Anime The mistake a lot of modern boomer shooters make

[Lemming42]

I'm playing WRATH: Aeon of Ruin, and I recently played AMID EVIL: The Black Labyrinth. I've also just played Zortch, which was fantastic. I'm having fun with all these, but there's something about all these games - DUSK, Nightmare Reaper, Dread Templar, Project Warlock, and the like.

They have no stories, or coherent settings, or clear visual themes at all. Why is this? If you look at many actual 90s FPS games, they tend to have very clear plot hooks. They also have vivid settings with strong premises, a firm sense of place, and a bold sense of mood and tone:

Doom - Hell invades Phobos, and the protagonist is forced into a battle for survival which leads him through Phobos base (which has striking, clear visuals), Deimos base (which is merging with Hell, resulting in some cool aesthetics), and then Hell itself.

Heretic - the protagonist's race is the victim of persecution and genocide, and he becomes a lone hooded figure, driven by vengeance, stalking through the ruins of a dead world, hunted every step of the way by sinister shadowy figures who worship the creature which obliterated his people. Also has an undersea base with insanely cool visuals.

System Shock - protagonist is trapped aboard a space station and essentially forced into a high-speed chess game against a rogue AI, who is turning the station itself against him. Has many audio logs to give context and characterisation and further the story.

Blood - after being killed by his own cult, a man returns to life and takes vengeance on the cult to rescue his abducted beloved. Admittedly, Blood is very surreal with not much story and not much of what happens makes sense, but at least it has a very strong sense of place and visual style (1920s occult horror). Protagonist is very memorable and very vocal.

Outlaws - a simple Western story of rescue and vengeance, presented with really cool cartoon cutscenes.

Unreal - a prison ship crashes into a strange planet which is being invaded by a militatistic alien empire, and one of the prisoners escapes and makes her way across the surface, inadvertently fulfiling an alien religious prophecy and triggering an uprising in the process. You can learn a lot about the Nali from their architecture and art.

Half-Life - a man goes to work and has it all go horribly wrong. Aliens are all well thought out and have clear places in the Xen ecosystem, and Black Mesa itself is designed as an exaggerated interpretation of a real, believable location, with areas that have clear practical uses other than being battle arenas.

Meanwhile, with the likes of Amid Evil and WRATH and Prodeus and Project Warlock and DUSK, we have... a nameless hero fighting endless waves of surreal enemies in surreal environments for no clear reason. What's the big idea here? Even as early as Heretic and System Shock, actual retro FPS games were trying very hard to create a sense of verisimilitude, trying to create semi-plausible environments and evoke the feeling of fantasy and science fiction novels. There were even games like 1995's "Killing Time" that went full-on multimedia in an attempt to include more story. Why is the template for modern boomer shooters just surreal vomit with enemies who don't resemble anything, barely-there protagonists who have no presence in the game, and plots that are deliberately nonexistent?

Of course, the 90s shooter that most fits that description is Quake, which is surreal and has enemies that don't look like anything and locations that are deliberately nonsensical... but maybe not every fucking game should be Quake, especially when nobody seems capable of replicating Quake's sense of eerieness.

I really believe this is a big reason that many of these games fail to land with a lot of people, and why they're consistently viewed as worse than the games they're inspired by. AMID EVIL was fun, but you forget it five seconds after playing, because unlike Heretic and Hexen which it takes inspiration from, it doesn't have any kind of mood or story or concept that sticks in your mind.

 

[NecroLord]

Indeed.
I think that, first and foremost, they are trying to recapture some of the glory of the old days, not taking the plot or setting, I should say, seriously. They are paying homage to those old classics they take inspiration from, that's it...
Level design is also an issue.
Some are pretty decent, but I don't see myself really playing those games. They lack that staying quality and the replayability of, say, games like Doom, Unreal, Quake, Half-Life, Blood, Shadow Warrior, etc. Those are games I can always fire up and know that I'm gonna have a fun time replaying.

 

[StrongBelwas]

I'd say HROT does a pretty good job of this, even if the story is a little on the vague side.
Hedon makes a decent attempt to make your protagonist feel like someone in somewhere unique, even if the creator lets their fetishes slip in a bit.
Ion Fury itself is generally mediocre, but it hits most of these marks.

 

[Avonaeon]

I think Cultic has that missing link. Very clear theme and mood and plays it straight, which I think helps

 

[Just Locus]

My issue with a lot of modern boomer shooters is that they're very formulaic. It's very hard to remember a modern Boomer shooter that doesn't wear its inspirations on its sleeve with next to no tact. They're all very rigid.

