The first-person shooter is one of the more saturated genres in video games, particularly in the AAA industry. However, indie games have taken several cracks at the genre over the years, especially recently, thanks in large part to a resurgence in old-school FPS design and low-poly visuals, allowing first-person shooters to bemade on smaller budgets.
Some first-person shooters, such as the fantastic indie game,HROT, are elevated bytheir immersive atmospheresand level designs. However, many shooters, especially those inspired by 90s classics such asQuake, live and die with their weapons.
Players who enjoyed the visceral, ambitious, and large-scale first-person action of theBattlefieldfranchise should spare more than a passing glance atBattleBit Remastered. It may not look like much on the surface, butBattleBit Remasteredrecaptures the magic of games such asBattlefield: Bad Company 2with great success.
BattleBit Remasteredfeatures fully destructible, expansive landscapes, with objective-based gameplay thatencourages squad-based teamwork. The game’s variety of weapons andBattlefield-style classes, along with the variety of attachments and weapon customization, allow each player to fulfill a very specific role throughout each game, resulting in an experience that rarely feels stale.
While it doesn’t offer the violent, combat-fueled gameplay of traditional shooters,Neon Whitestill manages to offer players a diverse variety of weaponry with which to battle demons from the first-person perspective.Neon Whitedoesn’t focus on its bare-bones combat mechanics, however, and these weapons are not great for how they feel to use, but the ways in which they can be applied as players blitz through the game’s levels.
Neon Whiteisall about expressive movement, moving through levels as fast as humanly possible. This game encourages players to replay levels to beat their best time, and while routes can play a part in speed, the use of the game’s weapons is incredibly important; each weapon harnesses a powerful movement ability that players can exploit in order to cut corners and reach places that would otherwise be out of reach, making the efficient use of them integral to success in most missions.
4Maximum Action
An Indie FPS Inspired By Action Cinema And Max Payne
Fans ofJohn Woo action filmssuch asHard BoiledandFace/Offshould certainly consider taking a look atMaximum Action. This indie first-person shooter features a low-poly art-style and a clear love for old-school action cinema, with gameplay that borrows from the likes of classics such asMax Payne.
Maximum Actionfeatures a dizzying array of weapons, and although many of them feel familiar, each can be just as satisfying to use as players blast through the 80s and 90s-inspired levels.Maximum Actionis, as its title suggests, all about the action; there’s no story, no real characters of any kind, just the player blasting through enemies in stylish slow-motion and making use of a variety of weapons.
Its greatest strength may be its dense atmosphere and light horror elements, butDUSK’swell-crafted arsenal of weapons, however low-poly, are the fuel with which players are propelled through its old-school FPS episodes. The game’s developer, David Szymanski, took inspiration froma variety of 90s shooters(Quake,Heretic,Redneck Rampage), and it shows.
From the groovy shotgun and the dual-wielding handguns, to the massive “Riveter” and the marksman’s crossbow,DUSK’sweapons each offer their own strengths and weaknesses. The game even features hilariously-deadly soap bars hidden throughout each level.
Its arsenal may be more limited than other indie shooters, but each ofULTRAKILL’sweapons are tremendously expressive; skill-based secondary firing modes facilitate neat tricks to execute, and the exaggerated animations and weighty sound design make using each gun a satisfying experience.
The excessive gore and punchy sounds offer visceral combat encounters, andthe low-poly visualsensure that it’s unlikely to disturb. It’s also worth noting that althoughULTRAKILLis initially limited in its arsenal, each weapon has multiple variants that offer diversity.
Clearly paying more than a little homage to the old-school BUILD Engine boomer shooter,Blood,CULTICis a distinctive blend of classic boomer shooter action and the atmosphere of B-movie survival horror such asResident Evil 4, with a few direct references thrown in. The gameplay is tight, thick with atmosphere and dense with fast-flowing level designs.CULTIC’sgunplay, however, is what takes the cake.
Any game that allows players to blast enemies with freshly-cooked dynamite gets an A, and there are, unfortunately, few games that do this well.Bloodis one of them, andCULTICjust makes the process more intuitive; exploiting the various bundles of dynamite found throughout the game is an integral part of overcomingCULTIC’schallenges, and they’re more fun than any grenade could ever hope to be. The dynamite is just one of many offensive tools in an arsenal brimming with punchy, weighty weapons; from the lever-action rifle and the Sten submachine gun, to the more exotic China Lake grenade launcher,CULTIC’sweapons each offer their own strengths and weaknesses, and they’re all displayed with crunchy pixel art and satisfying animations.
