Ooh, check out Gorescript for classic FPS funtimes
Splattergun approach
Sorry this isn't a more in-depth post, but I've run out of time before my holiday is due to start, and I really want to tell you that Gorescript [official site] is brilliant fun.
Found while trawling Steam's New Release list yesterday, this is a classic-style FPS, but oh so much more deadlier, and presented with some charmingly enormous pixels.
It's very clearly a homage to the days of Doom, but with much faster feet, and the giant pixelly enemies are actually there in 3D. And there's the slightly 'modern' twist that death is really punishing, and really easily found.
So you've got the expected pick-ups, health, shield, new weapons, and odd extras, and you've got corridors linking larger rooms, and you've got a rapidly growing pile of weapons to fire with. Then there's the woefully missed joy of hidden doors in the walls, key cards to find to open vital doors, and a really peculiarly small variation of enemy types. It's just that, wow, your health goes down fast. And without a quicksave, one wrong step sees you restart one of the 18 decent-sized levels from scratch. It's quite the OOF, but replaying, working out the order you're going to approach it from, getting better with each failure, is a huge part of what's charmed me here.
There's one big issue - the lack of physical feedback from enemies when shot. They squirt goo and blood, which rationalises the game's name as you paint the walls, ceiling and floors in gloop, but they don't flinch, stop, stagger or jolt, and that absence is really noticeable. It's a tiny detail that makes such a colossal difference. Still, there's a great deal of simple shooting fun to be had here despite it, not least because of the ridiculous tension of knowing one wrong step could see you back at the start of the level.
All the more extraordinary because it appears to be the work of one guy, Sergiu Bucur, but for the music. Kudos.
It's only £6 on Steam right now, and despite having only played for a couple of hours, I'm certain I'm having a great time with it.