CULTIC

CULTISTS BEWARE YOURE IN FOR A SCARE!!! hammy g back at it again with another CRAAAAZYY REVIEW!!!! haha but really guys if your a boomer and you like shooters this game is the sweetest kind of treat for yall and just in time for spookies ween! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OH GOD HELP ME PLEASE OH FUCK OH SWEET JESUS ITS ALL GOING DARK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

What i love the most is how the devs totally understood what makes Blood a good game and applied it to great effect in this game while bringing new elements to the formula.

This game was a really pleasant surprise.

A fitting tribute to Blood, with its own fresh feel and lovingly crafted levels. Just downright fun, if you like Dusk or Blood you can't go wrong here!

I really enjoy retro shooters and this does not disappoint, what an amazing game!
I enjoyed every second it!

Cultic is the kind of game that just makes you smile.

The gunplay is fantastic, the art is amazing, the setting and levels are wonderful.
Rarely do you find a solo project that catches the lightning and rides it like a pro.
There was not a moment I was not having a great time.

I just finished the game on hard, and altough some Enemies can be real Bullet Sponges, the idea behind the many variations of Cultists is constantly keeping you on your toes.

I am huge fan of retro shooters and this game hits the spot, I agree with everyone when they say the aesthetics of the game feel "crunchy." It has been a long time since a game has made me want to go out of my way to get the achievements, ESPECIALLY wanting to replay the game after completion. My only complaint really is the fact that the controls seem to fight you when you attempt to walk up stairs or when platforming.

Overall, I would recommend this game to anyone whether you are getting into retro shooters or experienced in it all for the price of $10, it is worth it.

Out of the the long list of boomer shooters that have come out in popularity, CULTIC has to be one of the best. Its very similar to blood in many ways but definitely defines itself. its a good mix of action, experimentation, and just good old fun.

This game is insanely good, everything from the gameplay, the sound design, the visuals, the tone of the game and the atmosphere in general, everything is superb.

An instant classic as far as I'm concerned.

CULTIC's deliberately crunchy aesthetics might be too much for some, enemy AI is easy to exploit, and is short when it comes to story or length. But CULTIC's menacing atmosphere, great soundtrack, and surprisingly deep combat system that rewards experimentation make it more than the sum of its parts, trading in the irreverent tone and quippy protagonist of Blood to channel Resident Evil 4 and mid-90's Lucasarts shooters. CULTIC is extremely impressive for being the work of a lone developer, and Chapter Two will hopefully make this the fully fleshed-out experience it deserves to be.

This is a great game, very atmospheric it kinda just sucks you in. All the guns feel great to use all of them feel like they have some power behind them. The level design of this game is really good there were points that i had to stop killing cultists and just take a look at the different environments and admire how eerie and well imagined they were. would totally recommend especially if you like BLOOD.

Cultic has been getting a lot of buzz, and its not hard to see why. Another old-fashioned FPS? With a unique visual style, a cool time period (early 20th century), lots of monsters to shoot...

And it takes heavy inspiration from Blood, arguably the best retro shooter of all time? Alright, that's probably caused most boomer shooter fiends to start salivating. Packaged with a neat little 10 dollar price tag, Cultic already sounds like a steal. If it isn't obvious by the rave reviews, it totally is.

In many ways, Cultic cribs a lot of its beats from [/i]Blood[/i]. A horror atmosphere, set in the recent past, with a gunslinging protagonist out to stop a cult. The primary notable weapon is dynamite, which is heavily influenced by physics. Explosions are similarly chunky, and there's a whole lot of brown in the primary colour scheme. That's about where the similarities end, though- the Detective is no Caleb, being a completely silent protagonist outside of some non-verbal internal messages. Cultic is also far easier than [/i]Blood[/i], with the game being more tuned in the favor of the protagonist. Overall damage has been lowered, and weapons have a bit more equal balance between them than before. There's a focus on headshots for critical damage, and the slower reaction time of the enemies (and no FUCKING hitscanners) means you can take some time lining up shots. Scoring a headshot or blowing a mook straight to hell awards a temporary burst of slowmo every now and then, which lets you both appreciate your handiwork and line up further shots for rapid demolition of the opposition. While the power fantasy aspect has changed, Cultic decides to instead evolve on the boomer shooter formula with some neat quirks.

For starters, physics play a much larger role in the combat. You can pick up and throw objects, allowing you to douse enemies in the flames of a spilled lantern or crack a chair over their head. This extends to the throwables too- not only can you take out dynamite and manually throw it, there's a keybind to toss an unlit bundle and shoot it later. Same with molotovs. This creates a lot of unique approaches to combat, since dynamite is a powerful tool. Will you throw an unlit bundle around a corner, then follow it up with a lit one to clear a whole room? Or maybe duck into the room, toss an unlit bundle at your feet, lure enemies around the corner, and blow them up in a trap? With the viability of melee thanks to the powerful axe melee weapons, Cultic offers a decent amount of depth to the combat. It's not a combat sandbox, more like... a combat playpen? Jungle gym? Whatever, it's coo and feels great to play.

Also at the forefront is the stellar level design. Some of the environments in this game are just amazing. The game deftly moves between linear environments and open spaces with ease, allowing you to experience both tight tension-building sequences and spread out slaughters. Some of the combat encounters in this game are incredible, set in massive outdoor spaces filled to the brim with opponents. Clearing these levels feels amazing, and its when you're trudging through mounds of monster gore that Cultic is at its best. While this is all really good, it doesn't feel really Doomy, or Wolfensteiny, or Dukey Nukey-ey. I was confused but intrigued about the design, as it didn't really feel like an oldschool shooter at times. The emphasis on scripted sequences followed up with open-ended combat is quite dissimilar to the linear keyhunting and corridor shooting of eld. It took me a long time to figure it out, but Cultic doesn't feel like it takes most of its lessons from Blood...

