"Boomer Shooter" old school-style, arcade FPS discussion thread

[EvaUnit02]

Regarding key hunts and proximity to the classics, I see these as elements of language for an art form where what really matters is level design (visual design, flow, blocking, originality) and good item/enemy placement. If you're not here for the latter, the former will look extremely formulaic and dated. I can endlessly play new Quake maps because it's a way for me to experience the skill and vision of a level designer, even if I almost always have to ultimately pick up silver and a gold keys to progress past the same door brush.

Gggmanlives pointed out that trend in his Ion Fury Aftershock review. The indie Boomer Shooter formula has been shaken up however, the new part of the meta is copying Doom Eternal. Eg Fashion Police, Shadow Warrior 3, Ultrakill, Turbo Overkill, POSTAL: Brain Damaged.

[samIamsad]

Recently played the demo of Cultic, a homage to Blood, and was surprised how engaged I was by it. The whole concept of the "boomer shooter" is rather strange to me.

Oldschool shooters in particular either lived off their off-beat designs and/or superior technique. FPS games ever since Doom were on the forefront of all things graphics.

Didn't think that it would much work for me pairing oldschool shooting and deliberately oldschool graphics. That said, Graven looks the most interesting to me... doesn't have that great a rating on Steam and isn't finished yet.

Definitely bookmarked: Fallen Aces. But that is far more than an oldschool action game. It takes more than a few cues off Deus Ex et all as well. Highly recommended.

[EvaUnit02]

The whole concept of the "boomer shooter" is rather strange to me.


Oldschool shooters in particular either lived off their off-beat designs and/or superior technique. FPS games ever since Doom were on the forefront of all things graphics.

They're calling back to the FPS game design paradigms prior to what became the AAA industry FPS stasis quo, eg post Halo/CoD4 and/or console gamepad centric. The prior FPS game design style stopped being the mainstream industry focus and became niche. I don't understand why this notion would be hard to grasp?

After Half-Life + CoD big labyrinth-like maps + level key hunt design and light narrative in actual gameplay were effectively replaced with largely tight corridor maps + tight cinematic scripted sequences for narrative delivery.

Niche audience products often are lower budget and have make compromises in "expensive" areas like graphics fidelity.

P.S. Cultic is more of a homage to Resident Evil 4.

[lowenz]

That said, Graven looks the most interesting to me... doesn't have that great a rating on Steam and isn't finished yet.

It's a brand new Hexen

Definitely bookmarked: Fallen Aces. But that is far more than an oldschool action game. It takes more than a few cues off Deus Ex et all as well. Highly recommended.

More Kingpin than DX
Ah, there's a remaster coming -> https://store.steampowered.com/app/1...gpin_Reloaded/

[Briareos H]

I cannot praise Turbo Overkill enough. If you're into constant mobility between close combat and platform shooting in open arenas with ludicrous amounts of enemies (what I hear is the meat and potatoes of the modern DOOMs?), don't miss out on this one. The increasing scope and majesty of the setpieces is a sight to behold, especially throughout episode 1. For what seems to be a one-man project, it's truly amazing.

With lots of space, speed, verticality, good character progression, very tight controls and possibly the best vehicular sections I have ever seen in a FPS, it's one of the rare few recent games that got me in a state of flow. Just take it in chunks as it can get overwhelming. There's also a few bugs here and there but nothing serious.

[Sulphur]

Yup. I was pretty ambivalent about Prodeus (it's certainly chunky, but apart from that failed to engage me in any meaningful way) and the rest of these retro DoomQuake clones in general, but Turbo Overkill is immediately fast, fun, frenetic and has that missing je ne sais quoi that makes an FPS feel nearly addictive. Chainsaw leg? Yeah, I was already sold once I heard that, but the execution (sorry not sorry) is perfect. Great gameplay, looks like roadkill, fun times all around.

[Malf]

I haven't played it since early access, I'll have to remedy that.

[EvaUnit02]

Ion Fury sequel, Phantom Fury, sounds like it's been rushed to market. Apparently later levels feel rushed, AI is braindead and there's seemingly a mountain of bugs.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1.../Phantom_Fury/

Another mixed reception game from Slipgate Ironworks, releasing mere months from their last one, Graven.




I'll say that Wrath: Aeon of Ruin likely turned out well due to the foundation laid out by the original developer, Killpixel Games. Graven and Phantom Fury on the other hand are 100% Slipgate IW games. Similarly Ion Fury and Ghostrunner were unaffected since SG IW/3DR were not the main developers.

Is the Slipgate/skinsuit 3D Realms former parent company, Embracer Group, having financial issue to blame? Maybe. I'd say that it might be systemic to skinsuit 3DR, given past projects like Rise of the Triad 2013 and Rad Rodgers (skinsuit 3DR's Commander Keen attempt) had mixed receptions as well. RotT 2013 pre-dates Embracer's involvement by many years.

The current owner of 3DR is Saber Interactive, which went independent again from Embracer. Saber originally was an essentially a Russian-based developer, with US-based management. Embracer placed a handful of its various acquired studios under the Saber management umbrella, including 3DR.

[henke]

Pretty good humble bundle with Nightdive FPS remasters: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/f...-fps-remasters

Has got:
Turok 1-3
Doom 64
Forsaken
Rise of the Triad
Powerslave
Blood
SiN

[lowenz]

We're waiting about SiN *RELOADED*

[EvaUnit02]

We're waiting about SiN *RELOADED*

Modern skinsuit 3D Realms are awful. Good luck with that.

Skinsuit Apogee Software had originally contracted skinsuit 3DR to do the Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition. 3DR were incompetent so Apogee cancelled the contract and hired Night Dive instead.

[EvaUnit02]

Night Dive + Id Software dropped remasters of Doom 1 + 2. Includes new missions by Id, MachineGames and Night Dive!

\steamapps\common\Ultimate Doom\rerelease folder has a whole bunch of WADs ready for use in a source port of your choice. (I recommend GZDoom!)



They found a trove of never before seen, unused art assets and implemented them into the new mission set "Legacy of Rust"!

[henke]

Yeah I'm playing Legacy of Rust, it's got some neat new stuff, but man it's hard as hell! I'm playing on Ultra Violence, I think? (can't find a way to check. typing "skill" in the console doesn't work) For the first few levels it felt like I barely had enough ammo, just got to E1M6 and for the last few levels it's been feeling like I barely have enough health. It's gotten to the point where I think twice before picking up healthpacks. "Ok so my health is at 84%, but these heal 20%, so I should leave it and come back later when I'm more hurt." Never had to think this much about health in a Doom game before. Also, I don't think I've found a single secret so far. I guess you have to do something more advanced than just pressing use on bits of wall that look like they might hide something?

[nicked]

Yeah Legacy of Rust is naaails. I'm enjoying it, but it's taking me about an hour per level.