Project Warlock

Project Warlock is a blast to play, and not just for nostalgia. On the surface, it looks like one of the homages to classic 90's shooters that has become a bit standard these days: a Heretic/Doom to Dusk's Quake, if you will. To be fair, the level design is deliciously retro, even more so than I anticipated. The structure of maze-like (though not to the point of confusion) levels with treasures hidden behind secret doors reminds me more of Wolfenstein, Blake Stone, or Corridor 7 even more than Doom/Heretic. The episodic game structure also evokes adventures of the DOS era, with each chapter featuring different environments and enemies. What really makes a video game good, though, is the gameplay, and that is where Project Warlock truly shines. The greatest strength of Project Warlock, I think, is its flexibility. Players can specialize their upgrades and loadouts to satisfy a very wide variety of playstyles. Throughout the game players will receive points which they can use to upgrade different aspects of their character, magical spells, or weapons. Every weapon and power in this game is satisfying to use, and all weapons can be upgraded to completely change the weapon. The basic pistol, for example, can be upgraded to be a .50 monster that does immense damage (at the cost of consuming more ammo) or to be a flare gun that can set groups of enemies on fire. Or, you could ignore all weapon upgrades and spend all of your upgrade points on spells that range from defensive barriers that block damage to freezing blasts that turn enemies to solid (shatterable) ice statues to floating orbs that blast nearby enemies with lightning. There is a great deal to unlock and many different methods of play with which to experiment, all wrapped in a relatively fast-paced, retro-style corridor shooter. What's not to love?

This game has some performance issues. I find turning the visual effects to the lowest setting works. The menus also have some weird glitches, but nothing that ever soft locked me. And I've had to restart levels a couple times due to secrets being opened, but not counting them as discovered. Despite all that, this one is real good. If you like retro throwback games, you owe it to yourself to play this one. If you haven't tried out any old first person shooter games, this one is a really good introduction to the genre. It's not too difficult on normal, but it provides enough resistance to be a lot of fun. Hard mode has fast enemies, so if you're an fps veteran you'll enjoy that. The soundtrack is 10/10 midi style music, can't recommend it enough. Adds a lot of energy to the game. Big props to this developers first game, highly enjoyable and replayable. Also Storm Rage is the actual BFG of the game, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Well, for now i'm not impressed at all. I had more fun playing free DooM total conversions than this game. It's not bad but it's not good either and not worth 11€. Maybe because I just finished playing Ashes 2063 and I got a little bit spoiled by it (even as a free mod, the game doesn't stand the comparison). Apart from this : - When I move and turn around I get somes stutters. - The Hud is not resizable and it's very small for high resolutions. - Switching weapons with the mouse wheel is not smooth at all and you'll be better hitting the corresponding key. - The melee is clunky and not enjoyable, it's really when you get your first firearms that the game start to shine. I'll try to get back at it soon enough because it has potential (I'll probably get the note higher) but I had to put this review early because it's not as perfect as people want you to believe.

Project Warlock look really nice, its visuals are just beautiful. However, game disappointed me a lot. In short words, it is soulless. I wouldn't replay it because it's fun no more to me (I've completed it once only, on easiest difficulty and it took me 9 hours). It could be so much more, but seems kind of unfinished. I'll synthesise it in a few points: GOOD POINTS: + really nice visuals + nice music + RPG stat points progression system BAD POINTS: - full of bugs - no story, no tutorial, no immersion - no reload button (that's just a personal preference - I'd like to have a reload button) - works super slow at times on my modern laptop computer (paid it $2000 2 years ago), and however quite slow in general (it is very badly optimized game) - monotonous level design (it's all corridors, very few open scenes, zero vertical dimension, just like Wolfenstein 3D) - you have to be exactly above an item to pick it up (the developers should increase item collision range a bit) SOME BUGS: - sound system left/right is switched, so you never hear enemy sound correctly (it is super confusing) - game crashes (to the desktop as well) - bugs that prevent you from finishing levels (with elevators, for example; I even fell through the floor once); those are however very rare, but there are I am disappointed in this game. Could be some much more. I really like its visuals. But that's not enough to actually enjoy the game.

On the looks side of things, I have to admit that some of it are a strong hit, others are really missing. The enemies sprites are clear and awesome, but the environmental sprites are pretty bad in general. However, the biggest crime the game commits is the lighting system. See, I don't know where the dev thought that the old FPS games were dark and spooky - but they were never dark enough to force you to use an external source of light. There was clear lighting that showed you the way. In Project Warlock, you're forced to use a light spell, and you can't use your guns. Think of it as Doom 3 - but unlike Doom 3, enemies aren't slow and stupid, and the levels aren't maze-like. So you end up in a situation where everywhere you can't see anything, and if you decide to see something, you can't fire back, and when you fight, you don't get to see the fun parts, like gibs or damage. I think one of the worst levels for this was literally a desert stage, where you're outside and it's pitch black anyways. Some levels are okay with it, but some levels are in pitch blackness the entire time! WTF? On the gameplay, it's pretty damn fun when everything is lined up. There's a lot of weapons, but often you'll only gravitate toward those who are clearly superior, unless you grab sidegrades that gives you an added advantage. I didn't use the magic system because honestly, it's... not necessary at all beyond the light spell because YOU CAN'T SEE ANYTHING without it sometimes. The only weapon I feel are bad are the melee ones (but muh Hexen) and the staff (but muh heretic) , because honestly going into melee against a group of enemies is hardly ever a good idea, and the staff is just not as good as the weapons you get eventually.