No, the real daddy of this product is Half-Life 1. Seriously. The character movement speed, the design and pacing of the levels, even down to how the firearms feel- it's all very HL1. I think this gives the game a really unique feel. The slower pace and more methodical approach to combat definitely makes Cultic stand out amongst its brethren. It's a game that wants you to slow down a bit and just take it all in. Since we live in an age of constant excess, this slower-paced approach gives Cultic some identity.

This lengthy review has also not yet discussed the dozens of other great touches, like the unique but visually arresting artstyle, or the crunchy sound effects. The presentation in general is quite good, with gore effects rivalling the best of the best. The levels all have unique ideas and setpieces to help keep them memorable, even the ones primarily set underground. Weapons have punch, and the headshots are so crunchy its absurd. The weapon customization/upgrade system is cool, but not so prevalent as to distract from exploration, and it even comes with a funky Resident Evil Mercenaries sendup! How swell.

Really, the only thing I could bring up of note that might deter you from beating this game is the length, at a meager four hours. However, DLC is on the the way, and the game is far cheaper than many games of comparable length and style. Really, ten bucks for this is such a low asking price that it's hard not to recommend a game like this. Cultic is such a work of passion, of experimenting with the old while incorporating the new, of tight focus and delightful design that it simply must be played.

I won't say "if you love Blood, play this" because we both know its already in your inventory and you're just trying to justify your purchase. Instead i'll say "if you love FPS games, play this immediately". It rocks.

Best boomer shooter since DUSK. Runs, looks, and feels great and the soundtrack is phenomenal. An amazing spiritual successor to Blood. Can't wait for the rest of the episodes a must buy for anyone that enjoys the genre.

I haven't played Cultic for very long, but even less than an hour in I can tell it just feels right. If you are a fan of Blood, this is a no-brainer. The weapons and animations are superb. I especially love the axe. it's so very special when default melee weapon is actually fun in a game like this. I literally can't wait to play the whole game.

Blood lives....again!

Spiritual successor to Monolith's debut game and 1997 cult classic Blood. The mad lad gigachad Jason Smith has crushed it with this game, it's an absolute banger. Everything from the music, atmosphere, level design, gunplay and sound design all come together to make an exceptional shooter. Smith is one talented and passionate developer and it shows. If you're a fan of Blood, boomer shooters or both, why haven't you bought it yet? Chapter 1 is a full game, not an early access boomer shooter, but a fully finished game. Length of it may vary from 5-10 hrs depending on what difficulty you play it on, but at $9.99 Cultic is an absolute steal and I can't recommend it enough.

If the old-school retro graphics do not bother you, this game is a prime choice for any avid FPS player. The controls feel excellent and responsive. Weapons are a ton of fun, all of them. There is a slight RPG element with weapon upgrading stations. Enemies are fun and varied enough not to get tedious. The levels are fantastic; they feel just open enough to feel organic and don't feel forced. Overall a hard recommendation. I eagerly await the next chapter!

10/10
great experience. amazing atmosphere.
fun challenging gameplay.
if you like boomershooters you will enjoy this.

Satisfying gunplay, fun movement options, great mix of horror elements and action. One of the best FPS games I've played for years.

Make sure to turn off the music since it's ehh... Not great to say the least.
BUUUUUUUT and it's a big but!

No need to wait for Blood 2 (You know what I mean) anymore!

Prepare yourself for one of the best retro-inspired shooters yet IMO. It is ridiculosly good.
The story so far kinda reminds me of Resident Evil 4 and the gameplay & atmosphere is very much a modernized Blood which is obviously a great thing.

This game is super satisfying to play and a total blast! Painting the rooms red with your enemies gets better and better each time.

Performance is not great. Optimization is somewhat needed! I noticed that running the game in borderless rather than fullscreen gave me about 30-50 MORE fps somehow, so I'd recommend trying that if you have issues. Also, turn off V-sync.

I highly recommend getting this if you're into retro-inspired shooters, creepy cults, horror atmosphere and some good ol' rip and tear.

Had lots of fun playing this, definitely a recommend, took me 6.6 hours to beat the game on Normal while also looking for secrets. Some keywords about this game : interactivity, secrets, cool enemy designs, good animations, satisfying headshots, good level design.

Great retro style shooter in the vein (no pun intended) of Blood. It also has a lot of neat little nods to other games and genres like survival horror. I got vibes from Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Blood, Doom etc. in some of the levels and enemies.

Every level is well designed, the action is great fun. The guns...man they're so crunchy. That shotgun when you get a headshot and their head pops like a grape and you get that slowdown...just bliss.

Highly recommended for shooter fans and retro gamers, and I can't wait for future updates from the developer.

This is, in my opinion, one of the best retro shooters ever made. It is very clear where it comes from, yet it builds on aspects that keep it fresh, like upgrading weapons. There are some creepy parts here as well. Overall if you like retro shooters this is a must.

It's a great game. Not hard on Normal difficulty. Enemy variety is good. Levels are all different. Couldn't find all the secrets and there's a lot of those. Not a scary game for the most part, which is a big plus for me personally, but still retains the vibe it's going for.
I enjoyed it a great deal more than other shooters of the same genre. Most definitely within top 3 FPS for me personally.

Slow-paced atmospheric retro-shooter with lots and lots of nooks and crannies to explore.

It suffers a bit from linear level design and dumb as bricks AI, but overall an entertaining experience.

CULTIC is a fantastic throwback FPS with heavy influence from Blood and similar pulp horror.

The Good:
+I'm not a fan of the color filter, but it can be turned off in the menus, making those gorgeous pixels shine.
+Despite being mostly WW-era weapons, the guns feel punchy and brutal.
+Buttery smooth combat enhanced by great sound effects.
+Lots of game modes for different types of play.

