CTHON

To be honest I have no idea why people are complaining so much about the mechanics of the game. No you aren't suposed to pick up every upgrade, you basically make a build depending on the class you pick, these are BASIC RPG mechanics. Though the game is not perfect and it can get boring at times because of the slow movement speed but it is still fun. Btw if you say that this is a Wolf 3D clone, you have not played the game, the only thing remotely similar are the 90º walls and that is not something exclusive of that game.

Too dark and no gamma settings. Can't see anything so can't really play. BUT The atmosphere is dark and foreboding; the OST complements it will too. The art is gorgeous and the sprites are lovingly made. Despite the nice presentation though, if the game is so dark that I can't appreciate anything, it's rendered a bit moot.

This is probably not a terrible game but I expected a true old school fps looking at the screenshots, tbf the description and the gameplay video tells you it's not. It's another of those annoying rogue likes with procedural generation of levels, which means the levels don't have any soul and just feel generic because that's literally what they are, and perma death. Of course the game lacks quicksaves. At least the game isn't unfair unlike most rogue likes, at least on the lowest of the three difficulties. You don't actually collect any weapon, instead you choose a character before you start, and then get 3 weapons, depending on the character you pick, kinda boring tbh. At least the gunplay feels decent, but three weapons per character is really not a lot. I should also mention that the controls suck really hard: There is no button for shooting, instead you shoot with a weapon with the same button which you use to equip that weapon. Like WTF. This is such bullsh*t. In good shooters (or rather it's simply the standard) you equip a weapon with the number buttons. You could also do that here but then you also shoot with the number buttons, or you put your weapons on your mouse buttons but that also feels weird. So, yeah, overall not an enjoyable game for a (old school) shooter fan.

Too short and simple for its price, only viable build is marksman. Procedural generation of levels is ok. Now tested on normal, it's still just up to items and not skill. If you want simple FPS, try wolfenstein or blake stone. This game has progression through inventory and limited slots for active items, but it's not much because you have just 3 weapons. Enemy variety is smaller than ye ole doom's. Got this with -90% discount. All in all, nice first try at gamedev, but not much for this pricetag.

im honest i guessed it already while watching the videos but the monsters looked so damn cool actually the whole graphics but yeah its so damn repetitive already after 30 minutes no way i play this a minute longer but i bet with a few not to complex changes this could become something real good

CTHON is an action roguelike with nine levels and only X,Y map coordinates (no Z axis, no jumping, and no rooms over rooms). Every level is a series of rooms connected by corridors. At first glance it shares many similarities with WOLF3D, Corridor 7, Blake Stone, etc. Unlike those titles, CTHON offers remarkable depth and replayability. With the exception of the finale, all levels are the result of procedural generation and random with every new playthrough. Same goes for power ups, enemies, items, and decorative objects. Factor in three player classes as well as player power-ups inspired by System Shock 2, and there is a surprising amount of content here with new challenges for different playstyles and strategies. In true, "rogue-like" fashion, the game features permadeath and lacks saves. This is usually a deal breaker for me but given the brevity of CTHON and the fact that most games take 60-90 minutes to complete, it is excusable here. The unique soundtrack adds just the right amount of suspense and lends to the sense of isolation while exploring an abandoned colony. Fans of Doom 64, Corridor 7, Diablo, Quake, Dead Space, and Alien Breed will find familiar themes of dread, isolation, and cosmic terror here. Highly recommended for first person shooter fans, rogue-like enthusiasts, and people that loved the original Alien film.

Don't let yourself be fooled by the seemingly spartan design that evokes cheap Wolfenstein-knockoff sentiments... CTHON is a lot more than you'd expect, especially seeing the comparably low price point. It's short, yes, but replayability is guaranteed with procedurally generated levels and an upgrade system that lets you customize your build. Upgrade and inventory management can be a bit on the frustrating side - you never have enough space or energy - but that feeds well into the horror aspect of the game. And my oh my, it's creepy. Not only does the overall design provide an increasingly uneasy feeling turning every corner, the sound design, especially the ambient sounds, is just amazing for a game of this caliber. It's good, creepy fun for an hour or two, every once in a while, and well worth a fiver.

An absolute must play if you like boomershooters and or horror. I will say that people complaining about being able to progress via pickups is sort of true, it also depends on which class you play and the playstyle you adopt. You can very easily mitigate spent resources if you're a careful player. The combat is barebones by the standards of 2023. However examining this game like it is a game from 2008 would be unfair because this game emulates things more like Wolfenstein and Pathways Into Darkness. Even vaguely reminiscent of System Shock so if those titles are resonating positive bells for you, you'd enjoy this game as well. The music while very short and often looped (probably would help if I didn't full clear every floor) is quite good. The sound effects are about what you'd expect them to be. With most notably the doors in the third floor being one of the worst sounds I have ever heard in a game. Not because it's bad or there is some distortion with the audio. It just makes my skin crawl every time. I love it for that reason and I also hate for that reason. Good job on that design. I will say more games need the "show your upgrades on your gun" feature. It is a direct reminder of progression in the game when the boomstick gets boom-ier and stick-ier. The game is relatively short; where you can complete the game within 2 hours. I do not plan on playing the game again myself after my 4+ hours but I am sure I will come back to it in the future.

