21.6 hours played
Written 26 days ago
An incredibly violent "Boomer Shooter", not in the same vein as DOOM, but more that it quite literally just *is* DOOM.
Prodeus is a testament to the passion of a lot of DOOM fans/community members, and yet it's hard to describe Prodeus as being much more than... legally distinct, modern DOOM. Visually it reminds me of DOOM 64 mixed with DOOM 2016's general vibe, and it basically plays as gloriously gory as Brutal DOOM. There's a lot to love with this game, particularly in all the things that set it apart from DOOM. The arsenal is absolutely nuts, the gore is off-the-charts, the level design is far more advanced. I especially love, LOVE that the sniper-like weapon (hey, unique to Prodeus), gives off a crack of thunder after each shot taken... It's frankly beautiful. Yet despite all this, I'm left wanting from this project.
I find this game sort of over-rated, partly because it feels a little derivative (yeah, I know, hot take, when so many "Boomer Shooters" pull from much the same well as Prodeus). The other reason is because it doesn't really reach its full potential as its own thing. The story is somehow more absent and unimportant than the original DOOM's narrative, most of the enemies are almost mechanically identical to DOOM's, the arsenal is more or less an impressive modernization of DOOM's weapons, and the environments are... you guessed it, extremely similar to DOOM's, albeit far nicer to look at and less abstract.
The environments are also extremely limited, outdoor areas or tech bases, and don't really go anywhere else. The "Prodean realm" or whatever was more abstract and alien, but I don't remember much about it (it's been awhile), and there are 2 snow-themed maps, 1 "Chaos realm" map (hell, it's hell), and a Chaos boss map. The campaign ends there, rather abruptly, and with little to actually cap things off on the narrative side of things. It gave me the impression of development having had much more ambitious plans that had to be cut. Prodeus may be a labor of love but something felt more than a little desperate in the game's final levels. It felt as though the game's introduction had just ended, but the possibilities to go somewhere and do something really new or fresh never got to present themselves. If they had, I might be writing a very different review.
What you're left with is a series of levels to replay and collectibles to find like it's a Mario game, complete with an over-world Map screen. The collectibles act as currency in the "shop level", and this is another major issue I had with the game. Returning some years after having played the game to completion (or so I thought, keep reading), I returned to Prodeus only to find I'd forgotten there were upgrades and weapons I had yet to buy AFTER having completed the entire campaign. These provided quite a few additions to the gameplay experience. While I praise other games, like Dread Templar, for giving me an excuse to replay levels, search for secrets, and indulge in growing my arsenal, I feel more sour towards how Prodeus handled things. You see, I played a decent chunk of the game prior to 1.0, when the shop wasn't in effect and weapons were unlocked organically, so the experience of finding and using them felt purposeful, and made their discovery and subsequent use extremely satisfying. But post-1.0, that experience is ruined by locking part of the game away on a separate map for purchasing upgrades, made dependent on secret hunting, and up to me when and what I buy. As previously mentioned, Dread Templar also encouraged secret hunting to purchase upgrades and discover perks, but the weapons themselves weren't locked in a display case complete with price tag, awaiting my return with a completed grocery list of collectibles in tow. That goes double for movement upgrades. I want them to be part of the experience, or optional to a "character build" system, neither of which Prodeus does. Reward me with fun new options for going out of my way for secrets, don't bar me from the full experience.
Another of my initial major issues (which has been fixed) was that a "respawn" mechanic was core to the game's experience. You find a respawn point, activate it, and you'll respawn at that area if you die. The only issue with that is it trivialized combat encounters, the core gameplay, entirely. You could die over and over again with no penalty. Any enemies killed prior to death stayed dead. You could not lose. At all. Over a YEAR after 1.0 release, well after I was done with it, did they finally fix this horrible idea, with the addition of traditional saves.
For all of my complaints, which I consider just, I still think Prodeus is one super slick game, and one of the best of the bunch. For my money, Prodeus is a thrill of a time, but leaves me wishing it could have done something else, and gone a bit further. If you've never experienced Brutal DOOM or you don't play a million Boomer Shooters already, you might just fall in love with this one. Unfortunately, Prodeus is like your Uncle who's an Elvis impersonator. He's undoubtedly a cool guy, everyone says so, and Elvis is "the king" for a reason, but he doesn't really ever seem to drop the act. It's hard to see where the impression ends and the real thing begins.
The Elder Veil DLC looks like such a departure, and almost more ambitious than the original experience, that I'd almost consider it a sequel just by trailers alone. Let's just hope it makes up for the base game's very few disappointments.