The Bad:
-Currently only 1 chapter.
-A few too many cultist-type enemies. I'd like to see some more horror creatures.
-The movement is very smooth during combat, but becomes slippery during mandatory platforming.
-Not a fan of the "mandatory" upgrade system.

Bottom Line:
I cannot recommend CULTIC enough, it is a fantastic FPS game that scratches a bloody itch. Moreover, at the full price it is still and absolute steal. And, if you still aren't sure. There's a great demo!

Absolutely fantastic game. I played the demo through multiple times, and the full game delivers above and beyond that. The visual design and art style are impeccable, the sound is perfect, the OST is so good I bought it and will be spending many hours listening to it. It's a bit on the easy side -- I think I died a total of 6 times throughout the game, and three of them were from a single sequence involving never-ending zombie hordes in a dark forest.

Oh, and it's made by 1 guy, so that's a hell of an achievement.

All around, I don't really have anything negative to say and I'm really looking forward to Chapter 2 at some point.

Do you like Blood? Maybe you also enjoyed Dusk? Did you enjoy the village atmosphere of Resident Evil 4's crazy cult? Well if you said yes to all or any of those this game is for you. Made by one man, this game felt great and with the low and humble price tag, you can quickly get sucked into over 5+ hours of bloody intense horror combat FPS gamers alike will enjoy and be asking for more.

7/10 through the game it's great. First I had my doubts with the dithering, but keep it on, ads to the feel! Love the artstyle, combat is great and so far the story and the level development is awsome. Go buy it!

This game was fun to play. Loved the gore and the creepy atmosphere makes the game a must-have to play during Halloween. Cannot wait to play Chapter Two.

I'm not a big old-school FPS player, but Cultic has made a convert of me. It controls beautifully, the weapons all feel really satisfying (my personal favourite is the lever-action rifle) and have impact to them, combat can be hectic but not overwhelming, level design is solid, the soundtrack is excellent, and the art style is great. There are secrets dotted around most levels to find, and there are notes and journals that fill in some interesting backstory.

And when you finish the main story, there's a survival mode to tackle as well.

Definitely worth picking up.

A new retro FPS that already stands with the all-time greats

I was hyped from the moment I played the first demo of this game. Blood by Monolith is one of my all-time favorite FPS games (mainly due to its level design and the majestic immortal voice of Stephan Weyte) and although I was late to the Blood party, it quickly rose to my upper echelon of FPS titles. I wish there was a proper sequel done. People said there was a Blood II, but I don't believe them, just like how I don't believe it when people say there was a POSTAL III.

Much like Dusk before it, CULTIC is the product of one developer, Jason Smith. However, Jason takes it a bit further by not just designing and programming the weapons, art, levels, characters, and gameplay, but by composing the music as well. It is clear that a lot of inspiration came from Blood, such as the hooded cultist enemies whose robe color indicates what weapon they are using, impactful weaponry that includes a powerful double-barrel shotgun, different armor types that protect against specific damage sources, and even the beginnings of their first levels, which involve the protagonists rising from their graves.

CULTIC differs from Blood in many other respects. CULTIC has a stylistic limited color palette that may initially seem off-putting, but given the setting and theme, fits the game very well and Jason is to be commended for it. Along with the palette is a low-fi and "crispy" assortment of sound effects that are satisfying to me, especially when running through grassy and gravel-paved areas. CULTIC has headshots, and they are some of the most satisfying headshots I have ever seen in a videogame. The dopamine rush from popping a line of zombie heads with a single well-placed Lever-Action Rifle shot rivals that of mowing down a group of Zombiemen in classic DOOM with a Super Shotgun blast. Getting a headshot or explosive kill has a chance to trigger a short period of slow-motion like in Killing Floor. I think this is helpful in heavy combat and for punctuating a big kill with a well-thrown bundle of TNT, but I can see how this could be a negative to other players. The levels are excellently crafted and are aesthetically pleasing. Jason has designed expansive areas such as the Shipyard in level 2, the Asylum Grounds, and the Mining Town. The game also has many creepy and unsettling areas, such as the beginning of the Mining Town level, the Crypts, and the interior of the Asylum (to me, asylums are perfect settings for horror media). Most of the levels are fairly linear, but are designed in such a way to encourage and reward exploration through secrets and to just admire the scenery.

CULTIC's weapons can be upgraded with Weapon Parts that are scattered around the levels. Most upgrades are standard, such as increased damage, better accuracy, and increased fire rate, but there are a few unconventional upgrades, such as guaranteed slow motion for headshots with the Lever-Action Rifle's alt-fire and increased knockback with the Shotgun that can boost the player while jumping. I think an alt-fire for the Grenade Launcher that shoots electric grenades that don't do as much damage as primary fire but stun enemies would have been a neat addition. The traditional nature of most of the upgrades is not a major complaint, however.

Besides the robed cultists, the game's enemy roster includes eldritch monsters like a fast, brutish behemoth and what can be best described as a fat gray creature with a vertical mouth that takes up its entire torso and long, sharp teeth that devastates your health if it gets too close. To me, the most annoying enemy is the Ghost, a flying cultist covered in a white sheet with two eye holes who attacks by tekekinetically throwing objects at you, even if the Ghost is out of sight. However, if the Ghost looks at you, it turns your screen red, shakes your view, and greatly slows you down while doing damage over time until you break line of sight or kill them. The Ghost is not annoying in a bad way in that it serves as an effective horror enemy in cramped interior locations and as a dangerous support unit in large battles. Just like in Blood, each enemy has a burning death animation in which they flail about screaming. The screams the cultists make are not as iconic as Blood's "IT BURNS IT BURNS AGHAHAGHHAGH" but fire kills are still fun to execute.

