VILE

after like 9 hours I finally finished it and omg everything was actually awesome. my fav map was definitely the hospital one, moonbit you slayed with that. it was eerie, stressful, confusing, and fun all at once. this game is scary as shizz but fun as hell. i kept having to pause n breathe bc it was stressing me out in the most disrespectful way. the audio, the music, the characters, the pixelated blood, all of it was attacking me personally. and the enemy noises… rude. terrifying. 11/10. the guns feel AWESOME (esp the dual one, i felt unstoppable for like 3 seconds), and the secrets made me wander around even though i was shaking the whole time. every time i thought “ok i’m safe now,” something screamed at me and i nearly threw my mouse. good freaking job moonbit!! ❤️

Game is unplayable and doesn't work at resolutions above 1080p, no options anywhere to change resolution. If your monitor is higher than 1080p you will not be able to play the game! Dev doesn't respond to any messages or discussions either so no way of resolving this. Shame as well as the game looks good!

buy it

Close, but no cigar. Vile is a super simple “boomershooter” style FPS. At its heart is a system that knows that keeping it simple and keeping things tight is the best way to make an initial splash, but while the general core systems are enjoyable, the overall package feels slightly clumsy and has some weird technical issues that hold it back from greatness. This is not a homage to the classics, but more a middle grade PS1 game that time forgot. I don’t really like dumping on these smaller indie games, especially where it is clear that the dev has put a lot of effort into it. While there are some clear low effort bandwaggon jumpers out there, Moonbit Studio does not seem to be one of them. Vile is clearly something that had a lot of effort put into it, but I would wager also something that lacked full testing external to the main developers. It is a very lopsided game when it comes to how the game seemed to be focused and that lopsidedness will no doubt put a good few folks off. [h1]All things coming up flat, and flat is good![/h1] For starters, the visual side and general feel of the game is absolutely spot on. The character sprites and their animations are very good. I’m not sure if they are 3D models that have been rendered as 2D sprites, but their look and motion is very good. Enemies move convincingly, they flinch when shot and have good death animations. Similarly, the weapons and pickups all look detailed and thought out. The shotgun and SMGs here looks like the most fancy weapons this fantasy Victorian world could muster, and they dispatch the enemies very well. Speaking of Victorian, the visuals tie into the theme perfectly. It is set in, what appears to be, Victorian London while dealing with a plague outbreak. While I have come to find some lower budget titles to have an odd inconsistency to the looks, in Vile everything seems coherent. There are some fantastical weapons, and the SMGs are absolutely not something that would have been around in the mid/late 1800s, but they have a consistency with the rest of the world that makes them work. This level of effort permeates the full game and it never really breaks from that. It feels right, and that is certainly laudable. [h1]Shooting for the moon? No, I can't look up![/h1] Continuing on how the game feels, it is distinct in how it plays. While the boomshoot subgenre mostly has games throwing gimmicks about to try and get attention in a crowded room, Vile mostly sticks to the absolute basics and focuses on them. There are no moments where an enemy requires you to slow down time or hit a flashing weak-point. The gameplay is “you shoot it until it dies” and that is all. This seems quite refreshing in a market with everything trying to add a new spin to things, and means picking Vile up from a break will likely be very easy. Style wise the gameplay is a Wolfenstein-like, which are not as uncommon as they used to be are still few in number. Essentially, the level layouts are all at right angles and there is zero verticality. While there are some small areas that are at different heights, these are just aesthetic. Nicely, they are kept very, very simple, so it is clear what is completely out of reach and what is play area. There are a couple of small ramps, but they do not change how the game plays room-to-room. Vile works with this style and lacks even vertical mouse look. In some games this can cause issues, such as Only Lead Can Stop Them and some moments where enemies will be slightly higher or lower and out of traditional range, Vile is so flat that there is never an issue with aim. Everything is tight, and works wonderfully. Even something that would be considered negative in other titles, with the very short draw distance, Vile works into its combat by making it so combat is never long range. It is impressive stuff with how all these clearly baked in shortcomings work so well. [h1]Bargain bin PS1 fun[/h1] In a way, these built in shortcomings frame how I’d view Vile as a whole. It is less a throwback to something like Wolfenstein or Blake Stone, more like a forgotten PS1 title from 1996/7 that got poor reviews and was mostly forgotten. The thing being, those often ignored titles end up as someone’s comfort nostalgia product. For me this is Vile: A throwback to the PS1 middleware title that was not beloved, but a perfectly fine bit of comfort gaming to pop on and play mindlessly during a weekend. If the game could force 30fps, some form of CRT filter and 240p resolution, it would be spot on. Unfortunately, you cannot change to that resolution. In fact, you cannot change to any resolution, and this is where Vile starts to fall down. [h1]We cannot come to a (different) resolution[/h1] Technically speaking, Vile only runs at the resolution of your PC. Are you set to 1080p? Vile runs at 1080p. 1440p? Vile runs at 1440p. 4K, 720p, 480p… whatever your desktop is doing, Vile will also do. The same counts for framerates and other such things. Annoying, but not the end of the world. Unless Vile does not like that framerate or resolution, in which case the game breaks completely. Testing Vile on a couple of my computers, only my console PC (specs included with this review) worked cleanly. On my system with a 1440p and 4k monitor, Vile just broke completely, with text and some in world items disappearing or flickering wildly. This means that unless you switch your whole system to 1080p or lower before playing, it likely won’t work correctly. There are also some silly effects that cannot be switched off clearly, as there is a permanent vignette effect going on while I wanted to switch off. Also, there screen has lots of flashing in the background with the fog system. Fire an SMG in these parts, you are stuck in a thunderstorm which can be dangerous to people with epileptic conditions. Options to turn them off? Nope. These issues are the core of why I don’t advise Vile. It is less because of how the game plays, more to do with the technical goofiness it has. If they are fixed, I’d likely change my opinion. Aside from the technicalities, there is how the game treats death and the level layout that bothered me. On level layouts, it feels like an old FPS where people had not figured out level design. Frequently there are levels with switch puzzles with no clear indication as to what was happening on what I was doing. The only way to find out was wandering about the level to see if anything had changed. To make things worse, the switches sometimes just unlocked doors but would not open them. This means you have to go back through the level testing doors to see if they were unlocked. Tedious stuff. The way the game treats death is also… odd. When you do die, you are transported back to the start of the level, but everything remains as it was at the moment of death, meaning you trek back to where you died and then continue on. There seems to be no limit to the number of times you die, so if you just run back and only use your pistol the whole time, that is possible. More annoying is how if you die close to the spawn area, you can end up in a perpetual death loop as there is no damage grace period, meaning if you by chance die in the first room, you can be instantly swarmed. This happened once to me as I started one level with 17hp and the first room had an ambush. This made me restart the level as there seemed to be no clear way to get out of the issue. On one hand, too easy, but also too harsh in bad situations. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] While some of the issues above are debatably negligible, the technical issues are why I’m not advising Vile. If they are ever fixed, maybe I’ll rewrite this review. Until then, I can’t easily advise this. In a world with hundreds of indie boomshoots that work without messing about with your computer’s main settings, for an arguably middle of the road cheap title, it seems not worth the headaches. On a 1080p system and want a PS1 mid-tier title? Sure! Else, avoid.

