I hope so vyshka! The next major update the dev will be focusing on is adding support for Outlaws (1997), but there’s no concrete estimate for that (I certainly don’t blame him after pulling off this mammoth project).
Following Epic’s classic disappearing from Steam last week, apparently Unreal and its associated games will also be delisted from GoG on Dec 23.
For those that are interested in adding them to your digital libraries/infinite backlogs, you can still get a Steam code bundle from resellers for the relatively cheap price of $10, which will no doubt increase significantly shortly.
I’ve been playing a bit of Powerslave Exhumed. It’s the first time I play it, so don’t have nostalgia factor weighing it.
It’s decently fun, I reached map 14, that counts for something. However, it has some important flaws too, enough that explain why this game isn’t that much fondly remembered:
-it doesn’t have normal save games, levels usually have a single checkpoint in the middle, maybe two as much, with luck. This sucks, and it doesn’t seem to really save it when you quit the game, even, you come back at start of the level if you load the game the next day.
-The game has surfaces (ie. lava) that kills you in one hit. And it has some platforming to do (In fact i’m stuck in place that requires a stupid super adjusted jump). Together the previous point, it makes for some frustrating moments.
-From what I have read, the original game had a single difficulty setting. It is pretty easy all things told (from a modern gamer with wasd+mouse), so I can see why in this remaster they have added two new difficulties. However, they went overboard, imo, there are new enemies in the levels and they are MUCH more damaging on the new Hard setting. I’m missing a middle point between the normal and hard modes.
-And you can’t change the difficulty once selected in the ‘new game’ screen.
-Your character is hilariously thicc, and I don’t know why. They fire a projectile at you, you avoid it, or think you avoid it at the side, but it still hit you.
-The enemy department is poor: at this point I have seen 1) ‘small critters’ (spiders, scorpion, falcon), that are they typical annoying and uninteresting small slow enemy, 2)guy who shoots straight at you and 3)guy who fires projectiles that aims for you (also annoying to fight because unlike the Revenants, the projectiles are tracked all the time, instead of half).
Well, I missed the most important feature, I guess:
-it’s a ‘metroidvania’. There are six objects you get over the course of the game, that give you higher jump, ability to float down, or to be able to step on toxic swamp floor or dive in water for extended periods. This makes you return to previous levels and take a second path with your newfound ability, that opens up a new exit to another new map. It’s a more interesting setup than say, Hexen the and switchs placed around maps in a hub.
Yeah that was something I seem to recall hearing in a Digital Foundry video. I think the host called it a ‘proto-Metroid Prime’ which instantly piqued my interest!
I’ve been playing Dusk recently between bouts of Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved and currently Halo 2 (first ever time with Master Chief) and what’s funny is playing a modern shooter with retro sensibilities and a ‘retro’ shooter that influenced modern sensibilities. Anyway I’ve been enjoying both a lot. I’m most surprised about Halo given my relative indifference going in. Bungie got a lot right with the gunplay there.
Now I’m intrigued to know how Half-Life stacks up because I haven’t played that since it launched and I own Black Mesa. I also wonder about Sven Co-op. Much like System Shock 2 and that weird co-op mod, it strikes me as the kind of game that benefits from loneliness and isolation…
My two recent boomer shooter play through’s have been Dusk and Prodeus, although I have to say that I don’t think playing these two back to back has done the latter any favours.
Prodeus just felt a little… stodgy? It has things to admire and it certainly ticks a lot of boxes as a modern Doom-clone. But coming from Dusk, where the design is constantly so interesting and the moment-to-moment gameplay so engaging and responsive, I struggled to adjust to Prodeus throughout its run time. Dealing with Prodeus’ movement and pace, and level design and enemy variety, felt like something of a trudge.
I’d describe Dusk as being a great game on its own terms. It could be a Nightdive remake or a community patch of a 1999 classic, or a brand new modern Boomer Shooter. It doesn’t matter - the game stands on its own two feet regardless of its era. Prodeus feels prouder and more committed to showing you its inspirations, but perhaps at the expense of doing much else particularly interesting.
Like I say, maybe this isn’t even Prodeus’ fault, and is just a reflection on how brilliant I found Dusk.
Dusk is still on top of the list of ‘new wave of boomer shooters’. After that are games like Amid Evil and Cultic. Prodeus was one of the mediocre ones, I didn’t get to finish it. I didn’t like its art style * at all *, most levels are lack identity and are not memorable, and it needed a few more enemy types (I mean, real different ones, and not blue skinned versions).
Right. I feel like I might have made a mistake by playing Dusk before I tried any of the other recent wave of boomer shooters, as I’m struggling to match it.
I even had quite a knee jerk aversion to Ultrakill, although that may have been because I was playing it on Steam Deck. It’s a game I want to try on M&KB before writing off entirely.
Who made this list? :) Besides not connecting with Dusk because of the lack of ammo, I really didn’t connect at all with Amid Evil. I did play it for an hour or two, and it was okay. But nothing special.
I’ve never heard of Cultic, will have to look that one up now.
I sorta blitzed thru Prodeus on the hardest difficulty without much trouble at all. I think it suffered a bit from having too many guns that had too many firemodes and it all just kinda ended up feeling a bit vague instead of each carving out its own unique space on the battlefield. Plus the last quarter or so of the game just felt like I was endlessly spamming the lockon micromissile weapon, which was a fun powertrip for awhile but completely killed any challenge. Didn’t regret my time with it - I at least appreciated the level and audio design. The gore was great too.
Not played Dusk - I have little affection for Quake and that ‘early 3D’ aesthetic does nothing for me. Cultic is high on my list, tho - I love Blood and seeing those screenshots with a bundle of dynamite and a lighter at the bottom of the screen really tickle my nostalgia gland… but I have way too many games to play at the minute and can’t help but feel that without those screaming murdermonk lines from Blood it may be missing a chunk of its dirty rotten soul.
I should try to play Blood for the first time. I missed it and Blood 2 back in the day. Is there a way to play those in a more modern engine like you can with Doom and Quake?
I bought this version on Steam a couple years ago which at least runs well on modern systems, but I don’t think the Build engine has seen quite as much love as the id ones so don’t expect it to look any better than it did in the 90’s.
Is it worth playing? Not sure. I love a lot of it, the sound design especially, alongside the totally over the top gore and physics. That perfectly lobbed bundle of dynamite into the middle of a crowd is still such a treat, both in the execution of it (it can be tricky to gauge your throw) and observing the catastrophic and cacophonic results. Some really great levels tucked in there; like it really executes a horror atmosphere well, sometimes, when it cares to. But some of the enemies suck - tommygun monks are hitscan bullshit, for example, and it drags a bit in places.
Not played the mod TurinTur has linked but I’m guessing I should!
I tried Blood 2 only a few months ago and couldn’t get it to work properly without suffering a myriad graphics problems (GOG is such a scam sometimes). Even while it was working, between crashes, it played janky as hell. I don’t remember loving it when it released either - probably played through it only once and found it a bit ‘meh’ even by the standards of the time. Plus no murdermonks! What were they thinking.
The only thing that irks me is that a bunch of the hands-on videos for it keep using the “movement like Doom” phrase and I don’t think that player movement looks anywhere near as fast or accurate as Doom’s. Maybe they mean “movement like a console version of Doom.”
