Project Warlock

To be honest I had more fun playing this game than Doom 2016 and I really liked Doom 2016. Looking forward to installing this next update to see the new tweaks. When the game initially came out there was really only two things I could critique. The diversity of the monsters feels great! Especially in the second Antarctic type world. I had so much fun fighting those monsters. One of the things I would critique on is in the later episodes mainly the Egypt episode the doesn't really seem to be too much of a difference in how you have to fight the monsters in it. This gets better with the later episodes, but that was basically the only thing I would say really actually needed improvement. The second thing I would critique is the bosses, which I still think are fantastic, but there is kind of a turn and burn strategy to playing some of them. I know that's kind of the trend with old school fps games, but I think there is way too much potential for boss fights to be cool to just keep it to a turn and burn strategy through the whole match. Keep in mind I didn't think all the bosses were like that. I still enjoyed all the boss fights in the game greatly. Overall level design made total sense yet was still challenging. Skills are also pretty awesome but I feel like after a certain point the monsters are little too weak against your awesome skills. Don't take my critique wrong, this game surpassed my expectations and I would recommend it to anybody. One of the best classic FPS experiences I've ever had!

I really wanted to like this. I really did. But the performance is just utter garbage. Even with all settings on low the maximum fps are about 20. A real shame

Project warlock on it's surface is a mashup of Catacombs 3D (and it's sequels and reiterations like Curse of the Catacombs) and Heretic, with a touch of Doom thrown in for good measure. An array of both medieval and somewhat modern weapons, with a simple upgrade system thrown in for good measure, gives some variety. It looks good, definitely going for a retro-style vibe with the 2D sprite enemies and objects and simple bitmapped textures that wouldn't look out of place on a game made for the old reliable 386. Music is also okay, but repetitive. The maps are definitely a throwback, with lots of wandering through identical corridors and a poor automap that's basically useless annoying you. Controls are loose and slippery, with the player sliding through like every level is an ice level. Enemy hit boxes are large though, so don't expect to have too much challenge. Especially with the weapons. The Axe, as another review noted, is so overpowered that it's the only weapon you need. But even running around stabbing things with the dagger is easy enough. The crossbow is likewise brokenly powerful, limited only by ammo, which you can recover after firing anyway. If it wasn't for respawns coming up behind you and just huge numbers of enemies, there'd be no challenge at all. A major gripe is the lack of a save feature. I get that there's a stereotype of the basement dwelling gamer, but in real life, we got stuff to do. Lack of an accessible save system is a massive design error, made by morons. Likewise using the archaic lives system. Automaps have been standard since the days of DOOM. Another major flaw. No decent OS version, another star off. Stop supporting child sex trafficking and make a Linux version. Finally, I can run AAA games without issue; a throwback with 2D graphics should not have slowdown and performance issues. In short, if you like Catacombs 3D or Heretic, it's worth buying during a sale.

If you're going to make a game with low-res graphics, poor level design and uninspired weapons, you'd better have a good story to keep the players wanting to play more. I've played many games where the game play wasn't that great, but I kept playing because I wanted to find out where the story was going. This is NOT one of those games. Pros: Main Menu looked nice. Enemy sprites were well animated. Okays: Music was okay but can't carry a game (good music is very subjective). Retro graphics options were interesting but not needed. Episode / Act / Level selection system was not needed (could have been linear). What's up with the workshop? (could have been a menu between levels). Cons: Level design had little flow or logic. Needed a better map. Ranged weapons all felt the same (click, click, click and things died). Melee weapons were very clunky to use. Need to hold attack key for alternate attacks. Need to buy spells (should get them like weapons). Texture color depth made everything blah. No motivation due to lack of story at beginning. Very weak story at end of first episode (I gave up soon after that). No in level saves (levels were short, but you need to play many levels before it saved). I was excited when all these retro styled games started coming out. I'd gotten bored with the new game design style these days, but this game just didn't draw me in, and I gave up on it after the first act of the second episode. I guess I'll just have to research future games a bit more before I just jump in and start playing.

I would like to mention the few issues right at the beginning of this review: The game seems to have some technical issues such as fps drops/stuttering and some people seem to have mouse issues where inputs won't register. I am only experiencing the stutter problem at the moment, but the developer is already working on a patch. Other than that it is a very good mix between Hexen and Wolfenstein 3D. More Wolf than Hexen in terms of level design and a more straightforward horizontal gameplay without jumping and verticality. As someone who grew up with Wolfenstein, Doom and what have you, I am more than pleased with this title. It is fast and the weapons feel really good for the most part...except the magic staff that you have to charge up until you upgrade it. Yes this game gives you weapon upgrades which alter your weapons and sometimes completely changes them. You can upgrade an uzi to make a nailgun out of it, or you can use them akimbo, the shotgun can shoot buckshots or become an auto shotgun etc. You also receive status upgrades to improve your health/mana pools, ammo capacity or melee damage. I was worried because of that but it really is not a big game changer. The game is not too difficult on normal and it would be great if we could get more difficulty options in the future. At the moment you have easy, normal, hardcore, where hardcore has permadeath and lets you restart the whole game after dying. Normal is a bit too easy for me. I finished 3 out of 5 episodes and only died once at the first boss because I was not paying attention. Overall you should really try this game when you are a fan of retro fps. It is not perfect but the Dev responds fast and is open for suggestions and ideas. I think people who complain about the lack of verticality and gameplay did not "get" what the game wants to represent and be.