 

[Lemming42]

I'd say HROT does a pretty good job of this, even if the story is a little on the vague side.
Hedon makes a decent attempt to make your protagonist feel like someone in somewhere unique, even if the creator lets their fetishes slip in a bit.
Ion Fury itself is generally mediocre, but it hits most of these marks.

I really like HROT, still falls firmly into the surrealism camp but at least has a very evocative sense of dread and feels like you're on a journey, even if it's a journey through a nightmare. Ion Fury is one of my favourites of the modern scene, probably due to the fact it does hit most of these marks. I'm not even a huge fan of Ion Fury's cyberpunk-y setting or of the protagonist, but it's just such a relief to be playing a game with semi-real-looking locations rather than surreal battle arenas, and a protagonist who's not just an empty void.

My issue with a lot of modern boomer shooters is that they're very formulaic. It's very hard to remember a modern Boomer shooter that doesn't wear its inspirations on its sleeve with next to no tact. They're all very rigid.

Yeah, that's another thing, they're all in a rush to make callbacks to their inspirations, often at dire cost to their own already-scant originality. Not even just in level design or gameplay mechanics, but often in outright references - DUSK is particularly awful for it, with that level where you walk through the twisted corridor from Thief while fighting HECU grunts from Half-Life.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

You're not entirely wrong, but I feel like the biggest issue with these games, outside of the issue with them never ever coming out, is that most just sound like they could have been levelsets for an old game. I feel like half the games I've seen in the genre are some flavor of "inspired by Blood" with a bit of Quake sometimes. Just try to negotiate a paid levelset for Doom or something, already. You'll save yourself so much time and effort making a Blood levelset than Not Blood.
I also point out that one hole in your theory is that a lot of the shit games from the '90s had a pretty consistent story and visual theme and still sucked for it. Isle of the Dead, Capstone's games, Josephine: Portrait of an Assassin, among others all did your theory, and man, did they blow.

 

[Lemming42]

I also point out that one hole in your theory is that a lot of the shit games from the '90s had a pretty consistent story and visual theme and still sucked for it. Isle of the Dead, Capstone's games, Josephine: Portrait of an Assassin, among others all did your theory, and man, did they blow.

Sure, but my theory isn't so much "a clear visual identity and plot hook is all you need for a good game", but more "a strong plot hook/great visual direction/fun protagonist will uplift an average game, and most modern boomer shooters are average and in dire need of these elements". Heretic and Hexen are the classic examples - they're decent games but their level design is variable and their weapon balance isn't great, and yet they rightly have a place in people's memories because the world they created was so absorbing, and Heretic in particular exuded an atmosphere of total desolation.

I think it wouldn't take much to turn games like Heretic or System Shock into very enjoyable short novels, because the plots are already there in the games, even if they're in the background and presented abstractly. Meanwhile, I have no idea where you'd even start with most modern boomer shooters.

As an aside, I'm not sure any Capstone game had a particularly engaging plot hook, nor a strong visual style. Witchaven's the only one that comes close* and the plot hook iirc still amounts to "you got drunk and accepted a dare to go into a big dungeon", which is mildly amusing at best. And the visuals are... whatever they are. Play-Doh.

*I didn't forget TekWar, I just think Shatner's magnum opus sucks absolute cock

 

[Jenkem]

You're not entirely wrong, but I feel like the biggest issue with these games, outside of the issue with them never ever coming out,

there are tons of retro FPS games released though "never coming out" wot

is that most just sound like they could have been levelsets for an old game. I feel like half the games I've seen in the genre are some flavor of "inspired by Blood" with a bit of Quake sometimes.

Name ONE (1) game that is like Blood

 

[AndyS]

I was looking at that game Ultrakill and thinking it looks like it could be fun, and it seems to have gotten good reviews. The game description on Steam:

"ULTRAKILL is a fast-paced ultraviolent old school FPS that fuses together classic shooters like Quake, modern shooters like Doom (2016) and character action games like Devil May Cry.

Mankind has gone extinct and the only beings left on earth are machines fueled by blood.
But now that blood is starting to run out on the surface...
Machines are racing to the depths of Hell in search of more."

So, games on top of games on top of other games. The whole "machines fueled by blood invading HELL" angle is amusing but meaningless to me.

