Posted on: March 18, 2024
Louard_le_Barbare
Verified ownerGames: 293 Reviews: 124
A grandiose, hardcore boomer shooter
I know it’s bad to compare games to Dark Souls, but c’mon… A post-apocalyptic dark fantasy setting, mysterious lore revealed through logs, an in-universe explanation for the game over/rebirth cycle, a high level of challenge…? Wrath is the Dark Souls of boomer shooters!... And I wouldn’t have it any other way: it’s pretty great! First: visually, W:AoR rocks. It runs on a souped-up version of the Quake engine, making for deliciously chunky graphics, and the gloomy environments, extreme weapons and creepy monsters that populate its fascinating world have great aesthetics. It’s reminiscent of what you’d expect from edgy 90’s FPS games yet very unique, diverse, consistent and distinctive. Of course, when it comes to gameplay, W:AoE is as awesome as expected. The movement is nimble, the weapons all have a great “oomph” factor and remain useful throughout the campaign (including the least powerful ones), the foes all have their strengths and weaknesses, and the level design is thoroughly good. A lot of mechanics are well thought out, like the blade dash and limited quicksaves! However, W:AoR is pretty damn challenging: every level starts off easy but gets much harder as you progress, as foes show up in drove and deal a ton of damage. In theory, every attack can be dodged and many bonus items are here to help, so it’s never truly unfair…. But in practice, way too often does W:AoR play cheap tricks on you by having enemies appear in the most inconvenient spot possible to deplete your health and armor meters before you can react. Early levels also tend to either shower you with supplies you don’t need, or to make ammo too scarce during long firefights. Dying is not always your fault, which due to the scarcity of save points can be frustrating. Still, while Wrath is not always hard for the right reasons and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, it’s made with love and skill, and I had such a blast with it that I’d very much consider it one of the best throwback shooters.
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