Vicarious on 4/3/2018 at 09:48
[video=youtube;QcAwzusZUrQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcAwzusZUrQ[/video]
Initially intended to be a prequel to Bombshell, Ion Maiden turned into a full game and hit Early Access a couple of days ago. EA gives you an access to a preview mini-campaign (two big levels, roughly 1,5h to beat), final release sometime in 2018.
I bought it on a whim and I think it's a pretty competent Build game. It looks really good, levels are big and exploration-based. It does feel like something that could have been made after Blood and Shadow Warrior. My main complaint is that the enemy variety is pretty low but it is a preview build so I expect more out of the full game.
Feels like a good old comic book style, action movie type of a thing. If you like Build engine games, you'll probably enjoy this one. Maybe.
N'Al on 4/3/2018 at 09:53
Poor Redneck Rampage doesn't even get a mention. :(
henke on 4/3/2018 at 10:06
I mentioned it in another thread the other day, but it probably deserves a thread of it's own. It does indeed look great. I wonder if it will herald a new wave of nostalgic Build-style FPSs, the same way that Cave Story* brought with it a new wave of 2D platformers with chunky pixels.
*not saying that Cave Story is solely responsible for the resurgence of that style, but it's probably one of the main influences.
ZylonBane on 4/3/2018 at 15:19
Uh, there's already been a wave of nostalgic FPSs. Which is probably why this got approved in the first place.
Vicarious on 4/3/2018 at 16:03
I don't have a problem with this as long as the devs deliver.
The thing is that up until recently every 'oldschool' shooter felt like its authors didn't really understand what made those classic games work in the first place. Like the 'oldschool' part was an excuse to have crappy graphics. Dusk was really the first 90's wannabe FPS that, in my opinion, actually felt like it could have been made in the 90s. Like the devs 'get it'. It's not just 'bad' graphics, everything about it is appropriate.
Ion Maiden seems to capture that as well. When I played the preview I thought to myself "yeah, those guys know what they're doing". And again, as long as they deliver it's awesome. Hopefully Amid Evil follows that trend.
henke on 4/3/2018 at 18:20
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
Uh, there's already been a wave of nostalgic FPSs.
True. There's games that have gameplay heavily inspired by 90s FPSs, and there's a few that ape the graphical style of Quake and early polygonal FPSs, but I don't think we've had a lot with looks of Build-engine 2.5D games recently. Vlambeers (
https://vlambeer.itch.io/gun-godz) GUN GODZ is the only one that comes to mind. Oh shit, and (
http://store.steampowered.com/app/446120/Bunker_Punks/) Bunker Punks of course, which I still haven't played.
ZylonBane on 4/3/2018 at 23:05
Of course, Ion Maiden looks and plays like a Build engine game because it literally is one.
EvaUnit02 on 11/3/2018 at 11:32
Quote Posted by Vicarious
I don't have a problem with this as long as the devs deliver.
The thing is that up until recently every 'oldschool' shooter felt like its authors didn't really understand what made those classic games work in the first place.
It's better to take some elements but not all IMO.
Frankly the labyrinthine level design and key hunts of '90s FPSes were the height of fucking bullshit. I remember being lost in some levels for literally hours, wading through dead bodies during the '90s, looking for where to go next. (Eg Hexen can go fuck itself and burn in hell.)
It was amateurish game design which frankly has been left behind by time for the better.
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henke on 12/3/2018 at 06:18
In other retro FPS news, this looks kinda cool.
[video=youtube;wo7X7b6pPng]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo7X7b6pPng[/video]
I like all the colored lighting. Remember back in the early days of 3D acceleration when devs were putting color lighting all over the place just because they could but then got self-conscious about it and toned it down? That was the wrong move, they should started putting EVEN MORE color lighting in. It's great.
Sulphur on 12/3/2018 at 06:26
That looks like a ridiculous mess of Quake and Heretic, with zero rhyme or reason to things like why some of the weapons are super detailed, yet the energy discharge effects are pixellated like it's something out of OG Quake. Also everything seems to make the screen flash, from getting hit to picking up health. Which means it's probably going to be fun, just really weirdly designed. (I really like the wand's firing animation, it looks like something ripped right out of a mid-90s FPS.)
Edit: ah, it's from the guys who did the RotT reboot. Wasn't a fan as it was way too messy for me, but it's good to see them carry on carrying on.