Project Warlock - retro inspired FPS, but expanded with character progression and upgrades

[DalekFlay]

Still preaching about being like old school FPS games, yet still no save feature. Though the game's so easy it doesn't really matter I guess.

 

[LESS T_T]

https://steamcommunity.com/games/893680/announcements/detail/1718616979090384245

Happy birthday, patch
Reminiscing about launch, adding FOV slider and level progress data

Exactly 12 months ago, we hit the “publish” key on Steam. Exactly 11 months, 23 hours and fifty-five minutes ago, one of the first reviewers of the game emailed us mentioning “Should something happen in that swamp at the end of Stage where the boss should be? I walk into an empty room and nothing's happening. I saw the launch trailer and i think that's where the tentacle boss should be?”*

Now. At that particular moment in time Project Warlock had more than 600 playtesting hours logged in, apart from all the unregistered time spent by the team on their own**. And you know, this was five minutes AFTER we published the game on Steam. Like after it went live.

It’s moments like this when you feel alive. Every single muscle contracts, every single hair stands up and the blood starts rushing. Oh, how alive.

Recall? Perhaps it’s just this one guy… Relaunch? Uhh, all the review codes went out. Postpone? I guess you need to be ahead of the launch to do this. More like “postpostpone”. “Pone”?

The important things was the years of labour of love of a small team found it’s way to the (checking review count) hearts of 700 people who posted their reviews on Steam, and further tens of thousands who didn't feel the need to write about it. No biggie. But let’s try to break that 1000 soon, ok?

So this whole post is to say huge THANK YOU to everyone who decided to check out the game. It's thanks to you Project Warlock will not stop here. But that's a story for another post, when we're more ready.

As for this patch's Features? Two major ones alongside smaller tweaks and fixes.

Field of View adjustment - you can finally adjust the field of view of the first person perspective to fit your needs. Goes from 60 up to 110. (Vertical FOV)

In-game statistics - you can finally view your statistics while playing. You can check these out in the pause menu. Remaining secrets, collected items and vanquished enemies are displayed alongside the time you spent inside the current level.

And now - to the patch notes.

1.0.2.1 FOV Patch

Additions:
-Added level progress view to the pause menu
-Added Field of view adjustment setting

Changes:
-Switches Resume and Restart button positions to avoid confusion in pause menu
-Readjusted current track window
-Increased overall difficulty in Medieval Episode
-Changed default run button to "Left shift" from "h"
-Balanced The Tank in Industrial episode further
-Increased Final Boss's health in final stage

Spells Balance:
-Reduced Storm Rage price to 5
-Reduced Freezing Blast cost to 5
-Reduced Executor cost to 5
-Reduced Curse cost to 6
-Reduced 1st improvement level of Storm Rage to 3rd instead of 5th Spirit level
-Reduced 2nd improvement level of Storm Rage to 8rd instead of 10th Spirit level
-Reduced base mana cost of Storm Rage
-Increased base damage of Storm Rage
-Increased base damage absorption of Holy Guard
-Reduced Freezing Blast base mana cost
-Increased Freeezing Blast base freeze time
-Increased Freezing Blast base range
-Reduced Freezing Blast improvement level to 3rd instead of 5th Spirit Level
-Reduced Bomberman base mana cost
-Increased Sammoner base mana cost slightly
-Reduced Executor base mana cost slightly
-Increased Curse base duration time

* Writing from memory here, so some details might be a bit different. Some dramatization might have also been included.
** Yes, the game was playtested to hell and back and Great Old One showed up EVERY SINGLE TIME.

 

[SkiNNyBane]

On paper it is a simplistic shitty indie game but it was done so well that I enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

[DalekFlay]

Still no quicksave eh? Well whatevs, game is easy enough anyway. I'd write a review for them but I got it on GOG and GOG reviews are rather pointless I feel. Solid game though, looking forward to what they do next.

 

[SkiNNyBane]

Still no quicksave eh? Well whatevs, game is easy enough anyway. I'd write a review for them but I got it on GOG and GOG reviews are rather pointless I feel. Solid game though, looking forward to what they do next.

