WRATH Analysis: Aeon of Ruin - A classic shooter

Loss, Earthquake, Duke Nukem… You surely know all these titles perfectly, and the growth they represented at the time of their respective original releases. WRATH: Aeon of Ruin, of 3D Realms, comes to take over from these fathers of the FPS shooter genre as we know it.

With this brief introduction, you are more than ready to read this analysis. So let’s go :

WRATH: Aeon of Ruin has gameplay that is as classic as it is fast-paced

The gameplay of ANGER: Aeon of Ruin follows a very simple principle: move at breakneck speed and shoot anything that moves while we collect resources and keys to open the doors and be able to continue moving forward. That’s why its inspiration is so clear, because that’s essentially what we did in the games mentioned in the first paragraph of this text. We have several weapons ranging from a simple pistol to the typical double-barreled shotgun or other more fictitious ones like a fang thrower or an acid ball thrower. The “main” weapon is a blade which, in addition to inflicting damage, will allow us to reach seemingly inaccessible places thanks to its charged attack.

However, it is essential for me to mention that The game’s difficulty is too artificially increased. Let me explain: you can have maximum health and armor (which, of course, do not regenerate automatically and we have to collect them all around the stage), and it will take no more than 10 shots from enemies to remove everything and kill. You. To do this, dodging bullets is essential, but this is something that seems too complicated when you are surrounded – without exaggeration – by around 15 to 20 enemies who can be almost as fast as you. The saved game is manual and limited, although we can make it infinite thanks to the different options that the title offers us. This will be the only adjustment we can make to the difficulty.

It’s good to take inspiration from the 90s, but it’s already 2024

As I already mentioned, the inspirations of WRATH: Aeon of Ruin They are more than clear, if we look at the magical era of the 90s. However, this can be both a positive and a negative, depending on how it is done. In this case, taking into account your notable repetitiveness, unspectacular environments and almost no innovation, I think it’s more of a negative point.

Personally, I consider that, now that we are in 2024, it is a bit poor to launch a proposal that is limited to being very similar to the fathers of the genre, without bringing practically anything new and even preserving some of the negative points that they contain, like the aforementioned repetitiveness. Throughout the adventure we will do the same thing: run, shoot and find strange secrets as we advance through the different levels. There’s nothing else, and to top it all off It’s not that there is a very wide range of enemies, but there are all kinds with scary aspects,

like flying, terrestrial, aquatic… On the other hand, the settings are darker and gloomy, but nothing spectacular despite the inclusion of interiors of immense castles or vast exteriors. Let’s say that, surely, they will not invite you to stay and look at them attentively because of their beauty.

Excellent graphics and optimization

It’s not just the gameplay that has an old flavor, but The graphics are also reminiscent of bygone eras, with touches that make them a little more modern. However, for the most part, the technical part comes directly from the 32-64 bit era on consoles. Polygons (which don’t stand out too much, as it would ruin the models) and a touch of pixelart go hand in hand to give us a More than correct visual section with excellent optimization which offers us the essential 60 fps without weakening at any time. Of course, don’t expect improvements like 120 fps frame rate, too high resolutions, etc., because The game does not have a dedicated version for Xbox Series X|S, although it does have the fantastic Quick Resume feature

on the latest Redmond consoles.

In short, WRATH: Aeon of Ruin remains halfway through

After all that has been said and to conclude, I can say that WRATH: Aeon of Ruin It is an interesting proposition in its playable mechanics and technically with sublime optimization, but it hardly innovates anything and can very quickly become quite repetitive. Plus, its artificially high difficulty doesn’t help at all. It’s not a game I can’t recommend as such, but I think there are far more satisfying experiences than this, for similar or even lower prices. Yet, I can only recommend it if you are a die-hard fan of the genre and have enough patience. If this is your case, you will surely be able to take advantage of it at least.