CULTIC

This is the best feeling boomer shooter ive ever played. Hits the perfect sweet spot of being a bit slower paced compared to something like Dusk, while still feeling snappy. If you enjoy games like Ultrakill this may be a little slow for your liking, but it's perfect for me.

The downside of current age with games is that there are simply so many I don't have time to even take notice of most of them. As life gets busy it is downright impossible to keep track of everything, unless I took it as a job, in that case it would probably lose its enjoyment...Regardless this thing somehow avoided my radar and all I can say is that I am very glad I somehow stumbled upon it. This is a gem of a game,
Boomer shooter? Yeah sure. I really don't like that name, but whatever. This game is fantastic. It's like taking some aesthetic of Blood and mashing it with RE4. You get tight precise combat that can be unforgiving and yet utterly visceral and satisfying. You are some detective looking for a kidnapped girl..."Save me Leon".
Anyway you wake up in a pile of dead bodies (I live again) and go to town on these cultists. Now we get to business. It's the 1960s and our weapon lineup kind of lines up with the times, perhaps few dacades back. Nearly in line with 20s (unless you count the China Lake, but hey I am willing to forgive that one). You get an absolutely wonderful lineup of firearms. I am biased here. I own at least half a dozen lever action firearms so when I see one in the game I'm in my element. You got the broomhandle, a mare's leg, good ole sawed off double barrel, STEN and so forth. Each gun also can be upgraded to be even more awesome.
Shooting has a fantastic feedback, and damage is localized so you better be aiming for the noggin. Also the feedback for it is hilarious. You will know from space when you score a headshot. Honestly I loved the combat. It's more tactical in sense that err you will be dropping dead a lot until you figure it out. It's not like Blood's army of one kind of combat. More like in line what Selaco did but slow it down a little and make it more in line to how RE4 encounters went. Guns pack a punch, enemies kill you in a blink. Figure it out.
To supplement this you have a wonderful movement system. You dodge (thank you Jason for implementing Unreal's double tap to dodge, you made this aging bugger happy). You can slide, kick and air kick. Everything you need to put boot up the ass of poor saps in your way. Combine that with your shotgun and that before mentioned mare's leg and fellas we have one mean contender on our hands....I really really wish MC was not silent. I would have loved one liners like Caleb had. But alas that would break the atmosphere this game is building. Still I would be out of myself to hear Caleb's insane laughter as some of these fools are getting burned to a crisp...
Anyway back to tools, you have the dynamite. Think of it like Blood but you can do even more. You can throw it on the ground and shoot it (even via hotkey while using other guns...lovley). You can gauge your toss, you can split the bundle to make it a cluster bomb, you can tie it to a molotov to make a large napalm type bomb and the game throws these things at you like candy. Go to town, start chucking and watch the pieces fly and screams fill your ears. All this combined, guns, dynamite/molotov and movement and you have on hell of a solid foundation. Combat is chef's kiss. It's like Selaco, but with Blood flavor. I love it.
Atmosphere of the game is creepy, from the lighting to the music to the enemies. Doesn't really bother me as long as I'm pulling the trigger but it is done very well.
Campaign is kind of short, but there will be more. Episode two will be sold separately. Take it as you will. I am buying it when it releases.
All I was thinking as I kept playing this, is why in the ever loving hell he didn't put in a SAA in there. A good ole Colt Single Action Army, would have been perfect....and then the interlude happens and we get something like a model 27. Oh wait! There is more, you can upgrade to fan fire it. Forget that it's a double action revolver. We fan firing this magnum. More? He throws in a browning auto 5... Ok...If the next episode ends up having a trench gun, a 1887, Thompson or a 1911 I am gonna lose my shit. The gun nut in me is going haywire.
Listen folks, you like shooting things? You like tight controls, well thought out mechanics and rewarding combat with avenues of approach? You like lots of well put in secrets in level design and levels that actually feel engaging? Did you like Blood, Resident Evil 4 or are fancy to Selaco? Get this shit. It's rockin'.

Cultic is a horror-fps game, where you play as a detective who have been removed from its case where a crime wave goes through a place called New Grandewel, in which people got abducted and killed without a trace and you as the detective removed from the case, who wanted to uncover more about it, so you take it on yourself, but you find out that a mysterious cult is behind it.
The visuals seem to be retro, but feels modern at the same time, it’s quite a good mix. They are unique and very fitting, and can also make certain levels creepy. The soundtrack is also pretty nice and the whole atmosphere of this game is fantastic. Gameplay has some cool mechanics, like using props as a weapon and how to use throwable grenades, which needs some time to get used to, but I find them alright. The gameplay overall is really well done thanks to the interesting exploration opportunities in each level, or the balanced weapons which are all situational so you need to use all of them in different cases, or the pretty good map design and enemy usage in each level. I rarely give props about this, but there is definitely a replayability in Cultic, either you want to finish it on a higher difficulty or try your luck with the survival mode. The game itself is challenging enough, but does not feel unfair. The mood swing in this game is really well done and it is done right on each level.
One thing I want to note is the second chapter is still in the making, even though it has been announced to be published way before, so chapter one’s ending might feel a bit too open ended without answering the important questions, but I still found the setting of the game interesting.
However, one thing which I couldn’t get used to is positioning myself on the levels, because in some cases I often missed stairs or jumps and I don’t know why. I’m pretty much familiar with FPS and movement based games and I think Cultic has a different view model or something with this effect. Occasionally you can see some graphical glitches related to enemies but it’s not too often. And to me, I felt the gameplay could have been a little bit longer: even with the prelude chapter I was able to play through the game in 7 hours on hard difficulty.
I’m not surprised why so many people compare this game to Blood, because it does take inspiration from it. This is a gem for sure, where almost everything is done right and just feels good to play this game. I can definitely recommend this one to play, even for the full price.

Between Dusk and Cultic, I can honestly say that while both are great, Cultic is better in my opinion.
I love Dusk, and while its levels may appeal more to the boomer shooter maze map aficionados and easter egg hunters, Cultic feels like a highly focused and expertly designed game with lots of passion and creativity poured into every asset. The less maze like levels and esoteric secrets of Cultic make it an excellent gateway for people unfamiliar with boomer shooters to work their way into the genre; in that regard Cultic may be the best pick-up-and-play shooter I've played in a long while.
I'm biased, but the music is also amazing, perfect tonal choice.
Very good stuff.

I am normally a very picky person when it comes to modern games made in this sort of retro fps style, but cultic does one of the greatest jobs ive ever seen of meshing the absolute best of modern and old styles to create something that is so obviously its own thing while still being so much fun. I highly recommend this game to both fans of old and new fps', its so beautifully designed that everyone will get something out of it.

This is a fantastic boomer shooter with great control and movement.

It owes a lot to games like Blood, Duke Nukem and Resident Evil 4, but it stays extremely fresh despite its obvious influences. The guns mostly all feel fantastic to use, the explosions have a great sense of impact, and popping cultist heads never ceases to be satisfying. I really like how effective the throw mechanic is in this one and it led to some unique kills.

I really enjoyed the music and overall sound design. The cave in the first level was a huge standout moment for me, along with The Asylum. I really hope to see more strong horror elements like those in Chapter Two, and I absolutely hope to see more monster enemies.

If you like boomer shooters, you owe it to yourself to give this a try. It's definitely a blood soaked gem.

Good secrets, good to look at, good explosions, good flames, cultists hate it when you wash their mouth out with a shotgun.