Vaporum – Lockdown

Just finished the game, but I left a good chunk of the optional stuff. It's really good.
It's relatively close to Grimrock in its gameplay, except you have the ability to toggle pause mode so the game only move when you do (or when you press a specific key). Looks like a mechanic that would only make the combat trivialy easy? It's not, since the enemy behavior and the encounters has been balanced around it.
That aside, all you expect in such a game is there : sprawling maps, puzzles, secret doors, perk system on level up, loot, and so on and so forth.

Excellent dungeon crawler, if you enjoy Dungeon Master-style games like Grimrock, chances are you will love this. Only a slight evolution over the origianl Vaporum (which was already good), this offers more of everything, while keeping the formula intact. Difficulty has increased a bit, but it still strikes a good balance between combat and puzzles. 9/10

TLDR; I would recommend.
As someone who has completed Eye of The Beholder (1990s), World of Xeen(Might and Magic IV+V), The Bards Tale IV, Might and Magic X and the original Vaporum (which I highly recommend!!!!) I can recommend Vaporum Lockdown.
If you are looking for a dungeon crawler game fix, I would HIGHLY recommend the first one and Lockdown second. In my opinion, Lockdown feels like it has way too much puzzle rooms that are not themed after the floor you are trying to clear. Feels like someone created an X amount of Puzzle Rooms and randomly sprinkle them in the different floors. Looking at you Water Treatment Plant floor and Power Plant floor.
Which build can you make to run Lockdown? At the start of the game, you will need to choose a "Rig", which will give you bonuses to stats to a build you are trying to aim.
Like casting spells (the build I used to complete the game) then use the Thaumaturge rig, theres a Tank rig, Critical (Assassin) rig and the Assault rig (lower your health the more damage you do). With a bunch of "Skills" tree to support each one.
You can use Maces(1Handed/2Handed), Swords(1H/2H), Daggers(1H), Shields and Advance Shields, a skill tree dedicated to Armor, Pistols(have not tried a Dual Wield Pistols), Rifles(2H) and Shotguns(2H). Each one having its own skill tree.
Would totally recommend the game, just know there way too much puzzle rooms and if you are stuck, theres no shame in using a guide.

Vaporum: Lockdown is an amazing, beginner-friendly blend of a Dungeon Crawler and an "0451" game like BioShock or System Shock, and even I, having zero experience with the former genre whatsoever, managed to ease into its gameplay with no problems.
-Initial impressions
At the very start, the game offers a clearly-defined and easy-to-understand playstyle choice with the various Exosuit harnesses, while offering all sorts of weapons from the very start.
Melee? The game has you covered, offering a wrench at the very start (because of course, it's the law that an "0451" game has to have a wrench as a starting weapon) and a shield to get up-close-and-personal.
Ranged? A pistol and a blunderbuss are readily available at the very first stage.
There's something for every playstyle, and you can decide on your playstyle at the very start -- even then, your choice doesn't limit you to a certain selection of weapons; instead, the game gives you complete cart-blanche in your approach -- and you'll need anything you can get your hands on to survive the Tower.
-Gameplay
To preface this:
SAVE
OFTEN.
When you complete a puzzle, save. When you win a big encounter, save. When you haven't saved in a long time, save.
Though this game has autosaving, it's recommended that you manually save.
This game may be the most thrilling thing I've experienced in a while.
Exploration and puzzle-solving take up a major part of this game. Puzzles are pleasantly challenging, and it always feels rewarding when you finally solve them.
Exploring is greatly encouraged, as snooping around yields great items or peculiar lore-notes/recordings.
Then we come to the combat portion of this game.
It
is
a w e s o m e.
The tank controls of the game really add to the tension and suspense of combat, as you're not able to freely look around with your mouse.
You're only limited to turning with the Q and E keys which may sound unpleasant on paper, but in execution feels natural and simply great.
The enemies are very diverse and come in a lot of forms, meaning you'll have to adapt your playstyle to every encounter to take them down.
A Roach or a Rat may require simply strafing and hitting it, but a Watcher will be much more unforgiving if you use that same tactic on him.
When encounters go large-scale, the game kicks into sixth gear: being chased by several murderous cyborgs and an unkillable Nemesis-wannabe gets terrifying when you also have to wrestle with the controls.
The gameplay is definitely a 10/10 for me.
-Atmosphere/Story
The game looks really good. Even on my not particularly strong laptop, it runs very well, while looking great.
I cannot describe how much I love the aesthetic style. It hits the golden middle-ground of Dieselpunk and Steampunk, and the same can be said about the enemy designs -- it's what attracted me to the game in the first place, how simply great it looks. The sounds are very much decent, and do their job greatly, as does the voice acting.
Additionally, it's incredibly immersive.
The story follows the usual "0451" formula of coming into a foreign place and trying to find out just what even happened there. The small tidbits of info found in notes and audiorecordings are all interesting in their own right. Even though I haven't got to the very end, the story has kept me hooked.
CONCLUSION:
For the cost of this game, it offers way too much fun. The replayability, with the various playstyles you can pick, seems great, and Vaporum: Lockdown will definitely entertain both complete newcomers to the genre and its veterans alike.
In short, do buy this game, it deserves a lot more popularity.

