I recently came across an interesting indie game that was in development: RetroBlazer. The entire game is a mixture of early to late 90s FPS games such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom I+II, Quake, Jedi Knight, Outlaws, and et cetera. The biggest (and most obvious) inspiration being the Dooms.
I was ecstatic for the change of pace in RetroBlazer. No more quick time events, no grand story, no health regeneration. Just running and gunning, collecting... things (like health packs! Health packs!), and more running and gunning. Do not get me wrong, Modern Warfare was a blast (well, Modern Warfare 3 had its moments, but fell rather flat in comparison to Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2, but I digress....) and so are a lot of modern FPS games. It's just the market is supersaturated by these current FPS games that are trying to be the next Modern Warfare (I've said “Modern Warfare” entirely too much. No more of it shall be mentioned). So it is a complete breath of fresh air to have something so completely opposite to the big AAA titles of today. More impressive was that RetroBlazer remained entertaining.
I suppose that the main selling point for RetroBlazer is that it is based off of a quaint era. An era when FPS games began to take root and form their own genre amongst the MUDs and RPGs of the day. Everything that you'd expect is there, or somewhere along the lines of being developed.
You are dropped into a room, without any instruction, with a pistol in hand and a common knowledge that everything must die ahead. You get ready to go... but you realize that the key and mouse commands are all screwed up. Mouse doesn't look... it doesn't do much of anything (though the right mouse button will make you go forward!). A quick five minutes later, with a new (slightly modern) key-config set up, you're off! Then you get stuck in the first room.
*ahem*
As in, I was being derpy. It's amazing how much we (or at least I) have forgotten the days when FPS's just threw you into a game without any guidance. I was completely lost with how to get out, just like I was with the original Doom. Eventually, I found the door texture that opens (they just open, no command key) and I was on my way!
After this first level where you quickly learn how to play the game (or, if you're like me, I still make stupid mistakes regarding the “water”), the next level introduces another enemy, and so on. Level progression is mostly well done, though I do feel that the levels began to be more repetitive with slightly altered scenery. “Oohh... I'm in an Egyptian based... computer... thingy. Before I was in some base... computer... thingy... I think.”
But for a demo (that's still in development!), I'm just being picky. This leads me nicely to, “There are times one can easily tell that this is a game in development.”
There are only three weapons, a pistol, a machine gun, and a double-barreled shotgun... that shoots three balls of energy (I guess that's what the weapons shoot?). They're all quintessential... but after I got all three I was disapointed in finding out I couldn't get grenades (though if you follow their notes and activate alternate firing mode through the console, the machine gun can shoot out grenades, using a different ammo). I was expecting more base weapons.
I often felt that there wasn't enough ammo for the “special” weapons (the machine gun and double-barreled shotgun). But I'm a hoarder in games (especially RPGs), so I was often afraid to use my precious ammo until closer to the end. “But what if I'll need it later?” Perhaps slightly more ammo per drop would be nice. I believe the developers have it almost right where the player has to conserve their ammo wisely... but it's a little too few at the moment. I felt the same way towards health, as well. I feel that it's supersaturated, but in such small amounts that it became silly. I'd rather have both health and ammo be more per drop and have fewer drops.
Enemies are also sparse in differences. There's your basic soldier, a grenade soldier, a big snake thing that comes down from the ceiling, and a hover robot that looks like a bee. I think it'd be cool to have a couple more baddies, or if not generic baddies, some bosses. The ending was very sudden and left me wondering, “Did I beat it?” Since the developers are going for an old FPS feel, true boss fights would be a welcomed addition.
There is only one difficulty, whatever normal is. Since the developers are going with the 90s FPS theme, they really need to have your traditional four difficulties with “Nightmare” unlock-able. I found Normal to be relatively easy, a walk in the park.
And, there are lot of areas seemingly locked out (I may have just sucked and couldn't have found the key/secret passage). I think I sucked, to be honest, but there were some areas that I was just confused about how to get to, or why they were even there. I believe it was in the second level, there is a spot where there is a fence and water underneath the fence. It appears that there is another room past the fence, but how do I get there?
Everything from the visuals, to the sound, to the way the game is played screams of these old FPS games; however, there is a distinct feel to the game that these others did not have. I don't know if it is intentional or not, but whereas Doom and co were very flat in appearance, RetroBlazer feels like a 3D environment with a 2D perspective. It is almost like Rebel Assualt (I or II) had a baby with Doom. Somewhere between those is RetroBlazer's visuals. There is also a distinct color palate being used and it does not give you a massive headache swerving and running around (though I could easily see getting one. The game is a bit fluorescent).
As noted above, the perspective is interesting; A 3D environment from a 2D perspective. There are some odd visuals within the game, such as how drawn the enemies look. This attributes to the 2D perspective. Outlaws had this drawn visual style, but in an time when the max screen resolution was 800x600 and massive pixelation was common, it tended to hide this odd mixture. RetroBlazer does not have this crutch, so everything is nice and crisp... and odd looking. This is a minor qualm, if it is a qualm. I think it's an interesting idea that deserves a little more work.
With sound, is a double-edged sword to me. As a classically trained musician, I find the music horridly repetitive and unlike Mario... it just doesn't work. But the music itself isn't bad. It's just repeated too many times and there is only two tracks. The FX sounds, though, are overall nice. All the weapons sound good – but they're a bit weak sounding, too.
RetroBlazer is an FPS made off of an old, altered Quake Engine, the Darkplaces Engine. The Darkplaces Engine seems to be a solid engine. I experienced no lag or crashes. Just be sure to have your video card drivers installed... I apparently did not and could not run the game until I did so.
Going back, very briefly, to all the throwbacks that the developers have added, one of the most memorable for me is the taunting when you go to quit. Granted, I still like Dooms and Wolfenstein 3D better (they're less... offensive), I laughed for a good minute when I first quit and saw the message come up, “MAN, I OUGHTA SMACK YOU FOR TRYING TO QUIT! PRESS Y TO GET SMACKED OUT.” There are several more of varying levels of offensiveness. Some are the same level of Dooms where they're just silly.
Overall, I'm eagerly awaiting more from RetroBlazer. Give it a try at http://www.retroblazer.com/ It's definitely worth a try! It is available for all operating systems.
-PancakeDestruction
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