Amid Evil takes place after evil has already won. The once peaceful denizens and holy orders of many dimensions have been overcome and twisted by some great corruption that has succeeded in besting the very gods. You represent the last hope for these shattered worlds, the champion of the Black Labyrinth. Wielding its divine axe, you go forth to cleanse the corrupted vestiges of the old order of evil and liberate the realms.

In this nu-boomer-shooter, those realms take front and center. If there's one thing to get into Amid Evil for, it's the level and visual design. The action takes place across many wondrous worlds, through sprawling ruins, dilapidated temples, and forgotten machines, some grounded and terrestrial and others sprawling with root-like tendrils into the kaleidoscope colors of the cosmos. Amid Evil takes the many disparate and familiar elements in its visual and level design and recombines them into something all its own. The low-poly models and low-resolution textures share the canvas with incredible skyboxes, intricate level geometry, and gorgeous detailed weapon sprites, and everything is utilized perfectly to create something evocative and more than the sum of its part. Each level ups the ante, ascending beyond high fantasy into celestial fantasy, expanding on traditional boomshoot mini-mazes with more intricate mechanisms and fantastical platforming set pieces, and it all culminates in a satisfyingly creative final area.

Carving your way thru these corrupted realms is made exceedingly enjoyable by the arsenal of magic weapons at your disposal. A machine-gunning magic staff, a mace that launches crystals that pins enemies to walls, a rocket launcher that fires entire planets... All these bizarre and powerful weapons make you truly feel like a guns-blazing crusader ready to take on the eldritch deep. The weapons are beautifully rendered with incredibly detailed sprites that have dynamic lighting, and the soul mode you can attain from killing enough enemies adds another layer to the power fantasy with deeply overpowered enhancements to every weapon capable of clearing whole rooms with ease.

If there's one thing that is a bit lacking in Amid Evil, it's the difficulty of the enemy and boss encounters. I played thru the whole game on Hard, and until the final levels, the game barely posed a challenge. Enemies are often not numerous enough, threatening enough on their own, or in suitable level geometry to threaten a player. Even when the difficulty ramps up, health pickups and ammunition are so plentiful that it drops right back down. I recall many times that the game would throw a massive squad of mixed enemies at me, and I'd respond by firing the game's equivalent to the BFG and just kill them all because I had like 20 BFG shots lying around due to all the ammo for it everywhere. The bosses are especially nonthreatening and typically can be beaten by moving a certain way repeatedly or sometimes even by standing totally still. This isn't enough to hurt the fun of the game, as the levels remain fun to blast through and many of the bosses are great visual setpieces or have great gimmicks, but it does hold the game back from being one of the greats.

Overall, Amid Evil is recommended for a fun time cleaning up evil across the vibrant cosmos with your helicoptering axe.

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A nice modern(ish) version of Heretic, simple, fast and straightforward, great maps and concepts