Underrated

[Josh Has Worms]

I feel like this game is getting more hate than it deserves. I will start by saying I was not waiting five years for it, so I don't have years and years of expectations built up, but I had a lot of fun with this one. It felt a lot like Quake, unsurprisingly, and I love Quake. There was more of an emphasis on ammo management in this game, which was kind of a pain in episode 1 but got better as the game went on.

I really enjoyed most of the level design in Wrath. The levels were enormous, and it could be a bit of a slog at times, but the slower combat and variety of weapons and items felt good. Encounters felt like a puzzle to be solved with powerful but limited resources. The aforementioned ammo management led me to always keep an eye on which weapons I was using, how much ammo I had in them, and where pickups were that I previously passed. Knowing when to save an ammo pickup for later was key, and the level design made looping back common enough for this not to be an issue.

I saw some people complaining about enemies spawning behind them or something and I guess I played a different game than those people. I rarely felt that enemy placement or teleporting in was cheap or unfair. The sounds clearly telegraph the spawns, which take a second to be able to attack you. The enemies that are designed to surprise you clearly telegraph their appearance with sound. For example, Widows hiding behind corners. You hear their scream, you press S to move back. It's not hard. They rarely managed to hit me. I play with surround sound, so I guess that helped clue me in when an enemy was behind me, too.

Enemies could have had a bit more variety, especially given the length of the game and the size of the levels. Other than that, I have few complaints. It plays and performs well. It really made me feel the same kind of enjoyment the original Quake brought me. It's definitely not my favorite game ever, but I thought Wrath was very solid.

[erc]

Fact about Q1: id guys opted to keep the maps under 1.4mb range filesize-wise, just so they can move the BSPs between their computers through floppy disks. That's one of the reasons Romero was forced to cut the opening section of The Dismal Oubliette. Hipnotic (Ritual) and Rogue upped the ante, but not by much.

Still, WRATH is already and I think will always be a 'Love It or Hate It' creation. Thinking about it, retro shooters may also be categorized into subgenres upon the way they decide to handle the visuals, style and gameplay. WRATH is, more-or-less, a polished and fleshed-out Quake TC, knowing all too well what Q1 mapping evolved into over the years.

I, for one, am glad that they have stayed true to their vision all the way through. As it is, anyone who is familiar and in-love with Q1 content would feel right at home with it. Anyone who is not, I must admit, most likely would feel left out and underwhelmed by it... 'Cause it only (and only) resembles Q1's 'customized' gameplay - and nothing else in the genre.

[Outlander]

erc lähetti viestin:

Fact about Q1: id guys opted to keep the maps under 1.4mb range filesize-wise, just so they can move the BSPs between their computers through floppy disks. That's one of the reasons Romero was forced to cut the opening section of The Dismal Oubliette. Hipnotic (Ritual) and Rogue upped the ante, but not by much.

Still, WRATH is already and I think will always be a 'Love It or Hate It' creation. Thinking about it, retro shooters may also be categorized into subgenres upon the way they decide to handle the visuals, style and gameplay. WRATH is, more-or-less, a polished and fleshed-out Quake TC, knowing all too well what Q1 mapping evolved into over the years.

I, for one, am glad that they have stayed true to their vision all the way through. As it is, anyone who is familiar and in-love with Q1 content would feel right at home with it. Anyone who is not, I must admit, most likely would feel left out and underwhelmed by it... 'Cause it only (and only) resembles Q1's 'customized' gameplay - and nothing else in the genre.

Yeah, pretty much. We see that some folks haven't played anything outside of base Quake's main levels and went in, seeing the "boomer shooter retro" tags, and thought it was going to be another Ultra Overkill (or whatever it's called). Like, I even saw a post asking where all the looping heavy metal music is, lol.

[Josh Has Worms]

Turbo Overkill is pretty great, but it's a different type of game entirely. The combat has less weight to it, usually, and it's a lot faster. The weapons in that game don't feel very punchy, but I think that's mostly sound design. I think lumping so many games into the term "boomer shooter" really does them a disservice. Turbo Overkill is like nothing from the 90s. My only real issue with that game is that it has micro stuttering that varies by level and the devs apparently can't see it, but everyone with a high Hz monitor can...

[Outlander]

Josh Has Worms lähetti viestin:

Turbo Overkill is pretty great, but it's a different type of game entirely. The combat has less weight to it, usually, and it's a lot faster. The weapons in that game don't feel very punchy, but I think that's mostly sound design. I think lumping so many games into the term "boomer shooter" really does them a disservice. Turbo Overkill is like nothing from the 90s. My only real issue with that game is that it has micro stuttering that varies by level and the devs apparently can't see it, but everyone with a high Hz monitor can...

Yeah, I'm playing Ion Fury right now as well and I like it very much. Both "boomer shooters" ( I guess) but two totally different games. I think you're exactly right, the term doesn't really work in that regard.