Whether with minigun, magic wand or battle axe – Thomas has picked out some very fine new shooters for you. Do you know them all?
Sometimes you just want to race through corridors at completely insane speeds, mowing down legions of enemies with an oversized gun and endless amounts of ammo. Tango down, Victory Royale, Stay Frosty, Chicken Dinner, stay away from me everyone and just leave me alone to shoot!
Today I present you with six really cool first-person shooters, of which I”m sure you haven”t seen them all yet. In doing so, I try to cover as many preferences as possible, from titles that play like classic Doom to games with low-polygon 3D graphics like in the Quake series. Some brute melee combat and a dash of magic are also included:
- Elderborn
- Proteus
- Turbo Overkill
- Dread Templar
- Arthurian Legends
- Hands of Necromancy
The so-called boomer shooters are an excellent genre that is currently getting fresh life breathed into it, especially by the indie scene with some excellent new games. With all my love for battle royale, survival, tactical and military shooters, I am very thankful for this trend back to the past.
Meanwhile, if visible pixels, monster sprites, keycards and over-the-top gore and splatter effects don”t appeal to you, now”s the perfect time to click on another article, by the way, because there”s nothing here for you.
Table of Contents
Elderborn
Do you ever miss Dark Messiah of Might & Magic? Beating tons of monsters to a pulp in first-person perspective, kicking them over the pile, pomping away and ripping their heads off? Then check out (Elderborn)! Its gameplay is in the same vein, complete with parries, counters, unlockable character upgrades and awesome metal soundtrack. The start is a little tough, but when you slowly build up your arsenal and the combat system finally clicks and you reflexively knock out the insane parries and mega-finishers, the game is a lot of fun!
The animations are a bit stiff and ponderous in parts, it”s definitely not a AAA game, but for just under 13 euros that doesn”t bother me too much. If you have a Steam Deck or similar device, the game also plays very well with controller control. Elderborn continues to receive updates from the developers to this day and is rated 88 percent positive in 1,384 Steam reviews.
Prodeus
Unquestionably the best and least unknown game on this list. Prodeus is, without any exaggeration, the total over the top! I sat in front of the game from the first time I started it with a big fat grin on my face and just laughed with excitement, over and over again.
When the remains of your enemies drip in streams from your helmet visor. When the indescribably powerful metal soundtrack kicks the surround speakers through the wall. When the unimaginably satisfying gameplay, that perfect flow where the action is always at the forefront and never interrupted for long, is more fun with every minute and won”t let you go.
Yeah, I know a few of you are totally hitting the keys right now to tell me how crappy the pixelated monster sprites look in the comments section. I love that aesthetic and I don”t care that you don”t like it. If it helps, the sprites still work in a more modern way than in Doom, for example. For example, enemies have several different death animations and don”t always die in the same way. In addition, cadavers here don”t rotate dutifully with the camera like in the 90s, but were all drawn from different angles to avoid exactly this effect. Meanwhile, there is also an option to replace all 2D enemies with very fluidly animated 3D models, in case you are impure heretics.
The retro look mixed with modern lighting effects, that insane sound, the fun weapons where even the mundane handgun still totally kicks ass – (Prodeus) deserves its 96 percent positive ratings (out of nearly 3,000) and desperately needs a full-fledged review when it comes out of Early Access!
Turbo Overkill
Turbo Overkill is basically Doom Eternal with a cyberpunk setting and PlayStation graphics. Protagonist Johnny Turbo is half human, half machine, has rocket arms and a chainsaw in his shin. You run through the rainy, neon-lit streets of the city of Paradise, taking down augmented gangsters who have been corrupted by the all-powerful AI Syn.
Use double jumps, double dashes, sliding attacks with your built-in chainsaw, wall running and a climbing hook. The wild, acrobatic manoeuvres are not just a gimmick, but essential for survival, because death comes often and, above all, insanely fast. Fortunately, there is a generous checkpoint system.
The guns have cool upgrades like an automatic target acquisition that eliminates multiple enemies at once. The game isn”t particularly pretty, the enemies are all very clunky and angular, but the gameplay packs a punch – at least if you”re into the movement in games like Doom Eternal.
Turbo Overkill is fast, challenging and not for people who prefer to take it easy. It”s currently in (Early Access), has 95 percent positive reviews and costs a modest 15 euros. If in doubt, just suck up the demo!
Dread Templar
This game reminds me of a cross between Quake and Grim Dawn. Lots of pixels, lots of brown, the three-dimensional enemies are all very angular and extra chunky, you wear a cool witch hunter robe and mess with the creatures of hell. The gunplay is great, the level design isn”t too confusing and it plays great if you”re into shooters with 3D creatures and first-gen environments. Features like a dash manoeuvre and an upgrade system for your weapons and your Templar round out the experience.
The style is a little quirky, with your arsenal including things like a super shotgun and two katanas. Instead of a free memory system, there are (very generously distributed) memory points. 94 per cent of the 400 Steam ratings are exactly zero bothered by this, so you shouldn”t be either. The game will soon be released from (Early Access) and currently costs a modest 15 euros. For the price you won”t go wrong here.
Arthurian Legends
Doom with Swords. No, no shit, now! With dagger, axe, crossbow and bastard sword you fight with knights and archers, later also with hellhounds, skeletons and some demons. The human characters all look like some kind of digitalised amateur actors in costumes, which is why the look is somewhat reminiscent of titles like Stonekeep or the later parts of Lands of Lore. Arthurian Legends is delightfully daft and actually fun, as long as you don”t take it too seriously.
Defeated enemies have their heads cut off in downright ridiculous death animations, there”s a lot of pixelated guts flying around, there”s a holy hand grenade, of course. Instead of medipacks and space armour, you collect magical healing potions and chain mail, block attacks with the shield and knock enemies down at a distance with the throwing axe. I love it, 94 percent of the modest 300 Steam testers do too. (For a tenner) you could do worse to have fun. Just take a look at the demo!
Hands of Necromancy
Another Doom with a fantasy setting, but this time you are a necromancer. You fight against all kinds of gloomy mages in dark robes, flying demons, poisonous snakes, skeletons and similar fantasy creatures, using magic wands and elemental spells. Very reminiscent of a game by Raven Software from 1996, which I won”t mention by name here so as not to traumatise children and young people for life. Hands of Necromancy builds on GZDoom, the monsters are nicely pixelated and without any depth.
A cool feature of the game is that you can revive defeated enemies as allies and have them fight for you. Although there is plenty of action and large numbers of enemies in this game, the levels are very extensive from the start and peppered with secret doors, teleporters and areas under water. If you don”t like exploring, you”ll soon be overwhelmed. But Hands of Necromancy is very authentic. Old-school necromancers will get their money”s worth here for less than (11 Euro). There is also a free demo to try out. That was also part of the 90s.
