To be honest the demo for this game didn't really hook me and I wasn't sure I'd be buying it on full release, though it seemed to take inspiration from some of my favorite games, and even old mods for games like Half Life like The Opera and The Specialists. They polished the game a lot since the demo, which felt kind of sloppy to me, and this now plays like the dream mix of those older games that you could feel the developers reaching for. The campaign is short but you can tell there's a ton of replay value there, and the extra wave mode and level-editor are welcome additions to squeeze out more play time. The gameplay itself is so fun you'll be looking for reasons to keep going, and the AI is dynamic and fun to fight against, so it feels like replaying missions of FEAR over and over like back in the day. Overall, I definitely recommend this, even to people tiring of the old-school shooter trend, as there's enough fresh here to satisfy anyone that enjoys blowing things up.
This game feels like a real classic from that era, which is really unique, while still having some innovative game design. I do think they made the game a bit too easy. That's probably because of the save system and them being self-conscious about balancing the soul tethers with player death. Quake was a game that basically relied on quick save spamming, so this gives a very different feel in the flow of the game. You may want to start the game on the harder difficulty. I enjoy the save system otherwise, as it adds a bit of strategy and tension. The world design is kind of like a Souls-like actually, so if you plan things right you can put a soul tether down in an area where there's one of those one-way doors you can open up at a later point in the level, which basically doubles the usefulness of the save point. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this game develops. Maybe I'll eventually get tired of all these old school FPS games coming out, but for now they're pretty much the only thing I play, along with the classics themselves.
I think this is easily one of the best of the old school style shooters that have been coming out. To be honest, it doesn't play like any of the others as well because of the game design. It's probably most similar to Wolfenstein 3D in the sense that the levels are all flat and the secrets are hidden similarly, so you end up strafing walls and spamming the use button, which has always been a surprisingly fun activity for me for some reason lol, maybe all the time I spent as a kid doing it makes it a nostalgic treat. What sets it apart are the enemy and weapon types, which are very different from Wolfenstein, and the levels are super detailed and varied for being flat. The light RPG elements add some replayability as well, and I've done a couple runs to experience the different gun upgrades, with a few still remaining that I haven't used yet. The game also switches up the world design at just the right moments, so nothing overstays its welcome. The violence is also extremely pleasing, and is a bit like a softened Brutal mod. The guns sound vicious and melting enemies with some of them is incredibly satisfying. If you've been enjoying other games of the boomer shooter trend, definitely check this one out!
This was one of those games that I went over to friends' places to play but they always hogged (because I would die a lot when I played), so I only got to really get into it with this release. I have to say, even at $20 I'd buy it. Night Dive did a fantastic job updating the game and getting it to play brilliantly on PC. I expected this to be a kind of novelty purchase, but it's one of the most fun FPS games I've played in a while, and it feels surprisingly fresh even now. Highly recommended, especially to those who have never played it before.
