HROT is essentially if doom quake and dusk had a slavic baby. This game was a pleasant surprise as at first I was not that enthused by the presentation but after playing it I thoroughly enjoyed my time. The setting and ambience is one of its strongest points and is able to have the mood of the game go from action-fueled, to eerie and ominous deeds going on, to just downright scary and terrifying moments which felt a little Dusk influenced which is by no means a bad thing at all. Weapons great to use and meaty sounding, enemies are both unique and creepy at times and theres even a helicopter enemy to deal with at times which is probably one of my favorites to deal with. Game is rather short and can be beat in 5 hours or less if you are efficient enough which is fine but I would have liked a few more levels per episode but I digress I still had my fair share of fun. Also very important part there are dogs you can save and pet and at the end you reunite with the dogs which also makes this game very good. Not many harsh complaints outside of it being too short at times and the difficulty scale is bit extreme sometimes, for instance playing on hard for the first chapter felt like I was playing on Nightmare but Easy felt like way too easy and I wish I played it on Normal instead. Map design is pretty intricate and fun to explore but sometimes it was pretty easy to just get lost and confused on where to go which was frustrating at times. The biggest standout for me however was how interactive the world was with having light switches to turn on/off lights, putting in keys to key slots to unlock doors, environmental damage such as trees falling over, etc. Game is very solid especially if you are looking for a decently short and fun boomer shooter and for anyone playing for the 1st time I recommend Normal as Easy feels like too much of a cakewalk and Hard feels like this games Nightmare.

I'm going to summarize the reason why I decided to abandon this game. Imagine going through 10-15 minutes of a level, collecting everything, occasionaly getting lost just to arrive at what you assume is near the end of the level. You open a door and see a massive boulder sitting at the end of it, as you sprint trying to get out of its range you occasionally turn a corner just to finally be able to sigh a sigh of a relief. But just as you were celebrating your quick reaction the boulder turns the corner in a comedical fashion and it end up killing you, and you would have to restart the whole level again. Granted I wouldn't have hated that as much as I did if the game didn't want me to speedrun through the level again just to hopefully get something right the 2nd time

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly what caused the rise of retro-styled first-person shooters as of late. Many games have been wildly popular, well-received, and commercially successful since. While it could be traced back to Interceptor Entertainment's Rise of the Triad remake in 2013, I'd argue it truly kicked off with David Szymanski's excellent modern classic Dusk in 2018. Naturally, there's been a lot of these games since then as the genre has exploded into mainstream popularity. HROT is one of many, and it's in a bit of a confusing place. HROT genuinely feels like a passion project from developer Spytihněv. None of it feels trend-chasing or cynical, and yet, I can't help but feel HROT fails to make a significant mark in a genre filled with games of this style past and present.

HROT's gameplay is as standard as retro shooters go. You're given the standard assortment of weapons, from pistols, to shotguns, to grenade launchers, et cetera. The enemies are all fairly derivative, too. Kejdovecs are just ogres, and konfidents are just scrags. None of this is necessarily a bad thing. Genres are inherently derivative, and all of these retro revivals take influence from previous games in obvious ways, such as Dusk with Doom/Quake and Ion Fury with Build engine shooters. The problem for me is that HROT on a gameplay level just doesn't do enough to distinguish itself. Everything from the base game mechanics, to the enemy design, to the level design, is all perfectly functional and often fun. They all perform their jobs quite capably but aren't anything particularly unique or interesting. Standard enemies and mechanics isn't uncommon in this genre, and it's a genre that primarily lives and dies on its level design. I can't point to any level in particular that is necessarily worse than the others. However, I simply think that these levels are largely standard and I also, by consequence, struggle to remember them individually as well. There has to be at least three levels set in a train station that look and play essentially the same. Complaints about unoriginality aside, I did enjoy my time with HROT. The guns mostly feel pretty good to use. I hear a lot of complaints online that the weapons feel unimpactful, but in this case I think it works, as the broken-down look and sound of your weapons enforces the hopelessness of the 1980s Soviet atmosphere. Even on hard mode HROT feels largely fair, there weren't many moments where I felt the game was cheating me, though occasionally I felt ammo was overly sparse. I do wish the levels had more verticality - for the most part enemies are on the same playing field as you, and even Doom had enemies on different levels of elevation. It can sometimes make HROT feel a little static when enemy placement doesn't change heavily. I'm bitching and moaning, but no one should take HROT as merely mediocre. It is a fun time with occasionally creative moments (such as a mine cart ride) that unfortunately blends together into an entertaining albiet unmemorable mush.