As if the main campaign, which spans 10 huge levels, is not enough, CULTIC offers a Survival Mode that is best described as single player Killing Floor done better. You fight waves of enemies that increase in number with each wave. Each kill earns the player money that can be spent on weapons, ammo, and other supplies at a shop between waves. Survival Mode pushes the player's skills to their limits and rewards ammo efficiency and movement techniques. Much like Dusk and Ultrakill, CULTIC has its own movement tech that greatly increases the player's movement speed through jump kicking. I have put as much, if not more, time into Survival Mode as the main campaign.

Special mention has to go to how the game approaches its difficulty settings. Jason has done an excellent job designing the skill levels, much like how id Software crafted the Ultra-Violence difficulty in classic DOOM. Not only does enemy damage increase at higher difficulties, but enemy counts do as well. This leads to a high-risk/high-reward approach to the game on higher difficulty settings, such as greater counts of enemies wielding shotguns, who hit very hard but have a chance of dropping shotgun ammo on death. Another special mention goes toward the better-balanced cultists of CULTIC. Although I like Blood, one aspect I think is BS is how its cultists, the most common enemy type in the game, have instant reaction times and can mow you down in seconds if you don't deal with them ASAP. CULTIC's cultists (heh) attacks can be baited by darting in and out of cover and dodged in open levels by bunny hopping and sliding. I cannot forget the soundtrack either. It's very well done with heavy combat-appropriate rock songs, atmospheric pieces that go well with exploration, and creepy ambient songs that can fit right in a Halloween or Friday the 13th style horror movie.

One of the best deals in gaming

As if all the positives already mentioned are not good enough, CULTIC has a low price tag of $10 USD. Jason could have charged twice as much and I would have no problem with it. This ranks it among the best deals in gaming along with Vampire Survivors and The Orange Box. This is only chapter 1, also. If Chapter 2 turns out to be a separate purchase, I would have no problem with it as well. Chalk up another excellent title in the retro FPS renaissance.

The Katana ZERO of First Person Shooters. It's eclipsed Ultrakill as the single best FPS ever made.

I didn't even think that was possible at first.

a really nice throwback to Blood, and its being made by one guy.

if you enjoyed Blood, give this a shot, its a lot of fun!

Goddamn it's a great one !
A breath of fresh nostalgic air, looking forward to the next chapters.
Highly recommend !

What a literal phenomenal experience! Thank you so much Jason! You really recreated the magic of the classics and I felt like a kid again. Would love to hand you millions and get a sequel. Looking forward to anything you do moving forward. If you need a voice actor for the next one let me know! So much detail into everything - everything felt so satisfying. I can't believe this is just you who did this. It is a tour de force!

PS If you click fps and then click show highest rated... Scroll down and you will see that Cultic is RIGHT UNDERNEATH BLOOD!!! Congrats!!!!

I swallow your soul!

This is easily one of the best first persons shooters I've played in quite a while. Every level is so intricately designed with such care and precision its insane. Just buy it. Highly recommend.

Yeah, it's just good. Perfect example of how much fun these build engine games can be. Really looking forward to chapter 2!

Fantastic old school fps in the vein of Blood. It has a great art style, great atmosphere, great level design, great gunplay. decent lenght and it's pretty cheap on top of that.

Still some stuff I didn't like: both boss levels I really couldn't enjoy. In the first one you actually can't quick save at all and first have to defend versus some waves of enemies just like in the additional survival mode and this alone is pretty hard on Extreme difficulty without saving. Then you get one checkpoint and the boss appears. But also enemies keep spawning in infinitly which is super unfair und just sucks. This shouldn't belong in an old school fps imho. The boss itself is fine but not with the infinitly spawning enemies. And then the second boss level is quite similar except you don't have to defend versus waves of enemies first and you can quick save until you get to the boss fight. But then, again, enemies spawn in infinitly. And this time way stronger enemies. Why not make the boss itself more challenging instead of just keep adding enemies with it???

This is the biggest weakness of it I see. Still some other minor stuff
-even tho there is quick saving and quick "loading", the latter takes way too long imo
-there is an upgrade system for your weapons which is fine but I didn't like that you can't find enough items to upgrade all your weapons to the maximum
-balancing on the weapons isn't optimal, like the machine gun (Sten) is pretty bad and molotov cocktails and the flamethrower are pretty much broken. You can easily kill a whole group with a single molotov when they have to go through a bottleneck-like erea but even worse there are kinda mini boss enemies in the game which takes a lot of bullets, ofc intended, but you can also just use one molotov or the flamethrower a bit and then those fights get trivial. And it's not like ammo for them is that rare that you afford that

The musics are a great addition to the combat and powerful arsenal that you have. On one end you might get spooked up with the ambience, and by the next moment the music comes in and you'd feel like you could take on a whole army of cultists.

Easily one of the best boomer shooter revival games around. I was very excited for this one and it did not disappoint

I recommend this game 10x over, the movement is great, the weapons feel meaty. The artstyle is amazing and the levels are great, the enemies look amazing and are fun to fight against. I look forward to see what the next chapters have in store.

Seriously such a good old school shooter one of my favorites and hands down best music iv heard in awhile

Definitely a stand-out amongst the wide range of "boomer-shooters" out there. Highly recommend you pick this one up.

super cool doom-like shooter. vibe is immaculate and gore is overtop and amazing!! loved it!! deserves all the love

This game gripped me the moment it started and never let go. It's fairly short and took me about 3-4 hours to beat, but it is so well designed and satisfying to play that it's absolutely worth paying full price. The dark and grimy aesthetic is fantastic, the music is wonderful, and of course the weapons feel great to use. Even the slot 1 weapon is useful throughout the game for one-hit-killing enemies with a fully charged headshot. Please give this game a shot, it's obvious how much love went into making it.

