Cultic
Developer: Jasozz Games
Publisher: 3D Realms, Atari
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox Series X (Reviewed), Switch 2
Release Date: Available Now (PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X) TBA (Switch 2)
Price: $19.99 – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to indie games there has been a rise in certain game genres that had died off or were dwindling, and their return couldn’t be better. Especially when it comes to the Boomer Shooter genre and style of play that reigned supreme in the ’90s before falling out of style for a long time outside of the occasional mainstream release. Cultic happened to be one of those indie boomer shooters that thrived on PC with a single chapter early in 2022, showing what a single developer could do, and now that they have expanded and completed the entire storyline with an interlude plus a second chapter to bring Cultic to consoles. The question is, is this a boomer shooter that lives up to the fast-paced gory hype that fans expect?
Story
For the most part the story of Cultic is straightforward and meant to be inferred generally from the environment. Players take on the role of an unnamed detective who was assigned to track down a missing person only to end up dead at the hands of a cult. Through unknown means, the player has risen from the grave and is ready for revenge as he starts tearing through the cultists and making his way from their initial factory and tearing through each location guarded by a myriad of cultists. Along the way players will discover various notes left behind by a journalist and researcher that help expand the game’s lore and world, as well as other tidbits that can add extra context to a level’s design, but for the most part the story is meant to be there as a structure to keep players moving and shooting, eager for revenge and to put a stop to the cult before they doom the world.
Of course, without spoiling things, players will eventually find themselves taking part in an optional interlude and leading right into a second chapter that expands things even further. The storyline here continues to ramp up the stakes, especially as the cult starts taking more drastic measures and is far more open with their movements to bring about the “Will” that grants them the power they so desire. There are more than a few unanswered questions by the time the game runs its course, even if players manage to track down most notes since other elements that happen throughout aren’t explained though we won’t detail them here, but the story does wrap up in a satisfying enough manner given the horror tones and darker themes.
Gameplay
As is classic in the boomer shooter genre, players will be moving quite quickly through a stage, though perhaps not quite as quickly as other games in the genre, and focusing on taking down cultists and monsters along the way, though some foes can be avoided entirely if players take different routes or simply run past some of the weaker foes. Cultic offers a wide array of difficulty options for players to test their skills, ranging from simple story-level difficulty to as hardcore as possible. It is interesting to note that players can replay any stages that they have completed at any time to try and find secrets, aim for a better completion time, or even rescue the teddy bear in each one.
Throughout every stage in the game, including the interlude, there are a number of “secrets” hidden within the level. These can range from being simple bundles of armor or ammo tucked under a set of stairs, weapon parts on a rampart that requires some precise crouch jumping, or even Imbued Remains that are hidden even further, sometimes at the depths of a pond, behind a wall that must be destroyed, and other hidden areas. Weapon parts are used to provide upgrades to the player’s weapons that they have obtained so far, such as increasing damage dealt, ammo capacity, and more depending on the type, while Imbued Remains provide a permanent +5 to the player’s health for that chapter, something that is especially essential in the second chapter due to the increased enemy intensity.
Speaking of weaponry, players will have a variety of tools to dispose of the cult and the creatures raised by the “Will.” This includes mostly stereotypical weapons such as a handgun, twin-barrel shotgun, lever-action rifle, and a hatchet to more devastating ones such as a grenade launcher, sniper rifle, and even a flamethrower. Alongside these players will have molotov cocktails and dynamite bundles that can be thrown at foes but there is an interesting caveat with these in Cultic. While these can be “quick thrown” with a tap of a button, they must be shot to actually explode properly. To actually light the explosive players will need their lighter equipped to light the fuse/cloth before tossing it at enemies. In fact, initially the lighter is the player’s only way to actually see in the dark until players gain a pocket-light a bit past the halfway point of the first chapter. This is still useful though as the lighter flame will flicker when players are near a secret. There are even a few weapons that players will find throughout some levels, mostly in the second chapter, that are simple one-and-done such as heavy machine guns, bazookas, and more.
Cultic has its fair share of puzzles tied to creepy moments as well where players will need to track down items within an area that only end up triggering a hoard of new monsters more often than not but one issue that does arise is the actual lack of variety in enemies. The cult members in the game are literally color coded by their robes for players to expect what they’ll unleash and even “mini-boss” style enemies start appearing as occasional random mobs too. There is far more variety in the second chapter compared to the first at least which does help alleviate some of these issues but that doesn’t stop the monotony a little, especially once players have gotten the layout of a level down. That being said, considering the game’s challenge, it is also nice to note that players can Quicksave at almost any time and the loading is incredibly fast upon death, or missing a platforming section that players don’t want to complete most of again.
Audio & Visuals
There is something really special when a development team opts for a retro style and not only nails it perfectly, but does so in such a chunky and minimalistic way that it feels like a relic drawn right from the past to modern platforms and that happens to be exactly what Cultic looks like. Every single location that the player travels through, in the first chapter, the interlude, and definitely in the second chapter are quite varied and structured to not only give players a decent sense of freedom to move around at times but also funnel them directly down the proper path. It also must be said that the developers have put a lot of effort into making the environment as spooky and eerie as possible, making some encounters actually worth a jump due to how unexpected they are at first.
It is a bit unfortunate that standard enemy types end up becoming far too common far too quickly, with players being able to tell what to expect from a foe depending on their robe (even skeletons) and the occasional tougher mutant thrown into the mix. Thankfully one thing the game does not skimp on is the blood and gore. While chunky and retro looking, enemies will literally splatter apart when blasted at close range with a shotgun or have their heads hacked off with a hatchet, with players even being able to pick up a chunk of a corpse and throw it at someone else to kill them. Occasionally the game will even slow down time when players nail a head shot, allowing for easier aiming to take down another cultist or monster.
The game does not feature much in the way of voice work outside of a few small lines here and there and these are again designed to sound as ‘90s as possible, meaning they are rough and ready with helpful subtitles. The noises that enemies make during combat and death are surprisingly boring and lackluster, even with flaming enemies running to their doom making no extra noise. The game’s soundtrack is an entirely different matter though as every level features an outstanding piece of background music that keeps tension high and players eager to keep running and gunning.
Overall
Now that Cultic has arrived on consoles in its entirety, this full package offers not only the classic feeling boomer shooter experience, it feels like a vintage offering thanks to its gritty presentation and gory, spooky designs. While it may play a bit slower than the average game in the genre, the storyline is fairly thin outside of collectables, and enemy variety is unfortunately a bit poor, this is the type of game where players will be more focused on blasting through one cultist to the next or even grabbing a chunk of a dead body and throwing it through the next enemy to kill them to save ammo for the next guy.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
