I didn't expect a single-dev "boomer shooter" to enthrall me so. It has a wonderful old-school philosophy of not holding your hand, letting you discover the mechanics at a steady pace on your own accord. Level design is the star of the show. The maps are sprawling, the layouts make sense and flow well. You can see the dev is an architect by trade :) The game makes you explore the world and some text to solve puzzles, and I really enjoyed the pacing – however, being based on the Doom engine, many players will go in expecting much less downtime between shooting, leading to complaints about "padding". The lighting isn't very refined and makes some shapes blend together, but this stopped bothering me too much after 1-2 hours in and just became part of the esthetic. I had zero problems making out enemies from the environment or each other. The character art has drawn some criticism, and while the animations are indeed quite spartan, the art style is nice and distinctive. The worldbuilding has seen a great deal of love and effort. I'm thankful that while the writing is solid, it's not self-indulgent – the game won't lecture you about its lore, instead it's integrated in environments and short text snippets. There's one level that's all backstory and no combat, but it's at the right point in the story and quite inventive in its presentation. The songs by Alexander Brandon obviously slap, and for Unreal/Deus Ex players will fill you with all kinds of warm emotions. The grumbling guitars and dark pads of the ambience fit really well with the visuals too. There's just the right amount of weapons and they're all fun to use. (The Crylance is introduced a bit late for its own good though.) Minimal hitscan is a design decision I love. The Bearzerk difficulty/mode transforms the game with carefully re-designed weapons and encounters for a very different, melee-focused playthrough. Chapter 2 dev diaries show blueprints of even sprawlier levels. Can't wait!