Cultic: Chapter One is an impressive game and even more so when you realize it was all done by a solo developer. It is a fun shooter with most importantly shooting that feels good. As you progress through the story you get more weapons that helps keep the combat fresh.
The visual style is great unique and a throwback to older shooters on PC. The music pairs well with the aesthetic.
The game took me about 5-6 hours to complete and I am very much looking forward to chapter 2 whenever that comes out.

As someone who grew up playing Duke Nukem 64, games like this always have a place in my heart. It wasn't just the over-the-top nature of duke, or the violence, or the one liners, that made me love that game, it was the level design. The way the levels are designed to help guide you, while also letting you forge your own path, is incredible. The secrets are the icing on the cake as they keep you on your toes throughout each level, checking everywhere. It never gets tiring and adds to the intrigue.

This game is fantastic. It looks great, plays great, and has longevity. There's so many neat little touches throughout that'll make you laugh.

One thing I was worried about coming in was the length of the game. Due to it being "chapter 1" I thought it might be quite short, but each level can take you upwards of half hour and there's about 10 of them. No troubles on that end; I feel like I got my money's worth.

Knowing how difficult it can be creating a game, let alone BY YOURSELF; It boggles my mind that a single person was capable of making this and handling every aspect of it. Not only that, the entire game comes together as one! The music, art style and atmosphere all compliment one another. This is quite the achievement and I hope I too can make something similar one day. It definitely brought back some BLOOD vibes! I just hope the performance issues get ironed out in the future.

Cultic is easily one of the best shooters of 2022.

Since I had the chance to play the demo, I knew that Jason Smith was going to create something exceptional - but man, did Chapter One turn out to be something special! I enjoyed the whole package - the combat, gameplay feel, music and sound design, level design - a lot and I wholeheartedly and easily recommend this game.

What stood out the most for me was that Jason nailed the ATMOSPHERE of the entire campaign. Each level is long and memorable but what I liked the most was that each of them contained a careful balance of adrenaline pumping action and unnerving horror. When the music went silent, you never really knew what was lurking behind the next corner - but sometime later, when you learned how to deal with the new enemies, you felt like a badass fighting them with a fantastic soundtrack (that you should definitely buy) to accompany the whole thing.

I am very much looking forward to Chapter Two, and my hats off to Jason to pulling off this wonderful debut!

Let's get this out of the way first, yes, Cultic in many ways draws clear inspiration from Blood. Main enemies being a cult, some enemy types, and even a few weapons will feel very familiar to anyone who's played Blood. However, do not go into this game with the expectations that this is a challenging as Blood. This game on Hard feels like Blood on it's lower difficulties. The final boss didn't even kill me once on Hard.

Now is Cultic good on it's own merits? Hell yes. This game is fantastic. Weapons feel powerful, my personal favorite being this game's take on a "Magnum" type weapon. Even the handgun remains relevant throughout the game since it's not as ammo hungry as the other gun that uses the same ammo. Enemies are what you'd expect if you're familiar with Blood, however they throw in some other enemies that have some great designs.

There are a few drawbacks, however. The game took me 5 hours to beat while being fairly diligent in my secret hunting, probably would have taken 6 if I was going for 100%. If you aren't a fan of shorter game experiences, then you may wanna look at something like Nightmare Reaper. This game being short didn't bother me, since it was a tight, focused, and insanely fun experience. The price tag is well worth it in my opinion as well.

It the end, this game is a great homage to titles like Blood, and has enough of it's own merits to state this is a great experience for boomer shooter fans.

If you like Blood (1997), you'll definitely like CULTIC. This is almost a spiritual successor to Blood because of how similar they are. CULTIC does still throw in some things that I wasn't expecting and does a good job of making its self stand out. Overall really good game.

Great boomer shooter. Aesthetics are quite pleasant and the gameplay is top-notch. Popping heads with a lever-action never gets old.

I highly recommend this game! Weapons, level design and atmosphere are excellent. So much fun. I'm so grateful that the YouTube channel ACG recommended this in their Indy coverage series recently.

Played the demo. Had to stop after 5mins...
Because I had to buy it immediately! This game rocks and I definitely recommend it.

Sure to appeal to fans of Blood who like the cultist enemies but don't like being ripped to shreds by torrents of gunfire in seconds for the unforgivable sin of entering a room

In all seriousness, though, this game's a lot of fun, the guns are satisfyingly punchy, and the level designs are solid, so if you're a fan of classic FPS games, give it a shot

The praise is well deserved, and at $10, this game is a steal. I played the demo back when it first launched and immediately put it on my wishlist. The weapons have a gritty crunch to them that reminded me of the weapons in Metro Exodus. I usually don't care much for stories in games, but I found myself wanting to know more as chapter one came to an end. Can't wait for the second part!

TL;DR: Oozing with atmosphere and excellent level design / gun play. Definitely worth the asking price.

I really have to say, CULTIC has completely blown away my expectations. I'm usually pretty critical of nu-boomer-shooters, lots of them really just lack any soul. This game does not have this problem. I sat down and played through the entire campaign without any breaks or pauses. It was genuinely gripping, and a masterclass in environmental storytelling (with notes to make things more clear). The level design was incredibly well done, pushing the player in one direction clearly while also enabling more open exploration on some levels, I didn't get lost once.

You can tell that a lot of care went into making each encounter. You're always given just enough enemies to make a given fight a challenge but never unfairly so. Any point where I got stuck in the game really came down to approaching a problem from a different angle. There's about 4 enemies in the game that I think are somewhat tanky, but it's not just for the sake of making a sponge, it always serves a purpose. Even then, 2 of the 4 have an explicit weakness that makes fighting them way more manageable. The only section I struggled with was in a mid-game map, and that was because I failed to use my resources effectively and ran out of ammo.

In a sea of very same-y boomer shooters I really think CULTIC stands out, and deserves recognition for its application of the formula.

Amazing game, although I believe the music could have been better and would have added a lot to the already stellar atmosphere.

