A few necessary disclaimers. First: this is a 4.5/5 game to me because it hasn't been patched since 2022 and tends to crash quite frequently. After going back and forth for a *long* time, I leaned towards just giving it 5/5. The gameplay is *that* good. Second: the gore in the game may be a little disturbing, in a "murdering Rei clones" kind of way. Third: the actual game version on GOG is 2.17.4, same as on Steam, even though it shows up as "1.0". In a nutshell: The Citadel is unbelievably fun. It doesn't just capture the essence of old-school shooters: it goes beyond them, bringing in modern concepts, fresh twists, and carnage on a massive scale, all the while maintaining a focus of vision that's difficult to describe. The closest comparison to make would be to Brutal Doom. They both feature unrelenting action and a surprising mechanical complexity that goes beyond the games they were inspired by. Instead of going wild with mechanics like Doom Eternal or Duke Nukem Forever, The Citadel shares much more in common with the focus on movement and gunplay that made Doom (2016) so much fun. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve. The colour palette will instantly be recognizable from RELICS (yes, that ancient 1986 game). It takes a lot of inspiration from classic Bungie games (yes, that Bungie), with some weapons and enemies reminiscent of Marathon, while the overarching plot is a throwback to Pathways Into Darkness. Then there are the obvious Doom and Wolfenstein comparisons, especially in the areas with claustrophobic corridors, and some of the secret levels. So it's a testament to The Citadel's vision that these references don't distract from the game's own unique identity. Fundamentally, it is about movement and shooting. It takes some time to get used to movement and momentum, but once you do, the game opens up. The learning curve is a little harsh, but once they click together, the game becomes nothing short of absolutely glorious to play.
Apotheon belongs among the great 2D platforming games, because it does just about everything right. Visually, Apotheon is unique, beautiful, and well-designed for gameplay, which is a rare combination nowadays. The only thing that lacks a little is the design of your own character, but that's probably because Nikandreos "Nicky" Everyman will be obscured behind a shield half the time. Backgrounds are grand and atmospheric, and each new area has its own character and feel. At the same time, they never interfere with the foreground. In a fight, you can focus on combat and movement with no distractions. The auditory bits are great as well. Voice acting ranges from decent to decenter, which is a huge plus for such a story-involved game. The music will catch your ear at some points, but mostly stays out of the limelight. Sounds are your run of the mill standard-issue grunts and screams, but there are special sounds for picking up weapons, weapons hitting, glancing off a shield, or breaking in combat, which make combat much more fluid and natural. It sounds like a little thing, but when you're actually jumping around and lobbing spears at a -REDACTED-, suddenly all these sounds become really important. But you didn't come here to gawk, you came here to fight things. Combat is really enjoyable in this game, even if only having two main modes of fighting (shielded and unshielded) gets a little wearisome. Combat has two learning curves- the usual platforming enemy-pattern learning curve, which you can pick up in an hour or two, and the twitch-reaction to dodge attacks instead of blocking them, which will take a day or so. Thankfully there are graphical cues for everything, from taking a hit, raising your shield, blocking an attack, to using a potion (and your enemies do use potions), which along with the sounds makes fighting very fluid. And the kicker? It's trivially moddable. Now you can give yourself that -REDACTED- from the beginning, and pretend you have a New Game+.
