This review contains spoilers
Amid Evil is a FPS “Boomer Slasher” game developed Indefatigable and published by boomer shooter gods New Blood Interactive for PC and apparently the Switch. I can’t really say too much on the origins of this game, other than the Wikipeeds said that the two devs were childhood friends and they were involved in the development of the Rise of the Triad remake in 2013, a game that I played for a bit before I stopped due to personal issues. However, this mod apparently started as a DOOM mod before evolving into what it is today, and takes A LOT of inspiration from the likes of Hexen and Heretic, old FPS games with more magical and fantasy based demon murder. How I found this game was simple, I saw DUSK and when the same guys said we’re publishing this game I got it on a whim during early access cause I’m weak for boomer shooters.
The plot is short and simple: you play as a champion summoned to purge the “Evil Force” from sacred lands; and that’s basically what you do. There’s no real plot other than going into strange arcane places and murdering demonic creatures, though at the end you ascend to the “Haven of the Ancients”, a special realm for worthy champions that has a pool of prophecy which shows everything on fire which is nice. It’s more of a sequel thing and that’s fine, not everything needs to have this big expounding of lore and history (though like other old FPS games you can find hints written on the walls if you want to follow along with it). There’s not much to go on unless you go to the Wiki but for the most part like a lot of old school first person shooters it’s minimalistic.
The Sound/Art Design is pretty fantastic; I’ll start with the art design and graphics because this game hits one of my weak spots: retro graphics. It’s not like say DOOM engine or BuildEngine, it’s Unreal Engine 4.27 apparently so it’s like high definition retro graphics? Or maybe it’s not, I’m not sure because from when I played it, it had some pixelation but not enough to be looking like the older games or even like DUSK, which looks more like Quake than anything else; one steam review I read had it say “The grass in Amid Evil is somehow both 2D and the thickest, lushest grass I’ve seen in a long time” which is pretty accurate considering the style that it’s going for, some unique combination of old and new looking that I can’t complain about and I’m sure looks even better with all the high res settings and such. The environmental designs surrounding the graphics look amazing, each place is unique on its own with places ranging from mountain caves with lakes to floating libraries in space to desert looking gladiatorial to my favorite: The Void being the final episode. TV Tropes described it as a combo of MC Esher and Salvador Dali on drugs, I don’t know art but what I can say is the first thing that popped in my mind, even if impossible, is Non-Euclidean Geometry, which is basically space and shapes unable to be seen by the human eye. Now that’s not realistic to gameplay but it’s such a strange labyrinthian structure that I can’t help but marvel at its aesthetic design. The soundtrack is decent too, varying from what sounds like gregorian chants with aggressive strings to synthwave sounding stuff composed by Andrew Hushult. Overall, everything on this end is pretty solid and can’t complain either.
The gameplay is the standard FPS old school affair, you go from place to place unlocking certain doors with keys while using the standard weapon types (the rocket launcher replacement is cool as hell as it’s a planet launcher, which is hilarious cause there’s a little detail where you can actually shoot Earth and blow it up, though it doesn’t do anything in game obviously) to fight a variation of enemies on the map (whose AI are actually pretty good and don’t just sit in place and will actively follow and try to kill you, forcing you to think tactically) and also finding secrets (like secret dev rooms, messages, an in-joke within New Blood about Big John and Dopefish, etc.). If there was one thing that I could say really pops out is that there’s a decent bit of detail, like using the Axe and the special soul power (unlocked by killing multiple enemies and stealing their souls) underwater will shoot you off like a propeller even if it’s moreso just a quicker way of gibbing enemies. Again you have sprinkles of lore around scattered on walls for those that are interested, there’s a decent bit. Also connecting all of these levels is a hub called “The Gateway of the Ancients) which is a bit on the bigger side and leads to all seven episodes; one thing I will say can be a bit on the frustrating side (which I’m used to) is that for the most part the levels are big, and you can find your way through them but the size can also lead to confusion on where you’re supposed to go sometimes. Overall, not much I can say about this other than if you like old school first person shooters you’ll get more of the same from here, but it also feels pretty damn good.
