Amid Evil

So yeah, it's another low-key game which puts AAA studios and publishers to shame. Even though it isn't without it's flaws, Amid Evil is a ton of fun and does a lot of things right, and for the most part I've had a right blast. Most of all though, it's not only a good game, but it's one which feels remarkably fresh too.
Fans of Heretic and Hexen will instantly feel the inspirational vibes from those games here, but without a doubt Amid Evil draws from those games whilst also doing it's own thing too. I'm not one who really gets stoked by aesthetics, gameplay is king for me, but here everything feels SO unbelievably fresh, polished and unique that it's hard not to fall in love with them all. The music in particular is superb; this is definitely a game to play with headphones on.
But that's all backed up by great gameplay too anyway. Everything feels on-point, and the enemies come with some fantastically crafted attack patterns which force you to stay on your toes. It's fast, snappy fun which flows great. Feeding into that is the fact that each weapon remains relevant throughout the game, and that they are all useful against different types of enemies. A lot of playtesting and effort has clearly gone into this game, and it boy does it feel well balanced for it. I also don't think it's that easy either past the earlier stages; I died a shed load in the Forges! lol, and it didn't take much of a slip up to end up dead there. So, whilst it does start very easy, kudos on the overall difficulty curve.
The stage design is mostly positive too, with thematically lush stages crafted excellently to offer a nice blend of action, puzzles and secrets. None of the puzzles will tax you for long at all, this is nowhere near as complex as games such as Hexen 2, but they serve their purpose and the devs get very creative with some stages, throwing a lot of verticality into the mix. At it's best Amid Evil feels like a real adventure which isn't tight with it's "whoa!" moments either.
What does hinder the game though is it's pacing. Whilst the game's elements themselves are excellent, sometimes they are portioned unevenly and it can make the journey a bumpy one. Some stages are tipped far too much either way with their balance of action, puzzling or platforming. Like I say, those elements themselves are still all executed well, so in isolation they aren't an issue, but there were definitely stages were I was thinking "I've had enough platforming/puzzling here now, give me some action" and visa versa, but then said stage carried on with the same approach which it had already been throwing at me for 10-20 minutes previous.
To extend on that, I'd also say that a few stages just felt a bit too long; each world is broken up into 4 stages, and some of the latter stages probably could do with being sliced up slightly to form a 6-stage setup instead IMO. It's taking me over a month to grind out the last few stages and is starting to drag, simply because I knew I was having to find a 45-60 minute slot of the day to run through a stage, and for Popamole action that's just not a good portion size IMO. I know that'll reduce significantly as I master the stages, but honestly most stages past the half way mark should have been reduced by 20-30% to offer more bite-sized portions - Popamole games being portioned like adventure/RPG games is a real display of modern dev naivety.
Also, and this is probably just a me thing, but I really wish there just wasn't any mana in this game, or at the very least some item which makes it irrelevant after the early stages. The endless cycle of loose mana...hunt mana...loose mana...hunt mana just grows tiresome, and there's no real need for mana here either as the enemies prompt you to change up weapons anyway (so the drive to switch weapons doesn't come from being mana-dry). I really hope any potential sequel ditches the mana angle, gives the game secrets which give you special items or player upgrades instead, and maybe even introduces Hexen 2 style characters.
Final minor gripe is that there are sections which are obviously there just to prompt you to activate "overdrive" mode. It just feels a bit cheap. "Overdrive" is way too readily available throughout the whole game anyway, and personally I think they should have made items which make this mode the core focus for exploration rather than mana, and restricted it to a far rarer event. Make a big deal of it next time! Feed the power-trip!
But these are minor gripes with what is otherwise a great blast.
8/10

A worthy successor to Heretic/Hexen and arguably one of the greatest entries in the ongoing boomer shooter revival sitting comfortably alongside masterpieces like DUSK and Ion Fury!
The art direction is phenomenal and the level design is inspired and incredibly varied. All of the weapons have their niche all the way until the endgame. The music is atmospheric and compliments the action well.
Highly recommend the new DLC "Black Labyrinth" as well, the campaign is a great fun and a good challenge, while the weapons slot in perfectly to the existing roster. I recommend both the basegame and the expansion in the strongest terms!

