10 Best Boomer Shooters: Modern FPS With A Classic Flavor, All Games In 2023
The shooter genre, one of the longest-lived in video games, has changed a lot in recent decades. The refinement of the proposal (kill everything on the screen) that was experienced in the 90s by studios such as id Software. Raven Software and 3D Realms to name a few, ended up evolving in the early 2000s with Half-Life 2, Halo, Call of Duty. The idea of shooting everything that moves became more complex, but at the same time, the basic premise was watered down. The frenzy and intricate level design faded into the background in favour of cinematic staging, the introduction of legacy RPG systems, the setting in huge worlds, and many other ideas.
In this context, there have been many studios that have wanted to return to the classic by applying novelties and tweaks to the formula, modernizing it so that it is equally enjoyable two decades after that time. We have a clear example in id Software itself. Which with the 2016 version of DOOM and the recent Doom Eternal have offered shooters as frantic and direct to the point as those, but which are by no means perceived as old. But many independent studies have wanted to rescue that formula and there is even a publisher, New Blood Interactive, specialized in those games, which in networks and forums are beginning to be identified with the term boomer shooter. Here we review the best.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun
PlatForms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
There are more weapons in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, but without a doubt, the bolt pistol is the protagonist: precise, hard-hitting, and hilarious. The Games Workshop universe that mixes dark fantasy with the starkest science fiction is the perfect setting for a game that gets to the point: here only the shots, the movement and the blood and pixelated innards matter, all in vast settings where We face forceful and numerous enemies from the ranks of the Chaos Space Marines and the Daemons of Chaos.
Turbo Overkill
Platforms: PC
The intensity and eccentricity of 90s shooters raised to the nth power. That’s Turbo Overkill. A pixelated science fiction universe. Artificial intelligence has possessed all the inhabitants of the city. Demons and huge final bosses The only solution is through lead and entrails. Luckily, we control Johny Turbo, who wields a hard-hitting and varied arsenal, who has a grappling hook, knows how to run up walls, pilots spaceships, and has a chainsaw for a leg! How could it be otherwise with these ingredients, we are facing a frantic and bloody shooting game like few others.
Prodeus
Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
With a state-of-the-art graphics engine that is used to recreate the pixelated aesthetics of the classics, Prodeus is a shooter that combines the direct fun of Doom and Quake with ideas from modern shooters, without neglecting a high-calibre arsenal. nor the bloody scenes thanks to a dismemberment engine created for the occasion. Not only the rhythm is brought from that time, but also the inclusion of a level editor and a search engine to test those created by other players, as well as an intense multiplayer with a variety of modes and without progression paraphernalia.
HROT
Platforms: PC
HROT is one of the best oddities the boomer shooter has produced to date. Yes, it has the intense action characteristic of the subgenre, but with a setting that is far from demons and robots. It is set in Czechoslovakia after a disaster in the late 1960s. With the gas mask well placed and with a simple but reliable pistol in hand (although little by little we will handle gadgets such as rocket launchers and even motorcycles), the objective is to defend the country and socialism from its enemies. The brown image, the brutalist architecture and the decadent tone surround a very original shooter.
Cultic
Platforms: PC
Cultic is a boomer shooter with hints of an immersive simulator. Look at the aesthetic of the 90s, but with an engine that takes physics and lighting into account. Thus, to climb to the top of the ranks of a sect, it will be necessary to kill left and right, but it will not be easy, since a single bullet can end our life. The interesting thing is that it can be played in a frenetic way (jumping, wall running, sliding and shooting at full speed), or with a more strategic approach, placing traps and taking advantage of the environment and physics. In addition to 10 stages that will be expanded with a second chapter that will arrive as paid downloadable content, there is a wave survival mode that will test your skills.
Dusk
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch
Dusk is probably the best-known representative of the boomer shooter and also one of the most faithful to its origins. With a campaign divided into three episodes, David Szymanski’s game is a frenetic blood fest in which players speed through levels taken from the underworld to take down cultists, demons and creatures of all kinds (even a dinosaur in a box) making use of shotguns, missile launchers, swords and other gadgets more than apt to fill the screen with red while metal music plays at full blast.
