Well, it was a couple of days after Christmas – I had a bit of extra cash and GOG were having their winter sale 🙂 You can probably see where this is going. Although I ended up restricting myself to just three games, I decided that one of them should probably be a retro-style FPS game. The main options seemed to be “Dusk” (2018) or “Amid Evil” (2019).
Whilst “Dusk” had better reviews on Youtube, the footage of “Amid Evil” just had a certain… look… to it. Creative fantasy genre settings? Interesting lighting design? Glowing magic spells? Surreal abstract level design? “Evil Dead”-inspired logo design? I decided to ignore the critics (ironic, I know…) and go with my instincts. I chose “Amid Evil”… and I’m so glad that I did 🙂 This game rules.
During the sale, a DRM-free copy cost about six quid (fifteen and a half at full-price) and they weren’t exaggerating when they said that it was “Optimised to run on a toaster”. My computer has Intel HD 2500 integrated graphics and, at low settings and about 60% resolution scale, the game still looked good and – most of the time – ran at a very playable speed too 🙂 Though, if you’ve got a super-fancy computer, there are apparently ray-tracing options too.
So, let’s take a look at “Amid Evil”. The game contains some FLASHING LIGHTS (such as when using the “Voltride” weapon in dark areas) but I don’t know whether these are intense enough to be an issue or not.
You play as “The Champion”, a warrior who has been tasked by a disembodied voice to rid seven worlds of the evil forces that have corrupted them. Yes, there’s probably more story and lore than this but, well, it’s a classic 1990s-style FPS game. They weren’t usually renowned for their complex, detailed narratives….
One of the first things that I will say about this game is… WOW! Although there were some mild moments of frustration in a couple of parts, this game was an absolute joy to play. Almost everything about it is just pure awesomeness. It genuinely feels like an updated version of something from the 1990s.
Yes, if you’re thinking “This looks like ‘Heretic’ (1994) but with WAY better lighting”, then you’ve just spotted one of this game’s inspirations. It isn’t exactly difficult to miss…
And, yes, if you’re a fan of “Heretic” (1994), then you’ll be on familiar ground here 🙂 Likewise, expect a cool “Quake” (1996)-inspired difficulty selection menu and a “HeXen” (1995)-style hub system between episodes. If you aren’t old enough to have played those classic games back in the day, then expect challenging fast-paced dark fantasy genre action with some cool areas between episodes. Though it would, ironically, be the height of heresy to say that this game is better than the classics, at the very least it comes very close….
Most of all though, I love how creative this game is. Each of the game’s seven episodes has a different theme. Whilst the very first episode might look like a generic “medieval fantasy” type of thing (albeit with cool lighting), the game actually innovates a lot more than you might think.
Yawn! Boooring! What, the game gets more creative after the first episode? Actual creative fantasy genre stuff, rather than just another “ye olde times” setting? Yes, it’s true 🙂
There are levels which reminded me of Brutalist architecture, levels with an “Aztec ruins” type theme to them. There are Middle-Eastern style levels.
There are stunningly beautiful “dark psychedelia” levels which could almost have come from “American McGee’s Alice” (2000) and/or an old Dario Argento film.
Seriously, the “Arcane Expanse” is THE best episode. Of any FPS game! Just the gothic atmosphere, the style, the sheer MAGIC of it…. It’s sublime! The rest of the game may be very good, but this one episode is a MASTERPIECE!
There are trippy levels with Lovecraftian geometry. There are industrial areas which look like a cross between something from the cyberpunk genre and the Dwemer ruins from an “Elder Scrolls” game. I could go on for a while. Seriously, THIS is a fantasy genre game! THIS is what the fantasy genre should be! Actually creative and genuinely fantastical!
It is a game that is well worth playing for its art design and atmosphere alone. But, of course, it also has amazing gameplay too. Most of this is a stellar example of the typical sort of thing you’d expect from a 1990s-style FPS game. Fast movement, creative weapons, non-linear levels, mild puzzles, challenging difficulty, projectile-dodging, secret areas, non-regenerating health, “save anywhere” saving etc…. I’m sure you know the drill.
