A simplistic, yet gracious, limited horde shooter that accommodates for solo play, but was undoubtedly built for cooperative multiplayer circumstances.
Positive:
- Weapon variety is adequate but not extensive, ranging from melee weapons, like blades and bludgeons, to projectile weapons, such as pistols, shotguns, and rifles. Each weapon type can be upgraded a few times during each session, and special weapons, like a bow or a flamethrower may be acquired by scouring the maps.
- Gunplay physics, possessing and conveying the force and weight of firepower, are impactful, and their accompanying sound design, especially in terms of the ballistic booms and peals, is noteworthy. Shooting most of the weapons is mechanically satisfying amid the incessant swarming action, and dispatching the rampaging hellspawn is straightforwardly fun for shorter periods.
Neutral:
- Although the entirety of all content can be played solo, the gameplay mechanics and characteristics were designed and implemented for a multiplayer experience under a cooperative environment. The issue is, while there are only two accessible online servers, both have appeared as empty every time they were checked on for the purposes of this review.
- Enemy assortment is sufficiently varied, centering on creatures inspired by the theme of demonic entities of different kinds, but their appearances, even if they come in very quick succession due to the nature of the gameplay focus, quickly become repetitive, as they all share similar visual and aural qualities. Their physical aspects and their reactive behaviors are just not very original.
- Despite the frame rate remaining at a solid 144 per second, there does not seem to be a valid way to customize the field of view setting. Going into the game's console and executing a command that pertains to the field of view does not appear to make any noticeable changes. Additionally, the overall sound volume is higher than average, and there is no general sound volume option, only for music and for sound effects. Adjusting these is not sufficient, as the main volume continues being too loud. This situation forces the user to lower the volume on their own operating system or own their own hardware.
Negative:
- The software requires that .NET Framework version 3.5 to be installed and activated in order for it to work. This is a much older iteration than what is considered to be the current version at the time of this writing (4.8).
- There are two singleplayer game modes available. Both involve hordes of enemies attacking the player, but with two slight variations. In Survival mode, the player is on a timer and must survive for as long as possible, without a set ending aside from player death. In Inferno mode, one must go through four rounds of hordes and eventually fight a boss. The problem with Inferno mode, is that one cannot save their progress and resume at another time. Each round takes about ten minutes to complete, meaning that a full playthrough will take at least about 40 minutes. This must be done in one sitting with the intent of beating each map.
Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
