MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW


Relevant Insights to my Cultic Exp:
- Played on Hard Difficulty
- Did not try to find every secret but found most of them
- Already have a sense for these kind of games
- Used most weapons, but the STEN was used the least. Focused upgrades: Pistol, Lever Action, Double Barrel, Grenade Launcher, Sniper.
- Biggest surprise: can get through most of beginning of the game with charged-up Axe melee with no problem, and also witnessing enemies kick away my TNT. That interaction was cool. Set piece setups are great, and no limitations to how far you can engage the enemies were a great breath of fresh air (and you CAN stealth things if you are able to, believe or not). Deciding whether or not to use a molotov/flamethrower/lantern vs dynamite/barrel changed up certain parts dramatically.


I like this game a lot. I think the dynamics of the game play are cool, the level designs are great albeit I am not sure why spiral stairs are such a headache for me in this game, the atmosphere is awesome especially the first time boxes thrown at you in the ship at you don't know why it's happening, music is spooky and sound design is great, the interlude is awesome and I wish there was some more of that, the puzzles are interesting, etc...; In regards to the stairs, I think it's an FOV distortion problem that I have but not sure if other players have. The graphics are great and the color palette is very unique if you take it all in. I love that each level is a giant sandbox with double-backing and looping that is on purpose! Great callback for me personally to games like Quake, Duke, and Doom.

It's definitely a 3D Realms game (which is good!) with the level exploration, traversal, and non-hindered use of the entire accessible environment pieces. The AI is definitely your typical AI with some of them being particularly fun to deal with whether it's the snipers laying down in some cases (although I didn't see it that much after the first official encounter with them), the Ghost Cultist throwing things at you and the panic that settles in when it starts like crushing your head or something with it's telekinetic powers, the shield cultists actually using the shield and being a nuisance, the chainsaw cultists second stage of rage, and just the overall aggressiveness of each AI works great for the levels that range from claustrophobic hallways to arena churches. I really appreciated that the monsters and undead were not part of this larger enemy spectrum - they were an opposing force to the cultists and you find them many times either at odds or separated with the cultists fortifying their locations to "defend" their selves from the undead onslaught. Nice touch. I love finding the notes and reading up on stuff. The fact I can pick up stuff to throw barrels and lanterns is great, and hands down one of THE most satisfying things was throwing an explosive barrel and timing shooting it right and watching it work.

I just got a few gripes: the interlude was VERY interesting and a great intro, and sometimes I feel that level of contrast isn't met by the end of the game. The sheer "♥♥♥♥ you" of cultists pretending to be officers was so good. I am glad the creepy factor stayed throughout and wasn't just blown on the intro. Something else that bothered me is the Sten is clearly better in the enemy's hands than mine. The church hold-out fight with the Cultists and Tank was very interesting and cool, until I realized the tank wasn't a real threat as long as I had the dynamite and grenade launcher handy which is only underwhelming in retrospect. However that boss fight was DOO DOO. The only reason I had to restart a few times was because of the cultists! That boss needs to hit the gym or something... or perhaps we'll see in Part 2 what's really the big bad? That's probably where the epicenter and culmination of this goes. After all, isn't the entire fight sequence of the game getting us ready for the finale anyway? Like Rocky training for the big night.

Closing: Great Game. I can't say I am used to needing to pay for a part 2 of this, but I think a part 1 with interlude on Hard Difficulty or more is where you're going to get the best experience out of this. I got 7.5 hours out of this which is longer than some other "boomer shooters" so it's still a good value. I think paying for a Part 2 is not bad especially if you want to support the efforts of 3D Realms; clearly there's a lot of love put into this game! If you're chasing times, achievements, and secrets then that's where your replay-ability is going to be along with the survival modes. I love that this feels like a voxel spiritual homage to Blood. I loved blowing things up and killing enemies in funny ways, and there's definitely a lot of Easter eggs in this game that you'll find. Yes, I did spend at least 30 minutes of my total play time scouring bathrooms to find the pissing cultist and I found him. Appropriately, I threw TNT at him.

