Clone Drone in the Danger Zone (PC) review "A chaotic and enjoyable romp in the Danger Zone. "

Doborog Games’ 2021 battler Clone Drone in the Danger Zone presents a unique blend of voxel-based combat and arena-based brawling into an endearingly hectic experience. Set in a distant future where humanity is enslaved by robot overlords, Clone Drone in the Danger Zone leverages intricate control and dark humour to craft a chaotic yet satisfying indie game.

The game sees players take control of human minds uploaded into combat robots that are thrust into an unending gauntlet of battles. Win a battle, and you move on to the next match, earning an upgrade in the process. Die, and your mind is erased, before a new human mind is uploaded and plunged into the arena. The arena stages themselves feature elaborate set pieces, presenting varied stage hazards and hosts of robots that would (and often do) delight in tearing you limb from limb.

The game sees players combine third person controls with directional mouse-inputs as a way of influencing the direction of swings, thrusts, and slashes with weapons. As a result, combat is simple to understand, but deceptively open ended, as the combination of mouse aiming and direction input allows for fine control of attacks.

These controls are supported by a robust voxel-based damage system, where damaged limbs are destroyed, which can in turn affect robots (both enemies’ and players’) abilities to use their weapons. This introduces some neat scope for strategy, providing additional scope for mastery and replay.

Combat provides ample scope for players to instil a level of personal flair, as the simplicity of the system, coupled with the varied upgrade options and approaches means that there are multiple ways to approach combat, even when using the same weapon.

Despite this depth, the physics systems of Clone Drone in the Danger Zone can sometime glitch in frustrating ways. Issues like persisting momentum, odd quirks of gravity, and inconsistent collision boxes in some arenas can result in frustrating gameplay issues. Clones can be lost, and runs can end due to issues with platform hitboxes, or unfortunate quirks of the voxel system. That being said, none of these are significant enough to fully tarnish the experience.

In terms of structure, Clone Drone in the Danger Zone focuses largely on an endless gauntlet of arena battles, with challenges that focus on specific limitations of weapon choices providing additional variation. The game does provide a story mode that details the world, and extends the experience with additional lore and settings, but narrative is not the key focus of the game, and so aspects of this mode might seem cliched—and potentially melodramatic—to some.

Despite the lack of emphasis on direct narrative, key worldbuilding takes place through the commentary offered by ‘Commentatron’ and ‘Analysis-Bot’, the two robot commentators who oversee the players’ efforts as they struggle to survive in the arena. This commentary is an absolute highlight of the game, as the clever script work, coupled with unique use of robotic text-to-speech results in varied, engaging and often hilarious dialogue to follow the player’s actions.

While not promising an engrossing narrative nor expansive world, the game achieves exactly what it sets out to do with earnest exuberance and unique flair. Bugs and issues are not unheard of, but the game is polished and the speedy systems ensure that any frustration is short-lived. Clone Drone in the Danger Zone ends up greater than the sum of its parts, carving out a unique identity as much through its sharp sense of whimsy as much as it does through its unique combat and heavy replayability.

Community review by cjdh (November 30, 2025) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.