Why are you asking for saves when checkpoint system is far superior. Not having saves is a good thing imo.

 

[Boleskine]

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/project-warlock/

Project Warlock

Posted by Jonathan Kaharl on February 18, 2021

Project Warlock – PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch (2018)

We are in a golden age of classic FPS send-ups, from the haunting DUSK to the revival of DOOM. Indie and big budget giants alike are going all in, but one thing notably missing from this movement has been that all of these games had mandatory Y-axis controls. Project Warlock lets you turn that off and let auto-aim make up for it, just as Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM intended. Every other boomer shooter has tried to offer a unique twist on the classic formulas. Project Warlock takes the most classic of the formulas possible and shoves in nearly every single idea from modern shooters and other throwback shooters in levels where you never once have to look up or down. The end result is a furious, blood pumping action masterwork, the sort of thing you only get from someone born after DOOM came out and catching up with the classics for inspiration.

Spoiler

Project Warlock is mainly the creation of one Jakub Cislo, a Polish then-teen living in Germany who was introduced to classic shooters through his father. He loved their fast pace and how the complex map design made him think. Project Warlock finally released when Cislo was 19 and barely out of high school, and he had been working on it for years before then, releasing a kickstarter for the then named “Exitium 3D” in 2016. He got 205 euros from fifteen backers with an extremely bare description and plan. A lot changed within those two years.

Cislo being so young and playing with a style of game so old is the key to Project Warlock‘s refreshing feel. It’s not really designed like other throwback shooters. It doesn’t so much build on old formulas with new techniques as it takes the most basic original one and shoves features in every nook and cranny. Your character, the warlock, can level up with gathered experience from collecting treasure and killing enemies, which earns stat points you can put into your stats to build up your melee damage, health, magic points, and max ammo capacity. This lets you create a unique build ala an RPG that can change each run you do, and this is further expanded with what upgrade points can do.

Upgrade points are a separate thing, which you can find in secrets and naturally during levels as big, spinning stars. You can use them to unlock any spells you have found in levels, and also upgrade any of the weapons you’ve collected. There’s a wide variety of spells that give offensive, defensive, and even support options, including a punishing stationary lightning ball AOE and an ammo refill. They can also come out easy, requiring just a tap of the alt-fire button.

Weapons upgrades is where the game’s real fun comes into play. Everything but your weird knife fist thing can be upgraded, and often into a variety of references to other popular FPS games. Your garbage starting revolver can either become a Blood style flare gun or a handcannon that makes the base shotgun obsolete. Sure, you can dual wield your SMG, or you can turn it into a nail gun that ricochets its hard nail projectiles on walls. Want a rail gun? Just upgrade the late game energy gun, or you can go for a rapid fire variant. It is absolutely wild what toys you get to play with.

The arsenal does have some balancing issues, though. The flamethrower is effectively worthless, its close range carnage made pointless by the impressively punishing ax, and its distance variant upgrade is outclassed by most every long distance weapon you have. The shotgun’s higher damage upgrade destroys its spread and is kind of pointless after getting the revolver’s damage upgrade (even if it eats through ammo very quickly). The late game BFG called the chain reactor is slow to launch and has an odd effect where it spreads out death orbs with each hit its orbs make, and only deals damage if you hit initially. While it’s nice to have the crossbow, it feels kind of pointless in a game that lets you stack two more barrels on a super shotgun or throw frag grenades that turn entire rooms into death.

While this would be a major issue in any other FPS game, Project Warlock‘s RPG level and upgrade systems manage to overcome this issue a bit by giving you a ton of crazy toys. That focus on customization makes each run different, and it’s hard to say anything is OP when upgrades make almost every weapon in the game OP (though the chaingun upgrade that gives double damage with no extra ammo cost and no windup is maybe a bit too OP). What makes the lesser guns lesser is that the hordes you’re going against are large, varied, and punishing, so certain weapons just don’t do the trick once you start running into rocket shooting mechs and meaty Shambler tanks.