A minimalist first-person adventure that can be completed in under an hour. Get in, get out. Kill anything not you and upgrade your kit along the way. Creates a sense of dread through ambient music and a short draw distance. The real selling point here is the impressive way your HUD and equipment change appearance based on upgrades; this ain't your father's Wolf-3D. My only beef would be with the absolute obscurity of secret rooms; I dare you to find one. Also would have appreciated some achievements to extend the replay value. Overall well worth the small price tag to support an obvious labor of love by a single developer. Just don't expect it to reinvent the wheel.

English and German below. (mild spoilers too) [h1]ENG:[/h1] The negative reviews for CTHON often come from users who have played this game for less than an hour, sometimes only minutes. I understand that the graphics can be off-putting if you haven't experienced the early first-person shooters back in the day, or that the gameplay mechanics can seem a bit unbalanced at times. However, with over 20 hours of gameplay, I think I'm in a position to make the final judgment: This game is great. Especially the aspect of procedurally generated maps makes CTHON a gem of high replayability and compensates for the short playtime of one to two hours. Nevertheless, the random levels always lead through a research station, then an alien temple and finally a gloomy underworld before we enter the hall of the final boss, Cthon. The presentation with its 90 degree angles and fixed ceiling height is reminiscent of the legendary Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold. The accompanying, highly eerie soundtrack is fantastic, by the way. While at the beginning only spiders, dull melee fighters and weak ranged enemies follow us through the corridors, soon giant snakes, hovering titans and floating steel beasts also bombard us with their multiple projectiles. To defeat them, we have the rifle, the grenade launcher and the rather redundant melee weapon at our disposal. Like the health kits, ammo supplies and grenades, the enemies are always randomly distributed. The collectible objects also include the important and varied gadgets. These can be used to increase our weapon strength and fire rate, our ammunition and health capacity, or our running speed, for example. To be able to collect them, we need corresponding slots, and to put them into operation, corresponding energy cells, which must also be found. Alternatively, needed objects can be bought with collected nanites at vending machines, provided that they were randomly placed in the current level. In this way, our main character increasingly builds up individually. The principle of chance often makes the game a matter of luck, but also provides its special thrill. Thus, it can happen that you find mainly useless gadgets, or laboriously have to search for health, ammunition, gadget slots and energy cells. The tension in this regard arises especially from the rogue-like gameplay without saving options, where death is permanent and results in a complete restart. CTHON is very atmospheric, but quite hard to beat even on medium difficulty. However, this always makes for a suspenseful challenge. [h1]GER:[/h1] Die negativen Bewertungen für CTHON stammen häufig von Rezensenten, die dieses Game weniger als eine Stunde, zuweilen auch nur Minuten gezockt haben. Ich verstehe, dass die Grafik abschrecken kann, sofern man die ersten 3D-Egoshooter dereinst nicht erlebt hat, oder dass die Spielmechaniken etwas balancelos anmuten können. Mit über 20 Stunden Spielzeit jedoch glaube ich mich in der Position zu wissen, das abschließende Urteil zu fällen: Dieses Spiel ist großartig. Insbesondere der Aspekt prozedural generierter Maps macht CTHON zu einer Perle hohen Wiederspielwerts und wiegt die kurze Spielzeit von ein bis zwei Stunden auf. Dennoch führen die Zufallslevel im ersten Drittel stets durch eine Forschungsstation, im zweiten durch einen außerirdischen Tempel, im dritten durch eine düstere Unterwelt, bevor wir die Halle des Endgegners betreten: Cthon. Die Präsentation mit seinen 90-Grad-Winkeln und seiner unveränderlichen Deckenhöhe erinnert an das legendäre Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold. Die begleitende, höchst unheimliche Soundkulisse ist übrigens fantastisch. Während uns zu Beginn nur Spinnen, dumpfe Nahkämpfer und schwache Fernwaffengegner durch die Korridore verfolgen, beschießen uns bald auch Riesenschlangen, fliegende Titanen und schwebende Stahlbestien mit ihren multiplen Projektilen. Um sie zu besiegen, steht uns das Gewehr, der Granatwerfer und die eher überflüssige Nahkampfwaffe zur Verfügung. Wie auch die Gesundheitskits, Munitionsvorräte und Granaten sind die Feinde stets zufällig verteilt. Zu den einsammelbaren Objekten gehören überdies die wichtigen und vielfältigen Gadgets. Mit diesen lässt sich etwa unsere Waffenstärke und Feuerrate, unsere Munitions- und Gesundheitskapazität oder die Laufgeschwindigkeit erhöhen. Um sie einsammeln zu können, benötigen wir entsprechende Slots, und um sie in Betrieb zu nehmen, entsprechende Energiezellen, die ebenfalls gefunden werden müssen. Alternativ lassen sich benötigte Objekte mit gesammelten Naniten an Automaten kaufen, sofern diese zufällig im gegenwärtigen Level platziert worden sind. Dergestalt baut sich die Spielfigur nach und nach individuell auf. Das Gebot des Zufalls macht das Spiel oft zu einer Glückssache, verleiht ihm jedoch auch seinen besonderen Thrill. So kann es passieren, dass man vornehmlich unnütze Gadgets findet oder mühselig auf der Suche nach Gesundheit, Munition, Gadget-Slots und Energiezellen ist. Die Spannung ergibt sich in dieser Hinsicht insbesondere aus dem rogue-like-Spielprinzip ohne Speichermöglichkeit, in dem der Tod permanent ist und in einem gänzlichen Neubeginn mündet. CTHON ist sehr atmosphärisch, jedoch schon auf mittlerer Schwierigkeit ziemlich schwer zu gewinnen. Dies sorgt aber stets für eine spannende Herausforderung.