I'm almost dead. Health is basically zero. I need help. So I pass a demonic dog and enter a dark, ominous bathroom. I quickly knock on the single stall inside. It opens, I hear…something inside and then one soda can go out. Instead of drinking it, however, I play, and knock again. And again he rolls me a soda. I don't press my luck, instead returning to the aforementioned evil dog and giving him one of my soda pops. It slows it down and, in return, allows me to reload my weapons faster.
After that, it's straight back to the action of running for my life from a pixelated burning apartment while fighting cultists using a launcher, melee items, and my leg. It's all very strange, but it's also a blast, and I keep coming back to play more Hardalthough I keep dying over and over again.
Over the past few years we have seen the rise of the shooter boomer subgenre of FPS games. Things like Cultic, Dusk, Fashion Police Teamand 40K Boltgun they all look old shooters from the 90s, but they often leverage new technology and decades of game design to create shooters that feel retro, yet fresh. The latest of these boomer shooters to grab my attention with its fast-paced roguelike action Hardout now on Steam.
In Hardyou play as someone trapped in a burning building. Like any good character from the 90s FPS you are always running, which is helpful in this case because the fire will kill you quickly if you stay. Each floor of the building is filled with cultists, evil ghosts, and soda machines. These tools will heal you if you need it, or you can use the soda to level up your character between floors.
And you will need these upgrades, because each floor becomes more difficult and introduces new enemies with better weapons. And if you drink all your soda, well, you can always gamble in the bathroom and hope that the evil monster inside will give you a soda and not scare you and that you will kill you where you stand. Like I said, it's a strange experience.
But Cruel it's not an oddball situation that keeps me coming back to the game death after death. Instead, the game's crisp, responsive and retro-inspired FPS combat. Guns are loud. Enemies appear when you get that perfect shot. And one mistake can end a perfect run. Then again, if you use all the tools Hard giving you – slides, kicks, and melee weapons – you can often get your way out of bad situations.
Hard reminds me of last year With angerbut with better combat and a sharper, more beautiful hunter-inspired aesthetic. The soundtrack is a banger to boot. Oh, and if you press the reload button when your gun is full of ammo, your character will turn it in the area. 10 out of 10. Love it!
At only $10 and less than 400MB, Hard the perfect bite-sized FPS to start the new year with, just don't play too much in the bathroom. Trust me.
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