Into the Pit
Platforms: PC, Xbox One
Inspired by the most fantastic shooters like the classic Heretic, Into the Pit mixes the most direct and crazy action with the roguelike. Players will fight demons of various kinds, including huge bosses, using magic and powers that can be equipped in each hand, so mixes can be experimented with. Rescuing villagers open shops that give access to permanent powers that allow you to go further and further. In addition, the combination of levels and enemies can be modified using the runes that are unlocked little by little.
Ion Fury
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Developed with the same graphics engine that brought Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior to life, Ion Fury is a spiritual successor to the 3D Realms work. The levels, without any element of procedural design, are full of varied enemies and in them we get a great arsenal that goes from revolvers to grenades that explode when they detect heat, passing through rocket launchers and much more. Maintaining the classic rhythm of those games, it offers modern details such as a more current movement (you can climb and swim, for example), the enemies take more or less damage depending on where they are shot and the levels are connected.
Also Read: Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Set To Be Released On PS4 And Xbox One?
Amid Evil
Platforms: PC
Also from the Hexen school, Amid Evil is a classic shooter developed with Unreal Engine 4 and compatible with modern technologies such as ray tracing. You will have to defeat enemies with a very remarkable artificial intelligence throughout seven non-linear levels with totally different settings. For this, we will use rotating axes, hooks, staffs that shoot energy balls, and tridents that shoot lightning… It is a constantly challenging game, especially in the battles against huge final bosses, whose difficulty can be taken further thanks to a wide repertoire of settings.
Ultra kill
Platforms: PC (Early Access)
that the official website ofUltrakill is DevilMayQuake.com says a lot about a game that goes overboard by replicating the frenzy of classic shooters. The speed of movement, the platforming, the number of enemies and the capabilities of the weapons of the title published by New Blood are so insane that they leave Doom Eternal as a slow game, something that is helped by the resounding metal-electronic music and the fact that it is based on scores, so the motivation is to always go up the combo. It’s still in Early Access, but Steam reviews are “extremely positive.”
Boomerang x
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch
Boomerang X gives a twist to the classic shooter. The base is the same: the objective is none other than to advance through every vertical level, killing a huge number of creatures that come our way in a world in ruins. The difference is in our only weapon and the movement, both conjugated. By throwing the sharp boomerang that gives the game its name, we can propel ourselves 360 degrees towards the enemy that has been hit, we can dodge and even teleport behind our opponents. In short, it is a traditional shooter in which you have to keep up the pace to be flying all the time and advance vertically through the levels.
Strafe
Platforms: PC, PS4
Strafe has classic gameplay but a modern design. This is a permadeath roguelike FPS where each level is procedurally generated, so each game will be different. With more than 30 weapons and twenty enemies with AI and very different combat patterns, the Pixel Titans title offers a dynamic and very visceral experience (the blood of the enemies remains on the walls, the floor and the ceiling throughout the entire game). departure). In addition to the main mode it comes with daily and weekly challenges and a New Game +, so there is a game to go for a while.
Ziggurat 2
Platforms: PC
Ziggurat, the shooter with a fantastic setting from Milkstone Studios in Asturias, received a sequel in October 2021 that has not had the media attention of the notable first game, perhaps due to the congestion of this boomer shooter subgenre. However, Ziggurat 2 improves on the 2014 work by offering the same structure of procedural levels, obtaining powers and armour, and confrontations in arenas full of enemies and final bosses, all with frenetic gameplay and a very careful aesthetic.
Sigil
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Ok, putting Sigil on this list might be a bit of a cheat since it’s still an original Doom mod created by John Romero himself, but we still wanted to include it because it went somewhat unnoticed outside of the classic community. Released in May 2019, Sigil offers an all-new campaign with nine levels and as many multiplayer maps, retaining the classic gameplay of id Software’s shooter and continuing its story with what Romero calls “a true fifth episode”.
Project Warlock
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Despite alluding to the boomers in the title of this report, the case of Project Warlock is curious, since it was created by a young 18-year-old developer, Jakub Cislo, who paid homage to classics such as Doom, Hexen or Wolfenstein in this fast-paced action game. A shooter with 60 hand-designed levels, 72 different types of enemies, 38 weapons and 8 spells, and an aesthetic with a lot of personality. Undoubtedly one of the forerunners of this FPS trend with a 90s spirit.
