This game is amazing. Plain and simple.

Deep Rock can DEFINITELY be played solo or with three other friends.
You Shoot. You mine. You leave NO DWARF BEHIND!

There are four different classes to pick from, which all mesh VERY well together. A full squad of one of each dwarf makes for some of the best games. Your main goal in this game is to finish assigned (or self-chosen) missions that have a variety of goals to complete. Each mission will have a "main" objective, and an optional "Side" objective. You then land in your region chosen and follow through with the mission; all the while mining different minerals and resources, protecting yourself and team mates from creepy crawlie aliens and flying creatures. Little bastards...
Once you complete your objectives, it's a timed sprint back to your pod to be sent back home! Then you drink a beer, or two, or three. Each region on the planet Hoxxes has its perks and downfalls. And NO MAP you play will be the same. Each map for each team is randomly generated, as well as being fully destructible. Most of the time, each map feels super fresh. It definitely keeps you on guard.

There is a main currency in the game called "credits" You can ONLY get these from completing missions, mining gold, and completing side objectives. With credits, you buy customization items. Hair, helmets, armor suits, beards, and more. Along with credits, you also have your resource stockpile. With the credits and resources, you also have items that need both, and weapons that can be upgraded with both. Each class has a total of four weapons, starting out with two!

There is a form of "progression" in the game. When you reach a certain dwarf/class level, you gain the ability to do a variety of missions to promote your miner. This can be done many times until you max out said miner. When you promote, you DO NOT lose anything. You gain everything. You unlock more items to buy with credits, weapons, beer brews, and much more!

THIS IS WHERE IT GETS GOOD. WHEN you promote a miner, you begin to unlock "end game" content. These are called DEEP DIVES! It will put your skills to the test! End game content includes these, and another important topic, is overclocks. Each weapon has multiple slots, usually going no more than 5 slots. For each slot, you can only select ONE upgrade from each path, and they can be swapped. Overclocks are only obtained from deep dives and a certain set of assignment missions. These give your weapons a BEEFY boost, or a hilarious side effect. Ranging from more damage, to higher area outputs, to shooting out massive icicles.
This is all fun and games, and there's plenty more to find out. Many secrets, and some lore here and there. Most people and even the menu, are very greenbeard friendly. Deep Rock has an insane soundtrack of background sounds and tracks, synthwave battle music, and tracks that sound like they belong in Tron or 1987. The game is not supposed to look realistic, thus it does not. BUT your grimy dwarf and otherwordly surroundings look fantastic in how they present their graphics. Lighting is a big player in this game....but you will have to see that for yourself!

Now, on to the icky bits. This could get or feel a bit grindy to some people, or you might not get a good sense of progression. There is 5 different "hazard" levels (1 being easy-5 being lethal) and each one brings it's own challenge. As you play more, you do get stronger weapon wise, but even when you first start, you can hop right into a hazard 4 level.
If your WHOLE party goes down and is not revived, you end up losing EVERYTHING. You keep very scarce items and materials if you Team wipe. This could deter some players, as some maps do get pretty crazy. The more people you have, the more things that spawn, and the more used up the scarce ammo is.
In terms of mission types, there is only a handful that rotate between the different planet regions. The road map suggest more things will be added soon, but once you play for up to 50 hours or more, you will have for sure played all mission types many different times, seen all enemy types, and more.

The game as a whole feels fresh with some things you may have seen before, but in ways you haven't seen used. I give Deep Rock currently, a 9.3/10!