It looks like a remake of Catacomb Abyss, plays like a remake of Catacomb Abyss with some additions - generally comparing this to DooM pointless, this is more like Rise of the Triad (bad). Ok, that was too harsh, this game is not BAD, it just isn't that good, from level design to gunplay, I find it just so-so. Music is good, art-style is ok (except the extensive pixelation, enough of that already!), level design is nothing special and gameplay is ok, but again nothing special. This is not Ion Maiden (which is THE best retro-shooter yet). Screen filters that make it somewhat look like it runs on older computer is a nice gimmick, but that does not make a game. tl:dr; meh..
Ok, I managed to get through this game long time ago on WinXP. I remember it crashing, but now, on Win 10, this game is unplayable. I tried this on my PC with Win10, only to have it randomly crash almost every 5 minutes, then after one crash the game could not start again - apparently the Lithtech engine deleted itself in the process. However I could no longer uninstall or reinstall the game, as the file Lithtech.exe (which was not showing in explorer) could not be removed/replaced. So what, did it destroy itself and my HDD with it? I tried it on another disk and it installed, but hey, whenever I got underwater, screen was completelly black. I tried many things to patch this but it did not help and only effect was that after first loading, any other loading ended in black screen. So you can't even travel. You may have noticed that I did not describe the game, only bugs -- well that is all I encountered :( The game is not that bad, but since you cannot play it, who cares?
I love System Shock, System Shock 2, Bioshock, Bioshock 2, Prey, .. This game is nothing like those games. This is those games dumbed way down. This is a weak arena shooter - you go through one possible way, enter open area and then fight. Once you've killed all oposition, you can leave the arena, continue through only way possible, until you reach another arena. Combat is not worst as is supposed in combat-oriented game, but I still loved combat in other games better. There is only one part where you have more freedom of exploration, but it still only meant you need to find arenas to fight. Story starts strong, but later is watered down and ends in rather stupid way. The whole city is explained in a way that doesn't make any sense (yes, even less than impossible Rapture :) ). Graphics are not bad, but all characters look like bad caricatures. Don't even start about that railway gimmick. This should not even be named Bioshock.. this is Hard Reset: Columbia.
