Another modern boom shoot. Made by one dev from Czech Republic that takes place in a brown, yet absurd and dangerous 1986 Czechoslovakia.
The great thing about indie games, especially solo devs, is how much insight you're given into the creator by simply playing their game. They aren't bounded by many restrictions, which makes the games feel more personal. Especially considering the setting here is a exaggeration of the creator's home country, albeit after a certain disaster that spawned monsters and imparted madness across the country that the silent protagonist must trek through. Hrot balances horror and comedy surprisingly well. It forces you into many cramped, dark tunnels where even your flashlight uncontrollably flickers as you nervously hold your weapon forward, then the next level will allow you to feed a dog so many treats that they puke. To explain every crazy enemy and encounter would ruin a lot of this game's charm, albeit the wildest of shit happens in the second and especially the third episode. If Episode 1 is not gripping you, you're free to skip to Episode 2 or 3 whenever; and I have seen people struggle to engage in the game early on.
As for the gameplay, it's Quake-like with high importance on explosives and shotguns, but doesn't retain the sequence breaking rocket jumps even with the high movement speed. Gunplay is nothing too remarkable, but most of your arsenal have several applications to use them in fun ways. Definitely a high emphasis on the shotguns though, ammo is extremely common for them, maybe even more than pistol ammo. The most unique thing you'll get in combat is deflecting grenades back at enemies with a kick, something that they don't teach you, but once you learn it then it becomes a engaging ammo saving method where you're redirecting the explosives into crowds of unfortunate foes. Apart from that, you're encountering the frankly absurd number of enemies while scouring for secrets and even the cute Easter egg here or there. Again, nothing that hasn't been done before, but the execution of the level design I have to give credit for. Despite the endless brown and dreariness of all 24 levels, I've never found myself completely lost on where I am and what I need to do. I have backtracked before, but a lot of times it's because I miss a frankly obvious sign that'd point me in the right direction, without ever being a literal sign.

Certainly a dev to keep your eye on, what Hrot lacks in exceptional combat it makes up in atmosphere, level layouts, variety, and some splendid humor. A game that, embarrassingly, got me to laugh at potty humor surely is doing something right... or maybe I have low standards.
After beating the final level of an episode, you get a recipe. As in, a real life recipe on something you could actually cook.

Reviewed on May 27, 2023


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