[i]The Citadel[/i] is an odd venture into old school, retro shooter tropes with a very light touch of gun simulation. In the five hours it took me to complete the seven-act story, I had a suitably whelming-but-fun time despite the lack of diverse enemy types and rather monotone level design.
Where [i]The Citadel[/i] shines the most is in the actual gunplay. Each weapon does about what you'd expect, harking back to classic staples of the genre (including a hitscan lighting gun style attachment.) Weapons degrade with use, leading to optional jamming that has to be fixed mid-combat, but also leading to less accuracy. Though, admittedly, playing on the normal difficulty, I spent most of my time leaning around corners and hitting headshots from a distance to weaken the number of enemies I see (of which, there are often many, especially in later levels.) This [i]does[/i] take away from the run-and-gun feel that you can absolutely play into. With immediate access to a double jump and a lot of platforms to jump between, the game does lend to a more Quake-esque method of play, if that's your particular jam.
The audio is a mixed bag of disturbing and serene, where the death cries of the enemies are a classic sort of brutal, but the music can often be juxtaposed with calm piano keys. There's a satisfying retro quality to the soundscape. There aren't many sounds, but the ones used work very well until you find audio bugs where enemies' footsteps and engines sound much closer than they are or weapon sounds cut out for a moment.
Visually, it has indie charm. The art reminds me of a certain era of Flash games from the early 2000's. It's an anime aesthetic that isn't entirely polished, but there's something satisfying about seeing passionate, if not amateur, art being used in a project that's clearly made for the joy of it. There's a certain appeal to it and is sort of reminiscent of Bungie's [i]Oni[/i]. That being said, the developer did make a statement about not being a "guro" artist, which, as far as I know, is stemming from a suggestion that the game sort of fetishizes violence. Frankly, I can see one way or the other: the game itself isn't particularly sexual in nature, but does primarily feature women as its main cast of characters and enemies. Is that enough to say it's designed with malevolence? It's hard to say without real knowledge of the developer, but if the trailer was off-putting for you, it doesn't get any better or worse.
There are some cool sections where you can pilot a mechsuit and get a nice power trip as you fly around and utilize stronger weapons and there are some homages to classic shooters like Doom and Wolfenstein hidden throughout the game, including entire secret levels mapped to resemble the genre's forefathers.
All-in-all, in an age where the AAA gaming space is getting tougher to love, I can recommend [i]The Citadel[/i] as a fun, if flawed, indie shooter to spend a few hours in. If shooters have an ocean depth of mechanics, features, and stories, this falls on the shallow end but is worth a shot for the price for sure.
