Like Quake, But Stupid™
inbetwixt my horrid episodes of sonic hyperfixation and procrastinatory youtube binges, i've been craving some dos shooters. that good 320x200 pack. cue me watching a civvie video and seeing this glorious ukrainian quake imitation that uses a heap of 3d models in a 2.5d engine... for some reason. it looks like and effectively is a 3d shooter, minus its z-axis. that's so weird and it warms my stupid autistic little heart. so in an attempt to further put off my homework, i downloaded david syzmanski's "chasm portable" (screw the source port) and jumped right in.
chasm is strikingly standard - which is exactly what i like about it. your weapons include the shotgun - super shotgun - chain gun - projectile weapon - rocket launcher - bfg combo that doom ii popularized. everything feels. looks, and sounds nice and responsive (if unexceptional). as expected, you use em to mow down jobbers and hunks in a hunt for keys. you could call this game "generic", though it feels like a passion project by a bunch of fps fans rather than a cynical cash-in.
the personality of these avid fans shines most in the silly level design and dismemberment. chasm's 5ish hours will be spent turning a corner and walking directly into some kind of ambush. get out of the way, fight off the troublemaker(s), rinse wash repeat. it reminds me a bit of the meatheadedness of serious sam: tfe or the meanest moments of quake. so hold s a lot and be prepared for a monster closet if you see an item. one of the most common foes in episode 2 deals 40 damage in one hit and takes 4-5 shotgun blasts to kill! the dismemberment helps out with heavier enemies like that. it's a lot easier to focus on landing your shots when you're not dodging attacks, so blast off a limb or two off to limit your enemy's movesets. oh, and the way enemies change up their strategies to account for missing body parts is so sick. the game also keeps it fresh with new baddies and settings every few levels, like a colorful taste test of different classic shooters. derivative though it may be, it's never stale. my favorite enemies are the jesters in the middle ages, who dismember real easily and have super silly death animations. awesome.
and that's... kinda it! pretty much every other detail i could mention is standard for a good 90s fps. i tend to favor games that are unique, over-the-top, or even shitty to games that are "just good", but i can't complain about chasm. even if nothing strikes me as outstanding, sometimes i just wanna shoot bad guys with a nice shotgun in some diverse n cozy levels. chasm: the rift does the trick more than f.e.a.r. or any modern fps imitating these old titles ever could. i might prefer this to dusk. it's that AUTHENTIC shit: flat levels at a low resolution with unstable performance and janky mouselook. the gamefeel is more than i'd expect from an early quake clone too. man, i need to finish quake. it'll definitely end up in my 5 stars. for now, this clone's pretty cool.
inbetwixt my horrid episodes of sonic hyperfixation and procrastinatory youtube binges, i've been craving some dos shooters. that good 320x200 pack. cue me watching a civvie video and seeing this glorious ukrainian quake imitation that uses a heap of 3d models in a 2.5d engine... for some reason. it looks like and effectively is a 3d shooter, minus its z-axis. that's so weird and it warms my stupid autistic little heart. so in an attempt to further put off my homework, i downloaded david syzmanski's "chasm portable" (screw the source port) and jumped right in.
chasm is strikingly standard - which is exactly what i like about it. your weapons include the shotgun - super shotgun - chain gun - projectile weapon - rocket launcher - bfg combo that doom ii popularized. everything feels. looks, and sounds nice and responsive (if unexceptional). as expected, you use em to mow down jobbers and hunks in a hunt for keys. you could call this game "generic", though it feels like a passion project by a bunch of fps fans rather than a cynical cash-in.
the personality of these avid fans shines most in the silly level design and dismemberment. chasm's 5ish hours will be spent turning a corner and walking directly into some kind of ambush. get out of the way, fight off the troublemaker(s), rinse wash repeat. it reminds me a bit of the meatheadedness of serious sam: tfe or the meanest moments of quake. so hold s a lot and be prepared for a monster closet if you see an item. one of the most common foes in episode 2 deals 40 damage in one hit and takes 4-5 shotgun blasts to kill! the dismemberment helps out with heavier enemies like that. it's a lot easier to focus on landing your shots when you're not dodging attacks, so blast off a limb or two off to limit your enemy's movesets. oh, and the way enemies change up their strategies to account for missing body parts is so sick. the game also keeps it fresh with new baddies and settings every few levels, like a colorful taste test of different classic shooters. derivative though it may be, it's never stale. my favorite enemies are the jesters in the middle ages, who dismember real easily and have super silly death animations. awesome.
and that's... kinda it! pretty much every other detail i could mention is standard for a good 90s fps. i tend to favor games that are unique, over-the-top, or even shitty to games that are "just good", but i can't complain about chasm. even if nothing strikes me as outstanding, sometimes i just wanna shoot bad guys with a nice shotgun in some diverse n cozy levels. chasm: the rift does the trick more than f.e.a.r. or any modern fps imitating these old titles ever could. i might prefer this to dusk. it's that AUTHENTIC shit: flat levels at a low resolution with unstable performance and janky mouselook. the gamefeel is more than i'd expect from an early quake clone too. man, i need to finish quake. it'll definitely end up in my 5 stars. for now, this clone's pretty cool.