I'm usually generous when I review games. Xenosaga Episode 1 I consider good in spite of its incredibly slow pace, I thought Bioshock Infinite was just alright, despite the awful plot and its lean towards Halo styled gameplay. Amid Evil intrigues me with its lack of anything in the boomer shooter genre. It's a looker, but it's not wowing me with its gameplay. When stacked up against Ultrakill and Dusk, it's that awkward middle child, which is funny coming from a middle child.
A prominent issue with the game is its 7 episode story. Most boomer shooters tend to only go for 3 or 4 episodes, as having too many would wear out the player. Boltgun, a title I found to be a 7/10, only had 3 chapters and I considered it an inoffensive title in spite of its lacking AI, automap, and samey environments. Amid Evil drags itself on.
Level design is bland, as most consist of finding a silver key, having to backtrack to usually find a gold key. Occasionally it's shaken up by needing both keys, but overall can be described as repetitious. Enemy types are also nothing special, as most are melee enemies who rush at you. Occasionally there's a special enemy per episode, but rushing enemy types tend to be the most common one found in every episode.
Weapons are also nothing to write home about. Some are cool, like your starting axe. The rest either lack punch or are only serviceable in a minority of situations. The Celestial Chain is a radical planet spewing rocket launcher, but even for a rocket launcher it lacks that oomph, as it does have splash damage, but I haven't noticed it go off as much. So if weapons lack, how about the movement and mechanics?
Movement is barebones. You can rocket jump, but it's annoyingly hard to pull off compared to other shooters that have it. Mechanically, the game is too easy with the souls you gain from your enemies allowing you to enter Soul Mode, which obliterates most situations when needed. I usually pocketed this thing, saving it for bosses or the moments when I needed something in the midst of danger.
One more thing to note is that it's visually all over the place. It looks pretty, but its color palette tends to make enemies blend in with it. Some levels are all a certain color scheme, like Episode 5's first level being this green swamp area a la Daikatana. The prettiest looking level to me was the final worlds, I enjoy the warping vortex style they went for.
Overall, Amid Evil is average at best. A tech demo disguised as a boomer shooter to sell RTX cards. It's not something I despise, but it's not a solid shooter either. At the time of writing this review, it's only $10 which is about what I'd pay for this one. Heck, maybe buy that bundle it's in with Dusk, or Dusk and Ultrakill if you can afford it. This is my first time writing reviews longer than a few sentences, as brevity is what my ADHD brain is good at, but I'd appreciate feedback as I do enjoy reviewing games.
A prominent issue with the game is its 7 episode story. Most boomer shooters tend to only go for 3 or 4 episodes, as having too many would wear out the player. Boltgun, a title I found to be a 7/10, only had 3 chapters and I considered it an inoffensive title in spite of its lacking AI, automap, and samey environments. Amid Evil drags itself on.
Level design is bland, as most consist of finding a silver key, having to backtrack to usually find a gold key. Occasionally it's shaken up by needing both keys, but overall can be described as repetitious. Enemy types are also nothing special, as most are melee enemies who rush at you. Occasionally there's a special enemy per episode, but rushing enemy types tend to be the most common one found in every episode.
Weapons are also nothing to write home about. Some are cool, like your starting axe. The rest either lack punch or are only serviceable in a minority of situations. The Celestial Chain is a radical planet spewing rocket launcher, but even for a rocket launcher it lacks that oomph, as it does have splash damage, but I haven't noticed it go off as much. So if weapons lack, how about the movement and mechanics?
Movement is barebones. You can rocket jump, but it's annoyingly hard to pull off compared to other shooters that have it. Mechanically, the game is too easy with the souls you gain from your enemies allowing you to enter Soul Mode, which obliterates most situations when needed. I usually pocketed this thing, saving it for bosses or the moments when I needed something in the midst of danger.
One more thing to note is that it's visually all over the place. It looks pretty, but its color palette tends to make enemies blend in with it. Some levels are all a certain color scheme, like Episode 5's first level being this green swamp area a la Daikatana. The prettiest looking level to me was the final worlds, I enjoy the warping vortex style they went for.
Overall, Amid Evil is average at best. A tech demo disguised as a boomer shooter to sell RTX cards. It's not something I despise, but it's not a solid shooter either. At the time of writing this review, it's only $10 which is about what I'd pay for this one. Heck, maybe buy that bundle it's in with Dusk, or Dusk and Ultrakill if you can afford it. This is my first time writing reviews longer than a few sentences, as brevity is what my ADHD brain is good at, but I'd appreciate feedback as I do enjoy reviewing games.