When you think of retro FPS games with a heavy metal beat, Doom or Wolfenstein always spring to mind. The saga developed by ID software served as inspiration for an entire subgenre of video games that has since brought us all sorts of versions, as well as a collection of awesome reboots from the same creator studio. But the reason I’m talking about this is because I’ve been getting back into Dread Templar lately, now that the game is officially releasing and early access is gone. In this sense, the title clearly inspired by Doom is enriched with new levels, weapons, enemies and much more and I could see it with my own eyes.
Even though this game tells a story, all you have to know is that Dread Templar asks you to shoot and fight your way through hordes of evil demons to reach the end of the level. Unlike Doom and Doom Eternal, this title swaps the high-resolution graphics for pixelated 3D elements to get closer to the 90s. If the game didn’t run amazingly well on the right hardware, you’d think that T19 Games has it down pulled from a dusty cartridge hidden among the boxes that someone had left in their garage for the last 30 years.
The gameplay itself is incredibly simple. You just have to manage your ammo and hit the shots with the first-person aiming feature while dodging the attacks of the monsters that are waiting for you. Also, you can get collectibles and other secrets such as: B. Doors that can only be unlocked by finding the right key, but the main goal of this game is to blast the hellspawn into thousands of small pieces.
In that regard, it works perfectly. It’s a very satisfying and fast shooter that aims to challenge and entertain all lovers of this type of video game. It also features an attractive range of weapons to find and use, as well as a wide variety of enemies to meet and defeat, making for a truly thrilling ride. And the best part is that it doesn’t give you everything first. No, you will have to acquire new weapons and face new enemies in different biomes as you progress through the story. Always remember that you can get one step ahead of some of these zones by exploring the secret secondary zones that you find throughout the levels and getting a weapon archetype early on.
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Since this is a retro 3D game, the visual effects can be a bit monotonous, especially since it is mainly a demon and hellspawn game. Doom, for example, had a love-hate relationship with the color red. So while the graphics portion is never something that draws attention, the performance that low-res graphics allow is surprising.
I was able to test Dread Templar on a desktop with an Intel i9-11900KF, RTX 3090 and 64GB of RAM and an MSI Pulse GL76 laptop, and both computers can run this game at such a high frame rate that the connected displays won’t can reach (many times it reaches 700 frames per second). This means that regardless of your computer’s characteristics, Dread Templar should run extremely smoothly, which is a huge advantage for a title that prides itself on highly dynamic combat.
But just because the performance is so fantastic doesn’t mean there aren’t cracks in the game’s armor. Dread Templar supports controllers, but some menus are not designed for controllers. Some levels have such monotonous colors that you can lose your bearings. Also, the narration is so poorly built that it’s mostly presented through still frames with dialogue. in from at the end of each of the five chapters. On the other hand, Dread Templar is a monster shooter game and in that area alone it’s already a very respected title.
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And that’s the key. Dread Templar is a totally fun retro FPS. It is direct, simple, impressive, action-packed and very exciting. The perfect type of game for anyone who just wants to immerse themselves in some old-school doom with a bloodthirsty metal soundtrack.