I finished the game 100% and I have to say, the last floor has several puzzles. I still recommend the game because the combat and story were engaging, but devs, if you make a sequel, please put more focus on combat/story!
(Also a huge shoutout to Demajen's guide)
DISCLAIMER: I'm halfway through the second-to-last level of the game as of this writing, but I'm making a review now to point out some things. I recommend the game BUT it's not a game for everybody.
I bought the original Vaporum back in 2019 as part of a dungeon-crawling bundle, and I remarked that it was the best game of that bundle (I still hold that true today). The atmosphere was cool, the story was interesting, the combat was fun and had plenty of options. The secrets were ridiculously cryptic at points, but always felt rewarding. The puzzles were mostly good, maybe a couple annoyed me but overall a great game from start to end.
Vaporum: Lockdown shares a similar feel... the story was more interesting, the atmosphere is about the same, the level flow was more fun and easier to navigate, combat is mostly the same with one new weapon type (so very good), the secrets while still cryptic are not as bad as the first game and just as rewarding, the levels themselves were... okay, at best, and the puzzles weren't as fun.
The story is a direct prequel, and playing in the perspective of another individual adds more insight to the Vaporum universe. I liked her as a character and we got a little more perspective on the Vaporum protagonist too. The atmosphere is still steampunk-y. The enemies were largely the same IIRC with different strengths, weaknesses, and methods to attack and defend against. I enjoyed it. Weapons and gadgets are identical to the original with a few new ones, as well as new armors (though in general it feels like there's less armor in this game). Secrets require a bit of out-of-the-box thinking and examining to find, and I like the way it's done in this series. I still needed a walkthrough to find a few, but overall I had a less frustrating time finding them in this game and they still offer great rewards.
Unfortunately, what kills it for me are the amount and length of the puzzles in this game. I get it, nearly every game in this genre has puzzles, it's a staple, and in most games I enjoyed them. This game's pacing is ridiculous. As some other reviewers have said, the game goes from a good mix of combat + puzzles to barely any combat and mostly puzzles the further you go. A lot of puzzles are the same "push blocks, hit switches around the room in a certain way in a certain order, or both". Some puzzles don't have clear logic as to how to solve them (there's a valve puzzle that comes to mind). Others are just really cumbersome and rather boring. I enjoyed a few of them, but if you don't absolutely enjoy puzzles, you may not have a good time. There's even an optional level which is just 5 really difficult puzzles which rewards experience .
Overall, Vaporum: Lockdown has the same heart and soul as the original game. While there isn't much that's changed combat-wise or atmosphere-wise, if you enjoyed the original you'll enjoy this too unless you didn't really care much for the puzzles, because this game has a lot, almost too many.

pretty good could do with less block pushing puzzlez if you hate block pushing puzzles you aint gonna like it

Recommended? Yes, yes, and yes. Definitely yes. For any gridder/blobber fan. Especially if you liked original Vaporum.
This is a dungeon-crawler/gridder (classical European style - limited enemies, limited resources, no grind), a prequel to an already good game in the same genre (see Vaporum). Vaporum: Lockdown expands on literally everything that made Vaporum good (and made it stand out even a little among its peers). Its combat is made better, more fluid, more tactical. Build diversity is better, with some sick overpowered options available. Puzzles are immensely satisfying (albeit on a harder side).
Playing Vaporum is highly recommended to understand the lore (wait, did I mention worldbuilding and lore? There are tons of lore. Notes and audiologs about the events which preceded Lockdown and the original game - and ultimately led to them).
Expect to spend 20 to 25 hours on a first-time blind playthrough and complete it with a deep feeling of satisfaction.