Cemetery Warrior

Back in the day, arcade shooters held the monopoly in the genre, because realism wasn’t yet feasible with the technology available at the time. Hence, games like Doom and Quake featured as many monsters per square meter as possible, not to mention the fact that it provided the players with huge weapons capable of holding thousands of bullets or rockets.

Cemetery Warrior is a fast-paced first-person shooter that takes its inspiration from classics like Painkiller and Doom, featuring repetitive and visceral gameplay that revolves around killing everything around you as quickly as possible. There is no story and no missions to worry about, given the fact that your only goal is to defeat all the enemies in order to open up the gate to the next stage.

You have a variety of weapons at your disposal, starting with a minigun that never runs out of bullets, all the way to a pulse rifle and a rocket launcher that sends the enemies flying on contact. Unfortunately, the gameplay mechanics are very rough and simple, which means that you don’t feel all that pumped when you are making your way through the monster hordes.

The shooting also feels very impersonal and stiff, as if you are actually shooting at concrete blocks instead of monsters made of flesh. Thus, sparks fly whenever you hit an enemy, which kind of ruins the mood. On the other hand, the rocket launcher has a more brutal effect, except for the fact that you quickly run out of ammunition on it.

The graphics are subpar for this day and age as well, although you could probably overlook this aspect if the gameplay was more refined. Everything looks the same when it comes to level design, which amplifies the boredom that sets in after the first few minutes. The sound effects get on your nerves fairly quickly as well.

In the end, Cemetery Warrior is clearly a copy of Painkiller, but a much cruder one that feels a lot cheaper. Thus, you’d be much better off playing the original, even if this one is free of charge, because the experience is only somewhat fun for the first couple of minutes.