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW Relevant Insights to my Cultic Exp: - Played on Hard Difficulty - Did not try to find every secret but found most of them - Already have a sense for these kind of games - Used most weapons, but the STEN was used the least. Focused upgrades: Pistol, Lever Action, Double Barrel, Grenade Launcher, Sniper. - Biggest surprise: can get through most of beginning of the game with charged-up Axe melee with no problem, and also witnessing enemies kick away my TNT. That interaction was cool. Set piece setups are great, and no limitations to how far you can engage the enemies were a great breath of fresh air (and you CAN stealth things if you are able to, believe or not). Deciding whether or not to use a molotov/flamethrower/lantern vs dynamite/barrel changed up certain parts dramatically. I like this game a lot. I think the dynamics of the game play are cool, the level designs are great albeit I am not sure why spiral stairs are such a headache for me in this game, the atmosphere is awesome especially the first time boxes thrown at you in the ship at you don't know why it's happening, music is spooky and sound design is great, the interlude is awesome and I wish there was some more of that, the puzzles are interesting, etc...; In regards to the stairs, I think it's an FOV distortion problem that I have but not sure if other players have. The graphics are great and the color palette is very unique if you take it all in. I love that each level is a giant sandbox with double-backing and looping that is on purpose! Great callback for me personally to games like Quake, Duke, and Doom. It's definitely a 3D Realms game (which is good!) with the level exploration, traversal, and non-hindered use of the entire accessible environment pieces. The AI is definitely your typical AI with some of them being particularly fun to deal with whether it's the snipers laying down in some cases (although I didn't see it that much after the first official encounter with them), the Ghost Cultist throwing things at you and the panic that settles in when it starts like crushing your head or something with it's telekinetic powers, the shield cultists actually using the shield and being a nuisance, the chainsaw cultists second stage of rage, and just the overall aggressiveness of each AI works great for the levels that range from claustrophobic hallways to arena churches. I really appreciated that the monsters and undead were not part of this larger enemy spectrum - they were an opposing force to the cultists and you find them many times either at odds or separated with the cultists fortifying their locations to "defend" their selves from the undead onslaught. Nice touch. I love finding the notes and reading up on stuff. The fact I can pick up stuff to throw barrels and lanterns is great, and hands down one of THE most satisfying things was throwing an explosive barrel and timing shooting it right and watching it work. I just got a few gripes: the interlude was VERY interesting and a great intro, and sometimes I feel that level of contrast isn't met by the end of the game. The sheer "fuck you" of cultists pretending to be officers was so good. I am glad the creepy factor stayed throughout and wasn't just blown on the intro. Something else that bothered me is the Sten is clearly better in the enemy's hands than mine. The church hold-out fight with the Cultists and Tank was very interesting and cool, until I realized the tank wasn't a real threat as long as I had the dynamite and grenade launcher handy which is only underwhelming in retrospect. However that boss fight was DOO DOO. The only reason I had to restart a few times was because of the cultists! That boss needs to hit the gym or something... or perhaps we'll see in Part 2 what's really the big bad? That's probably where the epicenter and culmination of this goes. After all, isn't the entire fight sequence of the game getting us ready for the finale anyway? Like Rocky training for the big night. Closing: Great Game. I can't say I am used to needing to pay for a part 2 of this, but I think a part 1 with interlude on Hard Difficulty or more is where you're going to get the best experience out of this. I got 7.5 hours out of this which is longer than some other "boomer shooters" so it's still a good value. I think paying for a Part 2 is not bad especially if you want to support the efforts of 3D Realms; clearly there's a lot of love put into this game! If you're chasing times, achievements, and secrets then that's where your replay-ability is going to be along with the survival modes. I love that this feels like a voxel spiritual homage to Blood. I loved blowing things up and killing enemies in funny ways, and there's definitely a lot of Easter eggs in this game that you'll find. Yes, I did spend at least 30 minutes of my total play time scouring bathrooms to find the pissing cultist and I found him. Appropriately, I threw TNT at him.