2023 was such a dull year for first person shooters as most of them were really bad rehashes or completely broken sequels. It is a shock to me that the most enjoyable first person shooter that I played from the last year was a 5 dollar game made by one person that takes about the same length to beat as The Ultimate Doom.

Zortch is a marvel. It runs on its own engine smoothly (most of the time), It has some of the most quirky and interesting movement tech I've seen in a single player shooter in a while, all while obviously paying homage to it's aesthetics and game design inspirations (less Doom and more Turok and DUSK). There were some technical errors on my playthrough, but never enough that it flat-out broke the game. I hope Mutantleg makes more absolute gems, their games are definitely going on my playlist if more ever come out.

It doesn't have the punchiest animations or the sleekest sound design, but for a solo dev project using a custom engine, it's got a super solid foundation. The weapon arsenal is fairly unique and fun to play with, and the movement possibilities opened up by the kick make levels really fun to move around in and explore. The game already has a budding speedrun community and I think it has the potential for a lot of growth.

My main complaint is that some of the levels near the end drag a bit, and the overall pacing leaves a lot to be desired. The final boss isn't much different from the other bosses you fight, and then it just kinda ends.