Selaco is goated. I've been waiting for this game to release ever since some of the development images popped up on imgur years ago and the demo was released later on.

I didn't really expect this to be so heavily inspired by F.E.A.R. (and I don't just mean the 4th wall leaning references) but the well acted squad call outs really immerse you the same way as the enemies proceed to take you seriously, almost as if they're trapped in there with you.

There's some of your references and call backs to older FPS games too, which are a nice touch. The sprites for the guns are so sharp that one can be forgiven for thinking that they're fully 3D rendered models, although the weapon pickups (including the ammunition) certainly are. During my playthrough, I was also treated to some unexpected and darkly humorous tidbits, like a bisected soldier (via shotgun) crawling away from you before dying seconds later.

There are secrets aplenty but they're not quite as esoteric to get to as long as you follow some context clues ("cracks" on walls can also appear on bullet proof windows) and the harder difficulties, while punishing, aren't Doom level of monster closeting. Despite dying a few times, I found adequate resources to keep up the fight, although it does feel like the game only gives you just enough health and armor pickups to survive getting double tapped.

The lighting system (another big indicator of F.E.A.R. influence) is as functional as it is aesthetic, and you are given many chances to shut them off to better sneak around your hapless foes. Just don't expect to go all Solid Snake on them. I'm not sure if it's the difficulty, but I wasn't able to instakill the first enemy you're prompted to- the first try was while standing and walking normally, while the second was with crouch walking.

Hit registration on all guns is satisfying and the shotgun is Doom-levels of overpowered as far as vaporizing your enemies is concerned. Shotgun enemies aren't quite the hitscan annoyances of Doom though- they're worse. Expect to get double tapped even with full health and armor. :reheart:

The music from the onset also pumps you up with some of your typical scifi flare along with beats reminiscent of an electro club. I'm kind of surprised there isn't an OST released with the game, maybe a later consideration?

The first set of levels took roughly 2.5 hours to beat on hardest difficulty with multiple deaths, but I can safely say they didn't feel ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in any way. That's probably owing to the AI's tendency to search and destroy you, as opposed to being teleported during inopportune times or stuck in closets. I imagine the experience is going to change a bit moving forward so I'll update this review as I find necessary.

Definitely a strong "must buy" for doomclone fans. ^^