Project Warlock

Yeah, what can I say. It makes me want to go play the original Doom again. Are there some rough edges? Sure. The graphics (especially the UI) doesn't scale down pixel-perfect, performance doesn't scale down as great as you might think (lighting is fairly demanding), it might feel repetitive (expected in this style of FPS no?) and your character doesn't talk smack like in the trailer :( Seriously though, this is a fantastic homage to 90s FPS game, while still evolving the style with updated lighting and character progression. The episodes really scale in difficutly keeping the challenge going, and levels are kept short enough they don't feel like a chore. Project Warlock really nails it with simple level design, fast-paced action, large weapon variety, great music, and a cohesive art style. This all comes together to make a fantastic classic FPS experience.

An abosolute blast to play through, along with a huge enemy variety, a great aresenal, and wolf3d styles level design. One of my favs of the year and a great surprise to me. Wish I could play in 4k and have more control over performance though.

I really liked how Project Warlock was able to keep things old school while making things fun as well. It really brings you back to those DOOM days and even Hexen despite my time with the latter being very short. I played it on normal, (I thing, I can't remember despite finishing it recently.) But even then it was challenging enough. Gameplay was all about the reaction because the controls are very basic, it relies mainly the typical 'strafe and shoot like a madman' style of play which made it kind of fun. There's moments where it can get crazy though and you're just firing all over the place. The upgrade system was a bit average though and I found myself very rarely using any of the Warlocks magic until I unlocked the skill to regenerate ammo. There a level that was pitch black and required you to use your light skill which was kind of nice but otherwise after that, no other skills are used or required apart from the ammo 1. It was a fairly balanced game. I had a lot of lives but was still running out of ammo and mana so I had to vary my weapon choice a lot. The music was freaking awesome, definitely gonna listen to the soundtrack in my free time. Sound effects were really good. Old school but they sounded impactful and enemy sounds were varied. The visuals were great, some of it gets a bit repetitive and re-used both for enemies & levels, but otherwise it looked good. Pixel graphics without the lazy approach. It performed really well on my 2700x and 980ti as you'd expect it to, but towards the end at the final boss it had a few hiccups and massive fram dips/freezes. Overall I had a lot of fun playing Project Warlock. I'd recommend it if you're looking for some good nostalgia without having to deal with the frustrations that came with some of the old school games. At <$20AU and up to 8hrs of playtime, it's pretty good value too.

Simple but fun gameplay mixing into a mostly solid experience, held slightly back by limited choice in difficulty and rather weak boss fights. Could do with a fourth difficulty setting, that takes out the single life system in hardcore mode. Otherwise enjoyed it a fair bit.

A wonderful modern vision to an outstanding old-school formula, Buckshot Software has shown that they know how to show total respect for the pioneers that came before it while still giving the genre a unique shot in the arm. The visuals are fantastic, the game is insanely fun to play, the soundtrack fits the vibe and I look forward to spending many hours tearing through this dark, bonkers world that they have crafted in Project Warlock. Shares the throne with Friends of Ringo Ishikawa as my Game of the Year. What an awesome debut and hopefully a bright future for the company lies ahead.