A retro-FPS that decided to sink all its points into visuals and atmosphere, grounding itself on a solid foundation of fast-paced, vaguely Quake-esque core gameplay and low-poly 3D graphics, before taking a nosedive into an ocean of psychedelic color-schemes, grand surrealist architecture and all the colored lighting and excessive particle effects modern game engines can provide. There really is no overstating just how amazing some parts of this game look, especially the last chapter, which feels like touring an M.C. Escher exhibit after consuming an entire rehab clinic's worth of controlled substances. Some chapters unwisely decided to tone down the lysergic frenzy however and force the game to stand on its gameplay alone, which generally leans towards a fast and fluid style of combat, rewarding skillfull play but without being massively challenging, at least on the "Hard" difficulty. The weapon roster is solid, varied and skillfully avoids redundancy, but also treads a bit on the small side, with 5 ranged weapons plus the obligatory melee option. The enemy roster is a different story however, since the game completely switches it out at the beginning of each chapter, though quite a few enemies come across as little more than recolors, still, it helps keep the whole thing from feeling stale, even in the less interesting areas. And finally, there's also a good bit of platforming, which ranges from easy all the way through mildly annoying, but feels pointless the whole way through.
In the end, what you have here is a perfectly decent, well put-together chunk of old-school shootin' coated with a thick layer of immensely impressive, if somewhat inconsistent visuals. An easy recommendation to fans of the genre.
Final rating: 8.1/10
originally written on 27/04/2024
