in waves. Some will rush you and others will shoot at you. You have to dodge while shooting back. You also collect scrap from enemies during the fight. There aren't many enemy types, but it's considered varied enough for a game of this scale. It even has a boss—exactly one. ...
If you find items or upgrade your weapons, the fights become easier. This part isn't hard in Classic mode. A few weapon upgrades and you'll get through it easily.
After the run ends, you get experience points. There are some minor upgrades based on your level increase.
This mode has a lot of details, but it's not very well-balanced. Some items are unnecessary, or for others, you don't play long enough to even upgrade them. The oil wells are also quite deep. Digging, then running back to fight... ...doing this over and over feels a bit annoying.
This is where [Adventure mode] streamlines the game. You don't dig very deep. There aren't many upgrades, only the essential ones. After fighting enemies, you move to a new digging spot. This makes it faster and more concise.
The last mode is [Survival mode]. This one is purely driving and surviving. You collect scrap for upgrades. The feel is similar to Vampire Survivors.
Honestly, after playing all the modes, I feel that the game's idea is good, but it has major problems. The Classic mode takes a long time. The dev probably tried to make the game more concise (in the other modes), which is a good thing. Even so, the core game is still quite slow and repetitive. Even if you just play Survival, driving and shooting, it's the same car, shooting the same old enemies.
If you see it as a casual game to play for fun, it's okay. But as a Roguelike, it's not very well done. Most upgrades are just situational. There are no clear builds or paths. If the game started with, say, 3 cars to choose from (Van, Truck, Tank), the game would probably be more varied. This includes weapons and enemies, which could also be expanded.
Lastly, the overall polish of the game is well done. It runs smoothly, has good graphics, and good music. There are some minor annoyances, like it being hard to tell if the oil well is full or empty. But overall, it's very good for a small game like this.
Summary
Dead oil is a game with a good idea. I don't know if the dev just made it for kicks, but it's a good game for a first release like this. The game might not be very long and has a bit too little content for a Roguelike, which people usually play for 20-30 hours. But for a game that costs around 100 baht (just a few bucks) and gives 3 hours of playtime, it's excellent.
