Historical past is DOOMed to repeat.
Prodeus is a first-person shooter with a concentrate on fast-paced fight, a pseudo-retro aesthetic, and plenty of gory explosions. Prodeus might be summed up in a short time as a sport that seeks to discover a excellent steadiness between influences of traditional Doom video games and fashionable Doom. It isn’t shy about these influences both, as they’re mirrored in every little thing from enemy design to the colour pallet of merchandise pickups. That is each a energy and weak spot, as Prodeus nails exactly what it units out to do, and thus brings little new to the desk.
The extent design of Prodeus is impressed closely by early first-person shooters of the ‘90s. Ranges are considerably non-linear, requiring the participant to discover to search out keys and switches, then return to entry beforehand locked off areas. Stage design feels very correct to its inspiration and performs very properly. Every degree accommodates loads of secrets and techniques off the crushed path and a shocking quantity of visible selection regardless of a restricted collection of belongings. Discovering secrets and techniques additionally advantages your development as further weapons and improve factors are scattered about. Ranges might be replayed from an nearly Tremendous Mario World-esque overworld map, encouraging replays to search out every little thing.
Whereas I usually attempt to keep away from making my opinions an excessive amount of about evaluating one sport to a different, Prodeus’s biggest weak spot is how subservient it’s to the Doom franchise. Every thing from weapons to enemy sorts is nearly an identical. The contaminated gun wielding marine, the fireplace ball hurling imp, the massive charging demons, the floating Cacodemon: they’re all right here, and so they’re primarily all that’s right here. Not often will you see something that doesn’t have a direct counterpart within the Doom franchise. However right here’s the factor: it additionally performs very properly. Sure, it’s an unapologetic Doom clone, however it’s a excellent unapologetic Doom clone.
The technical facet of issues is the place most of Prodeus’s originality is available in. Fashionable rendering strategies and supplies are mixed excellently with low constancy fashions and texture work to create one thing that appears completely retro and completely fashionable on the identical time. Enemies use actual time 3D fashions to generate lighting correct 2D sprites in actual time. All of it appears to be like completely unbelievable. The Swap on the entire delivers a playable degree of efficiency. Decision clearly isn’t a difficulty as the sport renders at an deliberately low decision by design, however body fee can battle at instances. I didn’t discover it debilitating, however it was definitely noticeable.
If you would like a really artistically and technically achieved Doom clone, Prodeus completely delivers. Assist for fan-made ranges can probably increase your expertise considerably however the choice to create your individual is lacking from this model. Efficiency on Swap isn’t flawless however it’s nonetheless very playable and appears nice the entire time. Whereas it struggles to search out its personal identification alongside the best way, and comes off extra as an elaborate mod or a fan sport than a title of its personal, Prodeus does nonetheless stand as an strong although unoriginal shooter.