Similar deal with Turbo Overkill (almost got the two games confused...). Well-liked game, haven't played it but I assume it's good fun. The description is basically all about "holy fuck your leg's a chainsaw!" and mastering the chainsaw leg and stuff like wall-running. Talk of mastering systems. Despite pushing a "way cool, dude" tone, it's weirdly sterile. There's some bit about a story involving an AI and rival bounty hunters, but it's clearly not important. I feel like there's a happy medium between AAA games that wish they were really crappy movies and indie/AA titles that absolutely don't give a shit about anything beyond "so I gave a guy a chainsaw leg and thought about how that affected movement and interactions within the game world..."

 

[Lawful Pacific]

Zoomer shooters are full of arena encounters. No exploration, only mindless linear arena popamole. Zoomers are enjoy first personal platform jumping and switching weapons epilepsy LOL

 

[JarlFrank]

But there's a bunch of boomer shooters with story setups that are at least on Doom's level of complexity.

You mentioned Zortch in your list, which definitely has a story hook and coherent worldbuilding (even though it doesn't take itself very seriously).
Hedon is another example you mentioned.

Then there's Turbo Overkill, which has a lot of story for an FPS. Super over the top to the point of ridiculousness, but it's there, and plenty of it.
Sprawl is a gritty cyberpunk sort-of-retro FPS with a basic revenge story setup and consistent area design.
Arthurian Legends is a cool fantasy FPS with a strong medieval vibe and the feeling of exploring real places like glades and castles.
Beyond Sunset is another cyberpunk FPS running in the Doom engine that has a proper story and consistent style. I feel it's less good than Ion Fury, but it makes an attempt.
Project Absentia is a mid-00s flash game inspired FPS running on the Doom engine, that has a completely retarded story in the style of flash games from 20 years ago. Not even remotely trying to be serious, but it does have a setup of character motivation and reasonably sense-making environments.
Supplice is another Doom engine game with a simple theme and plot: you're part of a terraforming crew that accidentally unleashed biomechanical horrors, now you gotta clean them up. Areas are designed to feel like real habitat pieces on an alien planet.

Yes, there are plenty of retro FPS games that don't even try to have a consistent theme, going full abstract surreal in level design instead, but I can name you enough that do try to be more believable in their setup.
And that list is far from complete, that's just the games I have in my Steam library.

 

[Lemming42]

I've played a few of those, specifically Beyond Sunset, Arthurian Legends, and Supplice, all of which I quite liked. Some others worthy of praise are Hands of Necromancy (not much story but does a good job at having a very distinct mood), W40k Boltgun (not a big fan of 40k myself but I definitely appreciated the setting's presence here, lending the game more coherency than many of its competitors) and Fortune's Run, which is still early access but seems set to lean very heavily on worldbuilding and story.

Zortch is sort of a middle ground; I did like playing as a protagonist with a set personality and background (as described in the manual) who is in a specific situation, and I liked the plot hook of the MYSTERIOUS FIGURE WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED TO AVOID SPOILERS giving hints and then the revalation at the end. I appreciated the jokey tone as well, but the enemies and environments fell a little too far into the "here's some random shit the dev whipped together in three seconds in a 3D modeling program" side of things to me, the level design could have benefitted from making the colony world feel a bit more coherent IMO, especially since the best parts were the ones more recognisable as real locations like that outdoor factory area with the pistons. Superb game overall though, don't get me wrong.

 

[Dadd]

is that most just sound like they could have been levelsets for an old game. I feel like half the games I've seen in the genre are some flavor of "inspired by Blood" with a bit of Quake sometimes.

Name ONE (1) game that is like Blood

There aren't games that play like Blood, but Cultic was heavily inspired by Blood.

 

[udm]

My issue with a lot of modern boomer shooters is that they're very formulaic. It's very hard to remember a modern Boomer shooter that doesn't wear its inspirations on its sleeve with next to no tact. They're all very rigid.

Arthurian Legends? I mean people say it's like Witchhaven done right, or if it had a baby with Heretic, but its similarities end when you closely examine the gameplay loop.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Sure, but my theory isn't so much "a clear visual identity and plot hook is all you need for a good game", but more "a strong plot hook/great visual direction/fun protagonist will uplift an average game, and most modern boomer shooters are average and in dire need of these elements". Heretic and Hexen are the classic examples - they're decent games but their level design is variable and their weapon balance isn't great, and yet they rightly have a place in people's memories because the world they created was so absorbing, and Heretic in particular exuded an atmosphere of total desolation.