Almost every enemy in the game comes from another FPS game you may have heard of, from the Gnaar mummies to the shrunken Shogo mechs. Others just fit the theme of the five worlds you visit, like fireball shooting succubi in the haunted castles or charging yetis in the arctic. It gives the game a very chaotic feel, with no real unifying aesthetic choice beyond the lively sprite work, with exception to the hell levels mixing elements from all past worlds with unique hell bits. This fits the very loose world-building and the blistering combat, very much a game’s game sort of game.

What’s also interesting is that the worlds do feel like the places they’re trying to be, much unlike DOOM and more like Duke Nukem and other Build engine games. You’ll find yourself in military city shootouts and Egyptian tomb crypt runs, with fitting back tracks the entire way. You’re always in an interesting space, but it’s abstracted enough by the simple graphics to make it feel otherworldly. It feels simultaneously old and new, helped by the extremely loud lighting effects on higher settings.

The maze structure also avoids a few old school design sins, each level generally being pretty short, but offering a lot of surprises to discover if you’re willing to look. For those who love wall secrets, you will love this game. It’s also recommended to secret hunt, since spells and upgrade points are often hidden away, and like any good FPS, you can get your hands on new weapons early in secrets. The game even lets you see how many secrets are in a given map when you pause, helping you keep track of what’s left to find.

You may have noticed by now that there has been no mention of a story, and it should not surprise you to learn that Project Warlock, inspired by the classics, barely has one outside world clear screens. Basically, the warlock is traveling among worlds conquered by evil (aka the devil) and shooting evil in the face because he hates it. It is the most excuse plot that has ever excused in a rather charming way, with the text dumps having that overblown prose of the classic id Software era. Credit also goes to the game’s ending, a pretty clever last minute development that seems fitting for this genre in particular.

This is all great, though you should be warned that like most any RPG, starting Project Warlock has some pained early moments. Your early game arsenal isn’t great, and enemies are placed in large numbers from the start. It’s not helped by the lives system, where you get a game over if you die too much. Also, you have to complete a chunk of levels, usually three or four, to reach your base to cash stat and upgrade points. You can return there at any time, but it costs one life and you have to start that string of levels over again. Play on casual if you have to, it’s just normal difficulty without lives. Once you get used to the difficulty, feel free to switch to normal, there’s plenty of lives so you can build up a surplus pretty fast.

Project Warlock is just twelve bucks and it still getting updates today, including some re-balancing for the early levels (though they’re still a bit of a challenge). It may be one of the best releases in the boomer shooter movement and is well worth a play for anyone with a love for the classics, or even those interested in the genre (though you may be better off starting with DUSK on lower difficulties). It can lag on lower end machines, even with the fancy lighting effects turned off, so do be aware.

 

[Ash]

"Indie and big budget giants alike are going all in, but one thing notably missing from this movement has been that all of these games had mandatory Y-axis controls. Project Warlock lets you turn that off and let auto-aim make up for it, just as Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM intended."

Selling a lack of three dimensional shooting/precision aiming as a desired feature and something important missing from the recent FPS revival. Auto aim, that's what we're missing! Wut? Having to aim on an extra axis doesn't slow down FPS gameplay at all outside of the nanosecond scale, and the significant extra depth is considerably worth it.

Project Warlock takes the most classic of the formulas possible and shoves in nearly every single idea from modern shooters and other throwback shooters

Masterful approach to game design right there.

whatever, still gonna give it a try at some point. Maybe.

Why are you asking for saves when checkpoint system is far superior. Not having saves is a good thing imo.

:Rating_Prestigious:

 

[Dayyālu]

I'm more amazed that Kaharl of HG101 infamy ( the guy reviews almost exclusively artsy no games and is one of the causes of the site slow descent into stupidity) can manage to play a "real" shooter.

Warlock was impressively mediocre and badly designed when I tried it, maybe it improved in the meantime.

 

[Ivan]

some good fun:

 

[Curratum]

some good fun:

Wow, they've somehow managed to make the amount of visual feedback about how much damage you're doing and the impact of guns / stagger even less visible and obvious! Good job!

 

[Lagi]

that looks good! even with this too thick outline

 

[luj1]

Curratum Opinion on 2 vs 1?