HROT, like Quake before it, is a bleak and unsettling descent into a country slowly crumbling apart. Many of HROT's levels are pulled from real life Czechoslovakian locations which ground the game into a level of deep rooted and personal culture that, while I can't entirely empathize with being an American, can at the very least appreciate. In a generation where most games want to be colorful and cartoony, HROT's dedication to dust, grime, and diesel is admirable and helps it stand out from the crowd. There are many surrealist touches to the game that lend it an eerie feeling. For example, the player is never sure if the military forces they are fighting are human or distorted monsters, facsimile of people. The low-poly graphical style compliments this well, with its chunky character models and pixelated textures not only feeling highly authentic but also adding to said surrealism, and I love the ability to choose between software and OpenGL looks. There's even a good bit of humor, too, such as a boss fight consisting of enemies on bumper carts and a level where you fight off an army of newts. This gives HROT a lot of personality, a good sign that Spytihněv is having fun with his work. If there's any part that I disliked, it's that the game doesn't truly support framerates above 60 FPS, simply duplicating identical frames and giving the game a choppy feeling. Either truly support high framerates or cap your game at 60, because this middle ground is worse than both of those.

Unlike a lot of retro-style shooters which opt for heavy metal or classic MIDI for their scores, HROT's score from Sjellos consists largely of dark ambient undulations and menacing beats. It's not particularly memorable work, but it underscores the action decently enough. The soundtrack is, fittingly, as oppressive as the Soviet regime, pulsing and pounding whereever necessary while reeling back for more atmospheric moments. The lack of memorable melodies hurts it, I can't recall a single song from the game or album off of the top fo my head, but it's effective enough for what HROT needs.

Among the retro shooter craze, HROT feels like a bit of an oddity. While it doesn't do anything particularly new and interesting on a game design level, it's dreary atmosphere, roots in Czechoslovakian history, sense of humor, and retro sensibilities will easily find it a niche with the right audience. The problem is mostly that HROT, despite all of this, just isn't as inspired and creative as many of its contemporaries. It's a competent and enjoyable ride, but one I won't be leaping to replay or recommend anytime soon. If you're itching for a new retro shooter, HROT may be up your alley, but there's certainly better out there.

Definitely the weirdest of the Boomer Shooters I've played. The gameplay doesn't reinvent the wheel, it's pretty standard BoomShoot fare, but it's fun and that's what matters. The real draw of this game is the atmosphere and presentation. It feels like some new madness is waiting for you just around every corner, and it just gets stranger as you go, until you get to the ending which...you'll see. Just be warned, there are jumpscares in this game. One of which I thought was really cool and clever, and one that was really cheap and dumb. Oh, it's also brown. Very very brown.

I knew going into HROT that it's a competent FPS styled after the original Quake with the aesthetic of drabness maxed out for scenery composed of 50 shades of brown. What I didn't expect was how there's a pervasive oddball sense of humor threaded throughout the dingy dystopia that endeared the project to me beyond simply providing some top-notch shooting action.

I'm pleased to report that enemy HP values and attack patterns provide plenty of variables to consider in the middle of a firefight, and that the levels "flowed nicely" at least by my standards.

A worthy addition to any FPS aficionado's collection.

This game is like if s.t.a.l.k.e.r and quake had a baby but they doubled up on weirdness, so many wacky, off the walls moments lol i suggest just playing cause of that

but honestly im a sucker for the boomer shooter genre
not to much to say other than run around, circle strafe and collect keys.

it doesnt invent the wheel, buuut its very good at what it does, the atmosphere is so forboding and creepy and one level scared the shit out of me, even! you always feel uneasy.
cool enemy design as well

if you love this genre its a most have so check it out whenever you can

It's very rare that I find myself re-playing a game.

Even rarer that I replay it soon after I finished it.

Even More So that I replay it so many times I decide to tackle the highest difficult available and do challenge runs, I finished this game on Very Hard pistol starting every level and getting all kills and secrets.

This is a genuinely excellent boomer shooter that does, basically everything right.

The levels are incredibly fun to explore and, despite the game's overly brown color pallet, are incredibly distinct from each other and an absolute joy to play.

The enemies are challenging and fun to take down, the weapons feel amazing to use, the environments and music are really eerie and atmospheric, I genuinely adore this game, one of my all time favourites!

One thing to note though: the gameplay and movement feel, despite the game's obvious Quake influence, is a lot more akin to Duke Nukem 3D than it is Quake, so, be wary of that!