Excellent single player game with great retro vibes. Level design is what makes this game. Lots of fun secrets and great set pieces. Buy this one.

I've sat here for the last hour trying to come up with a review other than "PLAY THIS GAME", but it's all i got.

If you're a fan of FPS's or the original Blood, PLAY THIS GAME.

I'm going to start by saying what this isn't - because I think people are getting the wrong idea:

THIS IS NOT A SPIRITUAL SEQUEL TO BLOOD.

It doesn't really play much like it despite having cultists, dynamite and enemies that can wreck you in seconds. This doesn't stop Cultic from being one of the best retro inspired FPS games currently available, but if you got into Cultic expecting a real BLOOD 2, then you might be disappointed. There is certainly Blood in its veins (heh) but there's far more to it than that.

What Cultic is, is a really fun mixture of some of the best bits of the late 90s and early 2000s shooters. It combines the hallway shooting of classic Doom and Build Engine games with the expanded "open corridor" approach to combat encounters found in the first Far Cry game. Most encounters are completely open to however you want to approach them, giving the player a freedom of play style not found in many of it's old school inspired contemporaries

Weapons are punchy and fun and enemies are relatively varied even if both are a little stock. It is another game with a pistol, shotgun, smg weapon set and various colours of robed cultists carrying the same. The feel of the guns and the fun to be had taking out these bad guys though more than makes up for these nitpicks, however, because nitpicks they are.

I've just finished my first play through on hard and that took me about 5/6 hours without finding all the secrets. Will be looking to get that extreme difficulty play through achievement at some point soon.

Would highly recommend Cultic.

It's unbelievable that this masterpiece was made by a single person! Jason is also quite active in the Steam forums, listens to feedback and very quickly implements it in the game, really commendable!

Cultic already stands out thanks to its unique art style, but it's the gameplay that really secures its place among the best of the boomer shooters. Whether you mow down a horde of zombies with your Sten, dash foward to kick an enemy's dynamite back into his face, or slide around a corner to surprise a cultist with a buckshot mouthwash (oh, that crunchy sound!), the combat and movement feel amazing and rewarding.

You will hear many times that this could/should be Blood 2 - not because it is similar, but because it is worthy.

Excellent game! Had a lot of fun. Great atmosphere, weapon system, shooting dynamics, music is pretty good. Such a cool ending too!

This isn't even a finished game and yet this is one of the best boomer shooters I've ever played. Right up there with Blood, Dusk, and Ultrakill. Part 2 can't come soon enough. Much like Dusk, it's main influence aesthetically is clearly Blood while still taking cues from alot of other things so in this case Blood + Resident Evil 4 + Silent Hill basically

10/10 would gib a spooky floating person covered with a sheet by throwing an eyball of a satanist at them again.

1000/10 - probably my game of the year.
Please, for the love of god, release more

(also pls make it so you can't see ammo count from the tab wheel)

Awesome game. The shooting feels and sounds great, it's so satisfying going for those headshots. Art style and gameplay obviously inspired by Blood, which is a good thing, and everything looks great. The theme of caves and mines however, have never been that interesting to me as they feel generic and often lack structure and design, but I loved the towns, forests, crypts and the creepy asylum.

Fantastic and scary game with very distinct chonky art style made by ONE guy. Highly recommend if you like Blood and similar horror-style FPS games.

I will add my voice to the choir on this one. For a single person to have created this is an accomplishment in and of itself let alone that it is such a fun game. It is a breath of fresh air in an age where everything relies on gimmicks and social politics for there to be such a raw and unabashed commitment to the core of old-school gameplay.

There are so many little flourishes and touches that add to the atmosphere of this game and somehow despite being fairly simple the combat is positively gripping I think largely because you feel as though you have an agency in the world. When you kill someone they are most unequivocably dead. That is obvious due to the fountains of blood and the excess of core which of course is just magnificent and long missed in games these days. Killing in modern video games is given such emotional gravitas that we forget that there was once a time when you could blow imps into jibs and giggle like a mad fool doing it. This brings that back in spades. It is Blood on steroids.

Of course the AI is a little weak. Enemies get stuck on things etc. but that's not what this game is about anyway. This game is about shooting endless hordes of cultists and having fun doing it and boy did I. Highly recommended. Can't wait for chapter 2.

NGL, found this one on the high seas and just had to stop by and pay tribute.

Actual work deserves actual appreciation, and when it's real, you can't help but appreciate.

Good work. Can't wait to see what's next.

tldr: buy it, you won't regret it.

- Movement: the player speed is fast, not as fast as classic Doom or Quake, but fast. Can jump really high, dodge and dash
- Weapons: damn good and fun to use. Weapons upgrade bench available. you can throw a combo of a bundle of TNT strapped with a molotov when you really positively need a bastard (or a bunch of them) dead.
- Sound: crunchy, classic, excellent feedback when a headshot is landed.
- Music: immersive, good overall.
- Map design: excellent, just the right size each map for it to feel 'just right', natural design, no procedurally generated crap. Classic design of get the key/keys, circle back to the start of the map
- Presentation: outstanding: coloring, pixel art, voxels to translate 2D to 3D.
- Spooky elements: excellent. uses the darkness and the map design in its favour to scare the player but not in a cheap way.
- Story: it actually has an interesting story, in this whole 80's detective stumbling on something bigger than mere disappearances.

So damn good that after sailing the seas I bought it, no regrets. seriously, buy it.

This is currently one of the best new boomer shooters imo. Many modern boomer shooters exaggerate extreme movement and precision shooting, far beyond what actual 90's shooters had. Cultic hits a sweet spot of having enough interesting gameplay, while not being a total sweat-fest. The rusty and gritty tone is also awesome and is a nice break from cartoonish visuals seen in many other games.