This is an excellent game. I very rarely feel this way but this is one of the all time best fps games ever produced. As long as when it comes to singleplayer oriented ones. It ticks all the areas.
Story
Presentation
Aesthetics
Atmosphere
Gameplay
Difficulty
Level Design
Music
Sound Effects
Optimization
Graphics
This is coming from a guy who isn't too much into fantasey/midevil artstyle games. So it's pretty damn impressive feat.
Presentation/Atmoshpere
This game to me is sort of something if you combined the original Unreal and Heretic/Hexxen II games and added your own twist into it. The usage of colored lighting is just so reminiscent of that late 90's games where colored lighting was a massive new feature. And it's great tbh, as todays games have mostly forgotten how much atmosphere you can achieve with just lights alone. Without textures, sounds or some overused postprocessing effects.
Excellent use of environmental effects like reverbation too. It greatly adds to the atmosphere when youre in a big hall and pull out your sword and it actually echoes in there from the sharp sound of bringing up your sword instead of sound stopping like in space.
Level Design/Gameplay
What I'm most amazed about, is the fact how AmidEvil truly captures the essence of those 90's original fps games while not being straight up old and janky. The maps give you full freedom to proceed at your own pace but will never punish you for wanting to explore. Infact it is highly encouraged as there are plenty of secrets to be discovered and power to be gained. Most importantly, the maps are interesting and cleverly designed original designs as should.
Enemies come from where ever and it'd doesnt do the often mistaken for classic fps gameplay, where youre just fighting against hordes in pre-determined arenas. I'm speaking of the likes of serious sam, painkiller or the new doom games forexample. Horde Shooters. Instead enemy placement is more organic. Sometimes you encounter plenty of enemies, sometimes individual enemies, other times you encounter none and thus tension is being built.
Difficulty/Progression
Progression is just the right. I played straight from the start on hard but that was suitable to me. Never however did I feel that the game was really unfair, except that Twins bossfight in the bubble was getting on my nerves a bit until I discovered the proper way to handle it :D Other than that I never had any problem with it. This had been very well playtested prior to release for it to be so natural flowing progression for the player.
Optimization/DLC Expansion
It's also quite long game so youre definitely getting your monies worth here. And to add.. there is a DLC expansion for this and it did job quite good for the most part. It opened very well and was immediately a bit different from the start. So it manages to keep things fresh and even introduce new features too. Also adds into the lore of the main game.
Theres also an presentation purposed map on it's own included as Lost Falls, which also acts as the games demo version map. I give both thumbs up to the devs for including even more to play in the full game with the inclusion of this. You can see the presentation map wasn't made with such attention to detail as the main game. Or it was a very early build or just not enough time overall to finish it but all in all it was a nice small thing to playthrough after the maingame and it's expansion.
I also never had any performance issues eventho I played the game on maxed settings.
I can't really criticize anything about this. Excellent work

Another new blood banger.
The movement is clean cut, the weaponplay feels awesome and the maps look spectacular.
Everything is made up of tiny little blocks that make the grandiose worlds feel even more alive.
My only complaint is it's admittedly a little easy, even on the hidden evil difficulty. I was expecting to die way more.
This game is fucking amazing and you should buy it NOW!!!!!

A modern classic of a game that would have been an instant classic if it were released in the 90's/Early 2000's.
Excellent game with a ton of content.

Amid Evil is a fast-paced, pixelated acid trip laced with gratuitous wizard murder. The atmosphere is like a Jack Kirby sci-fi illustration, projected on a four-dimensional object under a blacklight. And that's not even mentioning that Andrew Hulshult's soundtrack goes hard and never stops.
Like the best boom shoots, it finds complexity in its simple gameplay. Each weapon has a function and a purpose. They are unique tools for turning Evil into a fine red mist. As a result, most of the fun comes from learning what weapons are effective in certain circumstances and swapping them out to optimize your gibbitute output. It's a lot like modern DOOM in that respect. No weapon is wasted, no overcharge is useless, no crystal wizard is left un-exploded by a projectile plant. Even The Axe of the Black Labyrinth plays a heavy role in higher difficulties.
Every level is unique, carrying its own set of enemies. Most of them are slight re-skins (especially the flying enemies), but they bring enough of a unique twist to every setting. Sometimes, you'll lean heavily on the staff that shoots planets; other times, you'll use your lighting trident to exploit its chain-lighting effect on large groups of enemies. Bossfights are creative and sometimes take place in antigravity orbs.
There is some annoying platforming in later levels. But if some weird jumps are enough to ruin a game for you, you probably don't like shooters. I grew up on Turok, so it barely phases me. But besides that, every level is a slam dunk. It does a great job of telegraphing where to go and how to get to your objectives. I never felt like I was wandering in circles, wishing for a top-down map like I'm on an Apple II or something.
Amid Evil excels beyond its inspiration, creating an identity as the perfect example of how to stick it to the AAA industry. There is no leveling, crafting, gimmicks, or expository cutscenes. This is a video game in the purest sense. You boot it up and kick ass right out of the gate. That's about as clean and straightforward as you can get.
I hope they make another one—or at least a level editor—so I can keep making Amid Evil until this mid-life crisis runs its course.

Utterly amazing.
its got graphics
its got weapons
its got violence
its got movement