Early Doors: Hyperstrange Edition

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Supplice.

Supplice is a total conversion mod for Doom by some of the biggest names in the Doom modding world, it aims to give you a familiar and frantic experience aimed more at the Sci-Fi genre rather than ripping and tearing Demons until it is done.

Running in the GzDoom engine, Supplice features some of the largest and intricate levels seen in this engine, even making Heden Bloodrite blush with its sheer scale and amount going on, a far cry from the often minimalistic halls of Phobos.

Combat is fast and the weapons all have alternative fire ranging from aiming down sights to a deviating blast from the initial weapon and who wouldn’t love a super-super shotgun that fires all barrels at once? Perfect for turning the alien scum into jibs. 

Levels are large and intricately put together but not in a way that is confusing and requires too much backtracking or secret door finding. You’ll find terminals around the levels which usually point in the direction you need to go and if you really find yourself lost you can always consult the auto map which will direct you to where you need to be next.

The large levels would be nothing if it wasn’t for a tasty amount of enemies to take down and Supplice certainly doesn’t disappoint in that aspect. Not only are there a good collection of beasties to take on but the developers weren’t shy about putting many of them in the stages for you to take down.

You get around 5 maps to take on in this early access and that’ll last around 2 hours if you’re secret hunting and playing on tougher difficulties. There are another 5 episodes planned up to full release so there is no better time to jump on-board while the game is as cheap as it is and see how it spreads it’s gory wings.

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Ghostware: Arena of the Dead.

Ghostware: Arena of the Dead hangs at the other end of the Boomer Shooter disco taking its inspiration from titles such as Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament, yes for those of you initiated in ye old shooter it’s an Arena Shooter but with a difference. 

Ghostware: Arena of the Dead is a single player affair putting you in control of Holly who’s woke up inside of an Arena shooter designed by The Wiz, after a brief initiation you find out The Wiz has used Necromancy not only to bring you and other souls back to life but also tried to resurrect the “dead genre” of Arena Shooters.

You decide to play along while trying to figure out what’s going on and how to escape and these waters are only muddied by other players, ghosts, a hacker, the government and a corrupt company, this ain’t your usual throwaway storyline!.

Being the game is based on Arena Shooters you can expect all the hallmarks of the genre, floaty twitch gameplay, capture the flag, deathmatch and waypoint capture, at least until the end of the Early Access where the game takes a very surprising turn which hooked me instantly. 

The game progresses as you win matches and once you’ve done that you can then return to the levels to find items such as extra armour or URLs to websites you can visit in game for extra lore and abilities.

The abilities I had involved throwing sand into the faces of other players binding them and then spawning a health kit which came in handy towards the end of the Early Access period, while there is a high chance I missed one or two I can imagine this aspect is only going to grow when the game hits full release and dramatically changes how you play.

The game feels so tight you’ll be slide jumping and bunny hopping in minutes  but it could do with a few more weapons and the shotguns commit the sin of being a little naff, nothing a patch can’t sort out and I’m sure more weapons will come along the further the game gets to completion. 

The writing hooks you into the mystery and the unique setting certainly grabbed me from the get go, my initial playthrough saw me at around 84 minutes but again this is very early access and shows so much promise that Ghostware: Arena of the Dead is going to be a special game. This isn’t nostalgia talking either as the Arena Shooter passed me by back in the day aside from Turok: Rage Wars, this game just has something for fans of old school shooters of all walks.