Sitting down to write this preview, I cannot clearly pigeonhole Drox Operative into a single genre or category. I can call the game a 2D, free-roam space shooter, but it is much more than that. I can say that the game is a real-time strategy game, but all of the necessary elements to categorize it as such are not there. I could attempt to sell the game as a galactic relationship simulator, but it does not involve high-schools or attempting to romance alien beings through witty dialogue options. Drox Operative borrows many concepts and blends them together to create something hard to label.

The core gameplay of Drox Operative is that of a stats-infused, free-roaming 2D space shooter. A substantial amount of time will be spent blasting enemies, increasing various attributes, and buying better equipment in randomly-generated galaxies. This aspect of the gameplay is entertaining. While not exactly standing out as being expertly executed or amazingly enjoyable, the mechanics work fine and they provide an above-average experience (bar for a few quirks which will be discussed). However, it is easily arguable that the core gameplay is only half of the sum of Drox Operative.

The notable and attention-grasping aspect of Drox Operative is its world (you mean universe, right?.. ed). Several factions (which are more-or-less the races of the game) will immediately start reacting to their surroundings upon the player creating a new galaxy; they will seek resources, increase their levels, and die off without player interference. Being witness to it, I can tell you that is 100 per cent true; unlike big-budget, open-world games where most of the dynamic-changing events are scripted, Drox Operative can change the players role in a situation at any time due the AI being able to wage wars against each-other.

Let us talk about the players role for a bit; the player is a titular Drox operative. The history of the Drox operatives is fairly unimportant but does set up the dynamic for the player. A long time ago, a legion known as the Drox ruled over the entire galaxy. They achieved this feat by employing operatives who were highly skilled in espionage, warfare, or silent assassinations. A few eons go past until the Drox realize that their operatives could become real threats to their core group of decision-makers, at which point the Drox attempted to eliminate all of their operatives. The short story is that the Drox failed and were completely wiped out, leaving the Drox operatives to create their own secret society to train future guns-for-hire.

The back-story of the galaxy and the Drox operatives gives a solid justification for the quest system within the game. Assuming that any races you meet do not immediately consider you an enemy, the races will have jobs that you can accept, refuse, or ignore. These jobs range from killing a certain amount of enemies to buying gas grenades to stop riots on a specific planet. While giving the player more stuff to do besides floating around in a solar system and aimlessly looking for abandoned space junk, these quests are not varied. The problem is that most of the quests ended up in myself either dragging my ship to certain planets to buy certain items to be used on different planets or it ended up with me attempting to search an entire solar system for a specific ship to kill. Now, I am aware there are escort missions, but I could only find one and I failed that quest because I was not quick enough to start the quest. An addition that I find really motivating is that when a race asks something of you, you do have to factor in time; quests will end if the player is either too slow to complete it or if they decided to not even accept them. This element fits well into urgency that the AI-controlled races exhibit.