You’ll notice the lack of combat screenshots here. Don’t worry, this isn’t a “walking simulator”! I just was too busy circle-strafing, dodging and fighting to take any screenshots of the combat. This isn’t some lazy “regenerating health, two weapons and chest-high walls” kind of shooter game…
And, in keeping with the tradition of innovation from the 1990s, this game has an interesting new mechanic – “Souls”. Yes, this is inspired by “Painkiller” (2004) but handled in a different way. Whenever you defeat a monster, they will drop a soul of varying sizes. Once you collect enough to fill up a meter, then you can press a button (RMB by default) to briefly activate more powerful alternate fire modes for your weapons. It works a lot like the “Tome Of Power” from “Heretic” (1994), but you get to use it a lot more often 🙂
And, wow, the weapons in this game! It’s one of the few games where all seven of your weapons are actually genuinely useful. Even your axe is more powerful than you’d expect a retro FPS melee weapon to be.
Your basic magic staff may seem “boring” until you realise that the blue projectiles have homing capabilities. There’s a scimitar that shoots green magic and is just satisfying to swing at large groups of monsters. There’s a rapid-fire electricity trident. There’s a crystal mace which acts like a shotgun. There’s a collection of purple curlicues which acts like the BFG from “Doom” (1993) and then there is the best weapon of them all…
Hmmm… That blue projectile looks a lot like the planet Neptune….
….The CELESTIAL CLAW. You have never seen a rocket launcher quite like this one. It is a gnarled staff with the power to miniaturise planets and launch them at high velocity. You heard me right, planets.
There’s a different one every time you fire it. Jupiter. Neptune. Various moons. Other distant worlds. And, yes, you can accidentally destroy the Earth with this weapon. The explosions may be relatively small, but this weapon just feels EPIC to use in the best way possible!
Ok, the first time you accidentally blow up the Earth, it’s a hilarious Easter egg. By the fifth or sixth version of Earth that you’ve obliterated, it becomes a running joke. Is this game sci-fi or is it fantasy? Who cares? It’s awesome 🙂
Likewise, I have to praise the monster variety in this game too. Yes, many of the seven episodes have similar monster types but because each one is set on a different world, the monsters look different.
There are other creative touches too – like how plant-based monsters seem especially vulnerable to the Champion’s axe. Some monsters have unique attacks. Each episode also has a boss battle at the end, and the design of some of the bosses are really cool too.
Yes, unlike actual FPS games from the 1990s the game doesn’t just re-use the same 5-10 monsters throughout the entire game. Modernity has it’s benefits I guess…
As for the levels, most of them are really good – my favourite episode is the “Arcane Expanse”. It looks amazingly cool, the levels are fun and I wish that more of the game was like it. My least favourite episode, and the only criticism you’ll find in this review, is “The Forges”.
Yes, the levels look cool – all of the levels in this game look cool – but there is so much obtuse first-person platforming in this episode! Ok, the game was good enough that I persevered with it and I can see that they were trying to add more of a “HeXen” (1995)-esque emphasis on puzzles to this episode. But “The Forges” was still a bit annoying.
Yes, it might look like a cool “dark industrial” level, like a cross between “Quake”, “Cloudpunk”, “Blade Runner 2049” and the Dwemer ruins from an “Elder Scrolls” game, but this episode is by far the most annoying in the game!
Still, the levels are really brilliant most of the time. They’re the sort of classic 1990s-style non-linear “press switches and find keys” levels but updated with slightly more modern design, larger level areas, more creative architecture and stuff like that. You might get “stuck” occasionally, but probably only for a few minutes at most. This genuinely feels like a respectfully updated version of some old game from the mid-late 1990s in the best possible way.
The game’s music is really good. It’s composed by Andrew Hulshult and it is also a dynamic soundtrack which becomes more dramatic whenever you fight. The stand-out moment for me was probably the eerily relaxing music in the “Arcane Expanse” episode. There isn’t much voice-acting in this game but the voice which greets you whenever you return to the hub area is wonderfully epic though.
In terms of length, it is what people in the 1990s would call a “full-length” game. I didn’t count the levels but there must have been about 20-30 of them. I didn’t keep a tally of how many hours I played for, mostly because the game was actually long enough for me to lose count. If I had to guess, it would be at least 10-15 hours, spread out over a week or two.
All in all, despite some frustrating first-person platforming in some parts, this is an amazing game. A game which combines the best of the modern day and the 1990s. An indie game which could put some “AAA” games to shame. A game which just feels epic to play. Seriously, if you’re a fan of “Heretic” (1994) or just want to see something from the fantasy genre which is more imaginative than just “castles and dragons”, then play this game!
If I had to give it a rating out of five, it would get a very solid five. Play it!
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