Setting and atmosphere of Bloodborne + gameplay of Doom + enemies of Left for Dead. This game is criminally underrated for how fun it is. A very solid old-school shooter where you slay hordes of undead in Victorian London with modern weapons that have been deliciously reskinned to look as steampunk as possible. Except the flamethrower (that is WAY too weak), they are all incredibly fun and satisfactory to use. Maybe this is what I like the most about this game, the weapons, that are truly gorgeous to look at and give a fantastic feedback. I also loved the surprisingly wide variety of enemies, most of which come with their own special abilities, and thus require different strategies to be dealt with. There are just two specific things I didn't like: - the secrets are badly designed, because most of them are just [spoiler] illusory walls with no visible clues [/spoiler] - the final boss [spoiler] is underwhelming, nothing special, I expected something more memorable [/spoiler] That said, I STRONGLY recommend everyone gives this game a chance, also considering the very fair price for its content, I'm sure most of you won't regret it. Let's all give it the visibility it deserves, because it's definitely worth it. Cheers guys!

After HROT, this is easily the most authentic indie retro shooter I've played (I'm not a fan of the term 'Boomer Shooter'). It’s definitely not perfect, but it is incredibly fun. On higher difficulties, it becomes an absolute tough nut to crack. Huge thanks to Moonbit!

Nice little indie game. Reminds me a little bit of Wolfenstein 3D, but with actual level design. Short, sweet and to the point. Pros: - Great sprite work - Cool levels for what they are - Fun weapons (one of the best DB shotguns I've used) - Good enemy variety - Start from beginning of the level when you die, but keeps your progress Cons: - No map - Die too fast, even on Easy - Some monsters drop acid when they die and it hurts you when you walk over it - Secrets have no indication whatsoever - Flamethrower and Lightning Hammer could use a buff for sure Overall a good boom shoot.

A fun little throwback. They really went old school with this one. A fast paced FPS set in Victorian London, overrun by the living dead. Get a classic set of weapons and blast away. The pixel graphics are good - I particularly like the steampunk aesthetics on the guns - and the soundtrack is great. Hope they release an OST sometime. Levels are more like Wolf3D or Rise of the Triad than Doom, being largely flat with no meaningful elevation changes. This can make them somewhat plain, but it does play into the overall simplicity it seems they were aiming for. There is no auto-map so while the levels are not too maze-like, it does pay to have a good sense of navigation. Levels are also relatively brisk and when not secret hunting, they can be completed in a few short minutes. Visual design wise, enemy variety is nice and morbid, if a little basic. Mechanically, they're a tad lacking, with most of them being some variety of either run at you and punch or run at you and shoot a projectile every few seconds. Two of the tankier higher end enemies vary it up a bit and require making use of the dodge mechanic that I don't think is explicitly pointed out (I stumbled on it by accident) and I had little need for outside of these foes. Enemies can be kinda quick on the trigger too, and are sometimes placed right around a corner for a cheap hit. Unfortunately, like other Moonbit titles, there are some noteworthy bugs and peculiar design choices. Secrets are entirely unmarked. Most of them are simply secret walls you can pass through if you push against them, but some require you to interact to open them. There is no way to distinguish which is which. As a result, secret hunting can be a pain. I also found at least two levels where there were areas that lacked collision detection. They aren't secrets, and instead you enter null space. They seemed to recognize the potential problem enough to auto-warp you back to start. More vexing is perfecting a level requires all kills, collecting all coins scattered throughout a given level, and finding all secrets. On top of secret hunting already being tedious due to its aforementioned issues, I found at least 3 levels where there is one more enemy than the kill counter lists. This does cause the kill counter to go over, causing it to no longer count as "all kills" because the numbers no longer match. This makes getting the achievement for perfecting the game almost impossible. That said, the game is at least beatable and fun otherwise. The simplicity might bore some people expecting more, but for a fairly cheap game, it delivers well. I do recommend it, but just remember what you see is what you're going to get and not much more.

The name says it all.

Это лучшая игра разработчика на данный момент! Всем советую