I’m starting to realize that some of the best first person shooters on the market are made by Condemn modders takes last year prodeus, For example. I called this “Condemn in its primal form.” That’s high praise of me, and I’m beginning to see hints of greatness in supply also. Also developed by a team of Condemn modders and other veterans of the genre, supply hits all the right notes for me and has the potential to become another A must play game for fans of shooter boomers.
Supplice is looking for, well, pretty dang nice
Mekworx, the team behind supply, uses the GZDoom engine for this particular title. For those who are not familiar with GZDoom, it is a modernized version of the original. Condemn engine. Games that run on this engine have that old-school DNA, without some of the crashes that come with older titles. Of many ways, supply It feels like a return to my boomer shooter roots, when I started looking beyond modern FPS and started playing games like Warrior of the shadows, Earthquakeand of course, Condemn.
strangely i remember ion fury while playing GZDoom. Maybe it’s because the main artist and project coordinator of supply He was also the artistic leader of ion fury. Aesthetically, supply it looks a lot like the Build Engine titles. It’s undeniably retro but has such a clean and readable look. environments in supply they’re gorgeous and allow players to take advantage of the experience Mekworx clearly has in crafting sprawling FPS maps.
Of the three levels I played, each area was richly detailed. The many different paths create a complex maze of corridors and arenas to fight. The occasional colored key card, always a classic of the genre, and hidden secrets are found all over the map. The level design is ambitious, to say the least, and when you move from room to room encountering enemies, it’s a lot of fun. On the other hand, I found myself getting lost too often in supply. While I can’t wait to see what other beautiful levels are created, especially with the art direction. supply has taken, I hope the map or the direction I need to proceed in is a little more apparent.
Of course, map design only goes so far. The main gameplay, shooting, also has to be competent. supply delivery at that end. There were only a few weapons in preview (I may have missed one or two), but each one felt powerful and satisfying enough to use. Players start with a drill, which is the melee weapon for supply. It can also send a shockwave from a distance, so it’s great to use if you run out of ammo. It can kill weaker enemies with a single ranged hit, so I never had to worry much about ammo, even if I was low on it. The melee part of the punching is also pretty brutal, if a bit reckless.
You are also given an automatic assault rifle, which can also zoom in and take out enemies from a distance. With just the right amount of power and acoustics, it’s one of the best starting guns I’ve used in a boomer shooter. If you find an extra assault rifle you can duel it, so you might get some flashbacks of Lo Wang and his dueling Uzis from The shadow warrior (1997). There’s also a shotgun that seems pretty effective at a distance and even maintains its spread from afar. An alternate fire fires three projectiles at once, taking out stronger enemies completely. Lastly, I had to use some kind of weird flamethrower. It fired blobs of fire and, also as alternate fire, shoots a huge explosive that blankets an area in flames. I also found it quite dangerous to myself, setting myself on fire more than once. oops.
There is only one problem with these weapons. In almost every way, they are satisfying and powerful. They sound strong, they clearly kill enemies without much trouble too. It’s just that there’s not as much blood as I expected. Look, I’m not a blood addict, but gibs and blood squirts don’t seem to match the power of weapons. I expect a little more from these absolute beasts. Looking through the options menu, I found that I could increase the amount of giblets on the screen, but it didn’t seem to change anything, so all I can say is: Get the blood flowing!
As promising as the shooting is the story. I find myself craving a little more substance in my boomer shooters; They are not very exposed, that’s for sure. supply seems to take a different approach. There’s a not insignificant amount of dialogue to go through as you access terminals and text logs throughout these levels. I won’t spoil the story, but I can see a mystery brewing and I’m quite interested in it. It is a story involving AI and aliens, and how the survivors deal with an invasion of said aliens.
supply It’s hitting all the right notes for me. From a stylistic perspective, there are absolutely no complaints. And if the gore fits a bit? The game will feel even more satisfying than it already is. The overall feeling of supply, no doubt due to the GZDoom engine, ticks all the boxes for a good old-school experience. Let’s see where Mekworx leads supply from here, but I have a feeling it will only get better.
supply was previewed on Steam Early Access on PC with a copy provided by the publisher.