Fair enough. I just think that since some of the well-known crap games, despite doing things "right" still turned out crap, so the theory might not be entirely correct. I know many people don't like Hedon and that really weird one despite being average games with strong visual identity and plot hooks.

there are tons of retro FPS games released though "never coming out" wot

I'm sorry, are you deliberating ignoring how many games are announced and still haven't come out, along with how long it took many to come out, or has it been so long your memory has failed?

Name ONE (1) game that is like Blood

But this does suggest you are being deliberately ignorant.

 

[luj1]

They have no stories, or coherent settings, or clear visual themes at all. Why is this?

decline of education and decline of gaming standard

 

[luj1]

I'd say HROT does a pretty good job of this

have to disagree

this game is really shitty

some of the worst weapon design & enemy design I have ever seen in my life

level design basic af too

Bosses are the worst I have ever seen

 

[Lemming42]

I know many people don't like Hedon and that really weird one despite being average games with strong visual identity and plot hooks.

With Hedon I think it's in no small part down to the protagonist (and several other characters) being very obviously designed to appeal to the developer's sexual tastes, and the game even being marketed on that point iirc. The game's a tough sell when the cover art looks like something pulled from the depths of Furaffinity. It put me off playing it for ages and when I did play it I was just constantly thinking "oh god, something shitty and obnoxious is gonna be lurking round the next corner" which hampered the enjoyment by quite a bit. Can't remember if there was anything particularly objectionable in the game itself, but I also have no idea whether I played Hedon 1 or Bloodrite or whatever other versions/sequels exist.

That said, it'd be interesting to see how well Hedon would have done if it didn't have that sort of thing going on, because Hexen-likes don't seem to be a popular genre - the only other I can think of right away is Hands of Necromancy which was basically ignored despite being of very good quality, substantially better than I remember Hedon being. Hedon's shamelessly appealing to a specific (and very tedious) subset of online people, which puts a lot of other people off, but at the same time probably convinces people in the target demographic to play a game they otherwise wouldn't have much interest in.

I get the feeling that ULTRAKILL attempted the same thing, most of what fans seem to discuss online is that it's a "femboy game" (???) and that the developers released some kind of official anal sex toy that vibrates in time with the action or whatever. Puts a great many people off the game, but draws in a hardcore subset of people who want to put things up their rectums while playing otherwise fairly average and unremarkable games.

that really weird one

Interested in which game you mean here, Fortune's Run maybe?

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Interested in which game you mean here, Fortune's Run maybe?

I was thinking of Cruelty Squad. Though come to think of it, it could also apply to Nightmare Reaper.

 

[Machocruz]

Supposedly prestigious Codex adopting dirty peasant Redditor labels such as "boomer shooter" is the biggest mistake of all.

 

[Infinitron]

WRATH: Aeon of Ruin is literally meant to be a Quake-like.

But I think I agree with your general argument. In fact, it seems to me that not just boomer shooters, but many other types of indie games don't try hard enough to tell interesting stories, unless they're working in a distinctly narrative-driven genre. Everybody wants to be a gameplay-driven sandbox roguelite type game.

Doesn't anybody want to be the next Hotline Miami, the top-down 2D shooter that also has an awesome mindfuck of a story and setting?

 

[United Nations]

Just beat Bloom and Cultic... Both were excellent, in fact, I like them more than any recent FPS I've played.

They are lot more fun due to the simple gameplay mechanics, pixelated graphics that are ultra nostalgic, and awesome soundtracks.

Compared to games like Doom 2016 and Metro Exodus, the weapons in boomer shooters feel like they pack more of a punch, and the enemies aren't doing stupid ass parkour all over the fucking level terrain.

Metro Exodus especially is a complete piece of shit, and I regret ever playing it to begin with since it tarnished my opinion of the first two excellent Metro games that came before it.

 

[d1r]

None of them have soulful protags with witty and memorable catchphrases either. Fatal mistake! That is why Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem and Blood will always be the best singleplayer FPS games out there!

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

The biggest problem of these games is that they aren't like old shooters at all and their inspirations obviously lie elsewhere. "Nu-doom-like with bad visuals" seems to be a very common variant, for example. The amount of games advertised as quake-inspired is reaching critical levels, yet everyone seems to forget that such a game should ideally be inspired by quake. Coincidentally, the rare title that actually makes an effort of being like the theoretical source of inspiration tends to be at least playable, if unspectacular.

Stories? I don't think I cared for the story in a single classic shooter. Visuals, audio and the overall atmosphere were extremely important to how cool these games were, yes. However, expecting a modern dev to approach level of quake or blood in this regard is... Uh... Let's just say it's not a realistic expectation.

Just make more games like Overload and we'll be fine.