This review is a shorty for a couple of reasons, one I played it last year so it’s been a while and two, there’s not a lot I feel I can say about retro fps games other than, “I like them a lot”, when done right. This game is done really well and I can’t really say much else other than if you’re looking for a 7 ½ to 8 hour FPS retro game that you should get it, 20 dollars isn’t a bad price for it either. I decided I’d write up a little review recommending this as August 18th marks the release of its DLC, the Black Labyrinth and I’m definitely looking forward to it!! Ya know, when I can afford to pay it after I take care of rent and such. Of course other things they’ve released in the meantime is a VR port, and a free DLC called Ancient Alphas which is just a couple of old alpha maps you can try if you like.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm-lJK4yqRE&ab_channel=AndrewHulshult (Soundtrack)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AmidEvil
https://amidevil.fandom.com/wiki/AMID_EVIL_Wiki
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/
The plot is short and simple: you play as a champion summoned to purge the “Evil Force” from sacred lands; and that’s basically what you do. There’s no real plot other than going into strange arcane places and murdering demonic creatures, though at the end you ascend to the “Haven of the Ancients”, a special realm for worthy champions that has a pool of prophecy which shows everything on fire which is nice. It’s more of a sequel thing and that’s fine, not everything needs to have this big expounding of lore and history (though like other old FPS games you can find hints written on the walls if you want to follow along with it). There’s not much to go on unless you go to the Wiki but for the most part like a lot of old school first person shooters it’s minimalistic.
The Sound/Art Design is pretty fantastic; I’ll start with the art design and graphics because this game hits one of my weak spots: retro graphics. It’s not like say DOOM engine or BuildEngine, it’s Unreal Engine 4.27 apparently so it’s like high definition retro graphics? Or maybe it’s not, I’m not sure because from when I played it, it had some pixelation but not enough to be looking like the older games or even like DUSK, which looks more like Quake than anything else; one steam review I read had it say “The grass in Amid Evil is somehow both 2D and the thickest, lushest grass I’ve seen in a long time” which is pretty accurate considering the style that it’s going for, some unique combination of old and new looking that I can’t complain about and I’m sure looks even better with all the high res settings and such. The environmental designs surrounding the graphics look amazing, each place is unique on its own with places ranging from mountain caves with lakes to floating libraries in space to desert looking gladiatorial to my favorite: The Void being the final episode. TV Tropes described it as a combo of MC Esher and Salvador Dali on drugs, I don’t know art but what I can say is the first thing that popped in my mind, even if impossible, is Non-Euclidean Geometry, which is basically space and shapes unable to be seen by the human eye. Now that’s not realistic to gameplay but it’s such a strange labyrinthian structure that I can’t help but marvel at its aesthetic design. The soundtrack is decent too, varying from what sounds like gregorian chants with aggressive strings to synthwave sounding stuff composed by Andrew Hushult. Overall, everything on this end is pretty solid and can’t complain either.
The gameplay is the standard FPS old school affair, you go from place to place unlocking certain doors with keys while using the standard weapon types (the rocket launcher replacement is cool as hell as it’s a planet launcher, which is hilarious cause there’s a little detail where you can actually shoot Earth and blow it up, though it doesn’t do anything in game obviously) to fight a variation of enemies on the map (whose AI are actually pretty good and don’t just sit in place and will actively follow and try to kill you, forcing you to think tactically) and also finding secrets (like secret dev rooms, messages, an in-joke within New Blood about Big John and Dopefish, etc.). If there was one thing that I could say really pops out is that there’s a decent bit of detail, like using the Axe and the special soul power (unlocked by killing multiple enemies and stealing their souls) underwater will shoot you off like a propeller even if it’s moreso just a quicker way of gibbing enemies. Again you have sprinkles of lore around scattered on walls for those that are interested, there’s a decent bit. Also connecting all of these levels is a hub called “The Gateway of the Ancients) which is a bit on the bigger side and leads to all seven episodes; one thing I will say can be a bit on the frustrating side (which I’m used to) is that for the most part the levels are big, and you can find your way through them but the size can also lead to confusion on where you’re supposed to go sometimes. Overall, not much I can say about this other than if you like old school first person shooters you’ll get more of the same from here, but it also feels pretty damn good.
This review is a shorty for a couple of reasons, one I played it last year so it’s been a while and two, there’s not a lot I feel I can say about retro fps games other than, “I like them a lot”, when done right. This game is done really well and I can’t really say much else other than if you’re looking for a 7 ½ to 8 hour FPS retro game that you should get it, 20 dollars isn’t a bad price for it either. I decided I’d write up a little review recommending this as August 18th marks the release of its DLC, the Black Labyrinth and I’m definitely looking forward to it!! Ya know, when I can afford to pay it after I take care of rent and such. Of course other things they’ve released in the meantime is a VR port, and a free DLC called Ancient Alphas which is just a couple of old alpha maps you can try if you like.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm-lJK4yqRE&ab_channel=AndrewHulshult (Soundtrack)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/AmidEvil
https://amidevil.fandom.com/wiki/AMID_EVIL_Wiki
From Steam Reviews: https://steamcommunity.com/id/gamemast15r/recommended/