 

[Curratum]

Curratum Opinion on 2 vs 1?

I had fun with one. Left a positive review despite mxied feelings in the end. Here's my full review from Steam:

=====

A mixed recommendation, leaning to positive, just because I would rather support this sort of game than not see any more of it.

PW is a relatively short game, I cleaned the campaign in just under 6 hours on Hard. A lot of the early to mid-game levels are short to a fault, just a few rooms and tunnels that can be cleaned in under 2 minutes. Later levels are medium to large, but not really to the game's benefit.

The biggest issue with the game is difficulty. I cleaned the game on Hard, dying just twice to a boss that I wasn't sure how exactly to fight. There is no real sense of danger once you get a few gun and health upgrades, With ammo capacity upgrades you will be drowning in all sorts of ammo all the way to the endgame if you switch guns frequently.

Enemies rarely pose much of a threat, even with the double movement speed and double damage they get on hard. The issue can't really be fixed with number inflation. Melee enemies are very slow, ranged enemies often don't attack for a couple of seconds.

This is to the game's detriment, as the pace of the action is blistering fast - you can clean a room full of medium enemies in 2-3 seconds with an upgraded chaingun or rocket launcher. Later levels give up on level design entirely and just throw large groups of projectile-spam enemies in large groups in the open and the game becomes a duller version of Serious Sam.

There are quite a few levels with inexcusable framerate drops, given how the game looks as well.

Overall, a quick bit of goofy oldschool fun on the side, but nothing in common with Doom or Wolfenstein 3D that the dev quotes in the description. Well, apart from the endgame enemy reel maybe... Probably my least favorite shooter among Dusk / AEvil / Ion Fury / Wrath, but a decent one nonetheless.

=====

Tried the demo for 2. It fels more ambitious but level design was a chaotic, pointless, themeless mess. Would not recommend, especially not at this price.

 

[luj1]

Curratum Opinion on 2 vs 1?

I had fun with one. Left a positive review despite mxied feelings in the end. Here's my full review from Steam:

=====

A mixed recommendation, leaning to positive, just because I would rather support this sort of game than not see any more of it.

PW is a relatively short game, I cleaned the campaign in just under 6 hours on Hard. A lot of the early to mid-game levels are short to a fault, just a few rooms and tunnels that can be cleaned in under 2 minutes. Later levels are medium to large, but not really to the game's benefit.

The biggest issue with the game is difficulty. I cleaned the game on Hard, dying just twice to a boss that I wasn't sure how exactly to fight. There is no real sense of danger once you get a few gun and health upgrades, With ammo capacity upgrades you will be drowning in all sorts of ammo all the way to the endgame if you switch guns frequently.

Enemies rarely pose much of a threat, even with the double movement speed and double damage they get on hard. The issue can't really be fixed with number inflation. Melee enemies are very slow, ranged enemies often don't attack for a couple of seconds.

This is to the game's detriment, as the pace of the action is blistering fast - you can clean a room full of medium enemies in 2-3 seconds with an upgraded chaingun or rocket launcher. Later levels give up on level design entirely and just throw large groups of projectile-spam enemies in large groups in the open and the game becomes a duller version of Serious Sam.

There are quite a few levels with inexcusable framerate drops, given how the game looks as well.

Overall, a quick bit of goofy oldschool fun on the side, but nothing in common with Doom or Wolfenstein 3D that the dev quotes in the description. Well, apart from the endgame enemy reel maybe... Probably my least favorite shooter among Dusk / AEvil / Ion Fury / Wrath, but a decent one nonetheless.

=====

Tried the demo for 2. It fels more ambitious but level design was a chaotic, pointless, themeless mess. Would not recommend, especially not at this price.

I have a feeling PW2 is gonna do some things better than PW1, but other things much worse

If its true that you choose characters and they have 3 skills each, that is huge decline from the wide array of spells you commanded in the first game

Very MOBA-like and I have no idea what they would do it

Can you confirm if those are skills or spells?

 

[Curratum]

I neither remember, not played enough to notice, to be honest.