Blood + Resident Evil 4

This game is a triumph in every sense, the creativity of the level design, the excellent arsenal, the amount of tech. The fact that the game design, level design, art, music, sounds, and animations were all done by a single developer is not just impressive, it's impossible. Cultic is an impossible game, one that theoretically cannot exist. But it does, you can play it, and you should.

Out of all the quality Boomer Shooter we got as of late, this one definitely got me hooked the most. I thought the graphic style would turn me off initially, but I barely notice as I enjoy the amazing action and atmospheric horror bits. There's also a great variety of levels, so the formular never gets boring. The Survival Modus is also a nice and addictive add-on to this already great game.

Beat the game thrice and going back for another time on extreme to 100% it. Very good, well worth it. Comparing it to another recent release, scorn, makes me appreciate cultic even more for it's good gameplay and reasonable price point.

So after finishing Chapter 1 here is a qUiCkiE rEViEw:

Pros:
Atmosphere
Gameplay
Movement
Arsenal
Blood
Level Design
Content for Price
Soundtrack is ok for what it is.

Cons (my opinion):
Story is meh that is easily overshadowed by the amazingly fun gameplay.

It feels very awkward to have to empty a gun and have to go through a reload animation before I can switch my gun.
I'm not asking for "reload canceling" but if I empty my gun like the shotgun or pistol, let me switch to another gun so I'm not looking like a chicken with its head cut off for those few precious seconds taking damage.

Overall: It's like Jason saw how shit Blood 2 was and was like "Fine, I'll do it myself!"
Thus we have Blood 3- I mean CULTIC. Good work 👏

I've just finished the game a few minutes ago and what I can say is that this game honestly and literally brought tears to my eyes - in the good way. I really hope the devs are reading this... not many games manage to have this effect. Please make more!

I really don't know how to describe this game... It is a true mid to late 90s shooter... 30 years later. That's something I've been waiting for far too long. The game isn't too long, unfortunately, but maybe that's for the best, not overstaying its welcome. For the length of it, however, every second felt like I'm kid again, and the gamer in me finally awoken one more time.

With the look and feel of the game, its style reminds me a lot of Blood and Return to Castle Wolfenstein, the latter in part because of the weapons you use, but also because of evil cult story, the zombies, etc... Yes, it does have a story, and it even has quite a surprising amount of lore.

The game ran flawlessly on Windows, and although I've had a crash under Proton in Linux, I can forgive that, because the native Linux client doesn't exist, or not yet anyway.

For the fans of 90s FPS games, this game is a must have!

This game is simply fantastic. It really surpassed what I expected out of a Chapter 1 early access. Each level is massive, and finding secrets isn't too difficult and very rewarding! I honestly thought I was near the end of what was available only for the game to throw me another massive level. That, and way more content than I'd ever hoped for in an EA! It's totally worth giving this game a try, if you're considering!

Haven't had this much fun in a long time. It really captures everything great about the old Build engine game era, but also adds modern, tight controls to allow you to run and gun smoothly.

The music is fantastic considering its made by the same one guy who developed the game. There are some tense and scary parts completely enhanced by the score.

Overall, it plays great, looks great, sounds great, and gave me nostalgia. 10/10

Researcher Notes #28

He did it. No science can explain this.

A really fun retro FPS, which is not in Early Access.

The deafening sound of dynamite thrown at cultists, the screams, the headshots, the explosions, the blood and gore. Often in slow motion. A great selection of (upgradable) weapons, all fun and satisfying to use. Even Especially the flamethrower. The molomite dynamite+Molotov combo, an absolute pyromaniac’s delight. Explosive barrels, explosive lamps, grenades. Lots of explosive action, frantic dodging, and shooting, interspersed with slower sequences of waiting for enemies to come closer or shooting them from a distance. All accompanied by a great soundtrack.

All of this in ten missions set in varied and (mostly) believable locations. The pixelly environments (and enemies, and weapons, and explosions) look stunning, if not outright gorgeous. Even the found notes are interesting to read! Plus, there are quicksaves, accessibility options, and an up-to-date demo.

This is not just a game inspired by Blood and Resident Evil 4. This is its own thing. And it’s fantastic.

(Looking forward to Chapter 2.)

A nod to Blood, Re4 and various other games of old. I fully recommend it, a very engaging experience.

There's one minor detail that speaks about the design philosophy behind this game; the doors.

If you hit the use key on a door it opens slowly, giving you time to peer in and snipe anyone you see inside. Alternatively, you can kick the door open instantly and go full aggression mode, if you're lacking in patience.

This reinforces the core idea of "play your way", with both slower and methodical play and fast-paced blitzkrieg action being entirely viable, as long as you have the ammo for it.

CULTIC is a great retro-FPS with a strong personality which offers different challenges in every level. You will never get bored and nice surprises await you along the way.

Cultic is a great homage to the original Blood with is own personality, unique art style and great gameplay. chapter one was a great experience with a great lvl design, fun and punchy guns to shoot and can be upgraded, a good variety of enemies and also secret hunting!

there a bit of tuning for the game in my opinion:
-the Shotgun feels a bit weak even with it full upgraded - the reload is too slow for this close encounter enemies and overall.
-needed to add a keybind for the Molotov.
-the reload of a quicksave and game save are slow in comparison to the game loads a save from the menu.
-there is some areas in some of the lvls that my pc have Major fps drops and others is on a stable frame rate but and such a big problem.

overall Clutic is a great game and every old-school shooter and fps fan needs to play this !

It's rare that I get to play a game that's so polished on release. Not a single bug or mishap from my 5 and a half hour playthrough to report. Game-play is solid and each level has a unique Vision/ twist for it. Also Soundtrack is Banger after Banger (Especially "In Their Sights").

Highly recommend it. Solid 10/10

100% please buy this game. I was really surprised how the campaign was a long one, the combat and the firearms are excellent. Plenty dynamite and molotov cocktails to ruin your enemies' day.

