Apocryph Demo

Whenever gamers think of old-school first-person shooters, they most likely remember Quake, Hexen and Doom, because there wasn’t really a market for realism back then. Hence, everything was designed to be as fast-paced and difficult as possible, with the players having to handle numerous enemies at once, usually by making use of ludicrous weapons and abilities.

Apocryph is a retro first-person shooter that aims to bring back the good-old days of the genre, and it actually manages to capture the atmosphere in most regards. Naturally, the gameplay mechanics are very fast-paced and challenging, but you are always getting stronger as well. The graphics can be adjusted to appear more pixelated, just in case you want the complete experience.

There is a background story to go along with the gore and the action, but it’s not that important in the demo at hand. Instead, the focus is on the gameplay mechanics and the level design, and it must be said that Apocryph gets most aspects right. There are many interesting power-ups and weapons to wield, and you can also collect extra health and armor to prepare yourself for enemy encounters.

The levels are designed like a maze, which means that you may go backwards and forwards a lot if you happen to get lost. Some doors are locked until you manage to open them, which means that you are pretty much forced to explore most levels if you want to advance. However, there are plenty of secrets to uncover as well, so you are rewarded for all the extra walking

As for the graphics, they are actually very nicely done, and the best part is that you can use post-processing to make the game look pixelated and retro. Hence, you can easily switch from retro to modern if you get too irritated with the pixelation. As with all indie games, however, the animations are seriously lacking, and there are no ragdoll effects for enemy bodies. Hence, the whole thing can feel a bit cheap sometimes.

In the end, Apocryph shows serious promise even in this early state, and it’s a must-have for old-school shooter fans that can’t get enough killing done in modern games. Thus, it’s worth keeping an eye on the game as it develops and new features are added.