digging into prodeus now. this is really what I wanted doom 2016 to be. it’s maybe the only boomer shooter that recognizes that most 90’s fps games were corridor shooters with minimal-to-no arena shooter-style setpieces. there is no “glory kill” mechanic or anything like that. instead it just has dense and genuinely clever level design which lands very pleasantly between doom 2, duke nukem 3D, and quake, without ever feeling too derivative of any of them. it captures the density and complexity of early doom maps without creating any “where do I go next” situations where you’re hunting for a key or just the way forward. that’s honestly impressive. plus I appreciate how committed they are to the aesthetic. I love the crazy 3D-to-sprite shader they use for enemies and items, and if you run it at the internal 270p setting everything just perfectly gels and feels right. even the music seems to use actual midi files, though the game lets you choose to use a more “general midi” style sound font. to my ears it sounds perfect this way compared to the more modern soundfont it defaults to.
the combat, weapons, and setpiece designs are quite good, but notably the weakest part of the experience. it’s all just a little mushy and weapon sound effects are too compressed and lack punch. they’re trying to do the thing where every weapon is very powerful and it’s just a matter of choosing the right tool for the situation but it mostly all feels inconsequential in practice. I’m playing on the second highest difficulty setting and it feels like it should be much more taxing than it is. I find myself arbitrarily switching between various weapon types solely based on ammo because most of them tend to be equally effective for 80% of the game. that said there are some fun gimmicks that add some moment-to-moment depth. the super shotgun has four barrels for instance, and its alternate fire just shoots however many rounds you still have loaded all at once, so there’s a lot of variability to how you can use it and when. that kind of stuff is nice but I’m a good way into the game and most of it hasn’t really mattered much. it’s not a deal-breaker, though. the good is so good that I’m okay with combat being kind of breezy and mindless. this is easily my favorite boomer shooter that I’ve played so far.