Amazing. The quality is up there with Dusk.

Big beautiful open levels with lots of well designed secrets.
Lots of guns. Every one of them feels satisfying and fun to use. They're even upgradable.
Great sound design. Weapons sound great and enemies make distinct noises when they're alarmed giving you a chance to react to them.

I cannot believe this is a solo project. This guy is the Toby Fox of FPS

This is WELL worth the price.
Very much looking forward to Chapter 2

The modern spiritual successor to Blood. There's ten levels in Chapter 1, took me four hours to complete on
Normal. There's multiple difficulties, plenty of secrets to find each level and even a score/time attack mode, lot of content for 11$.

Can't wait for the other chapters.

This game will go down as one of the top Boomer Shooters of this era. It does everything right and then some.
Buy it and become a badass cultist slayer.

What an incredible game. I finished the campaign on hard and now I'm grinding away on the endless mode because the combat is just so damn fine. The developer of this game is insanely talented. There's a number of boomer shooters out there that seem to use the retro aesthetic as an excuse for jank or lazy design. Not so with Cultic. This game is polished to a mirror shine.

Really good game that has multi-paths lead to same final spot. Head-shot slow motion make think of necrovision game. Weapons are fun and very meat sounding.

great game, love the atmosphere set by the gurngy artstyle and music. amazing modern twitchshooter. definitely better than 90%~ of anything the triple A studios are squeezing out nowdays.
look forward to more from Jason.

Fantastic game, minor critique could be around better story but other than that everything works in sequence for a great gaming experience.

I'd happily recommend this for fans of "boomer" shooters (you could consider Cultic to be a spiritual sequel to BLOOD).

Holy shit, that was awesome! I am so impressed, and seriously cannot wait to see more from you. Amazing work!

Great music, great levels, love the gun fighting against the cult.

Definitely deserving of the great review score.

A Blood transfusion for the present day. Love the aesthetic, love how it handles. Great retro shooter.

Give me your eyes, that I might see.

Played the demo for 10 minutes and immediately was hooked and bought the game. Good boomer shooter with a little bit of survival horror feel mixed in.

I don't know what Blood is. I know all the other reviews mention it, but I've never heard of it before. What I do know (very, very well) is Resident Evil 4, and this feels like "what if RE4 was a boomer shooter." I first thought of it since your pistol is the same gun as the Red9, with the reload animation even being very similar, and I couldn't stop feeling like the dev probably shared my love for RE4. Level design seems really good so far, and I'm loving the slower approach to a boomer shooter. Easy recommend,

As close to a masterpiece as you can get.
One of the best retro shooters on the market and no doubt future chapters will be just as good.

https://youtu.be/IlidSscE4tA

WOW. This was an excellent first chapter in its entirety. I loved the way the levels were designed. It really tows the line well between secret hunting, action, and slower moments for building tension. Mechanically the shooting feels amazing with precise controls and a great crunchy feeling to combat. The atmosphere is wonderful and it lends itself well to some great set-piece moments. Really a great game.

If you are into classic fps of the early 90s this game is great. if your not this game is still great. Runs great on steam deck. I completed chapter one on deck ran flawless. Cant wait for chapter 2. Great job dev for a solo project its hard to believe one guy made this.

10/10 Throwback shooter. Ultra satisfying gameplay loop. Intelligent sound/art design cues. A great example of simple but effective game design. Jason really outdid himself.

Feels like the love child of RE4, Blood, and Ion Fury popped in for a quicky.

Highly recommended for people that like being happy.

An amazing spiritual successor to Blood, with some modern play-ability updates. Great retro vibe from the visuals to the music.

This was a really good game. I love how the enemies are super crunchy and all the guns kickass. the game also had alot of varied locations too, which 10/10 on the graphics. I love how people are taking these old shooter engines and making better games than you can get with TripA. It really felt like you where doing a one man assault to stop this cult from taking over. cant wait to see the rest of the chapters.

One solo developer has created one of the best first-person shooters ever made.

Whether screwing around and enjoying the atmosphere and acrobatic flow of combat, playing with the many fun toys in your arsenal at a low difficulty, or sprinting, leaping and crawling from desperate moment to moment at the highest difficulty, 'Extreme', in which each enemy is a potentially lethal threat... It simply has a sense of flow and good balance and sheer *fun* I haven't seen achieved so well since FEAR, while evoking rich atmosphere, tension and excitement with low-detail but beautifully lit environments as well as anything has since the original Unreal.

Cultic feels as much a Survival Horror as Resident Evil 1 and as much of a horror adventure as Resident Evil 4.

The levels are varied in mood and core gameplay while retaining a perfectly consistent aesthetic and atmosphere throughout, all the more remarkable for choosing a bizarre fusion of true 3d gaming, 2.5d style sprites, and voxel-sculpted environmental props. The balance of action and horror, tension and catharsis was excellent. The freedom granted by the level design to sneak, ambush, lure enemies, rain down explosives from afar, leap in for melee, and mix up all of the above as you struggle through each battle was so much fun!

If I were to criticise any quality of the game it would be the use of low-detail sprites for the enemies, with a weak rotation and a lack of rotated views - hitting enemies, reading the damage you're achieving, and recognising their animations for imminent attack can be slightly unclear for someone used to the richer sprite animations of Project Brutality/Brutal Doom, or for someone not used to sprite-based enemies in 3D/2.5d shooters at all.

This is all I can find, the only criticism I can muster. The game was smooth, 99% bug-free, completely stable. It didn't annoy me, ever - it didn't bore me, ever. I was eager to go back each day for a few levels at a time until I finished it, something I experience a few times in a decade due to mental health struggles that make concentration and commitment to a game, book or series exceptionally difficult.

You should buy this at a high price. Don't wait for a sale, get it now.