Apocryphon
Member
Game is out and looks like a blast! I'm picking this up when I get off work this afternoon. Should make for an entertaining few hours on Steam Deck. Yay.
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Cultic: Chapter 1 is Out!
- Thread starter Apocryphon
- Start date
Game is out and looks like a blast! I'm picking this up when I get off work this afternoon. Should make for an entertaining few hours on Steam Deck. Yay.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Ah I recall playing this during a Next Fest. Not too shabby.
TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Nah, I'll wait until the full game is available.
I liked the demo tho. Level design was a bit bland, but the shooting was nice.
I liked the demo tho. Level design was a bit bland, but the shooting was nice.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
This is why One Unit Whole Blood is so good, the TNT.
Apocryphon
Member
Maybe, but it is very good. It's a good price and while there hasn't been any real marketing push, it is published by 3D Realms so it has an audience regardless, even if it is small. I'm a couple of hours in and enjoying it. I don't know how much content 10 levels represents yet, and I don't know how far out Chapter 2 is, but if my enjoyment of Chapter 1 doesn't drop-off a cliff further in, they'll get at least one sale when it hits.
The Blood influences come through strongly. I think it will develop a cult following. Combat and movement are satisfying and I like the audio. I would probably have thought twice about picking it up at $30+, but at $9 it was an easy decision. Runs well on Steam Deck.
Apocryphon
Member
What? I didn't even known this was a thing. I'll check it out tomorrow!
I mean do that to yourself if you want, but turning it off removes the retro boomerness of the look makes it look gawdy and shitty as it actually is.
It's in Video and then in Quality.
bender
What time is it?
drotahorror
Member
Well it's really solid that's for sure. I think the level design is a bit bland and some of the enemy AI is really bad or maybe it's just supposed to be like that. The combat/gunplay is awesome and feels good though.
Drizzlehell
Banned
Yeah, that looks alright. Like a beefed up Blood. And it's cheap so seems like a no-brainer Halloween game.
Too bad Scorn is coming out this weekend (finally!) because otherwise I'd spend it playing this.
Too bad Scorn is coming out this weekend (finally!) because otherwise I'd spend it playing this.
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Apocryphon
Member
AI? This ain't Halo or FEAR bru. It's 100% supposed to be that way.
The weapons do feel great though. If nothing else they did nail the combat feedback. I don't have any issues with the level design as it's pretty much what I expected. I'm interested to see where things go further in.
I haven't looked at the colour filter yet but I don't hate the way it looks on the default settings. It's incredibly brown but I get what they were going for. I'll turn it off later and see what the difference is. I do feel as though it would have looked much nicer on the actual Build Engine. Unity has become the engine of choice for lots of these retro shooters and while it works well for some games, if you wanted to do a spiritual sequel to a Blood, Build or Kex would be where you'd go.
drotahorror
Member
The enemies in blood were way more aggressive. My main thing with the AI in CULTIC is they don't see you unless you're really close. You can be 50 ft away and kill one guy standing right next to another and the other will just stand there and watch their buddy die and not react.
Apocryphon
Member
I can't say they are particularly aggressive as in walking you down, but on the highest difficulty the ranged enemies are a pain and have excellent aim. It isn't as punishing as Blood, but it isn't any different to something like Ion Fury or Duke 3D.
Kacho
Gold Member
Yeah, not a fan of buying these small retro games in an incomplete state. I got burned on Wrath Aeon of Ruin... which is still incomplete!
drotahorror
Member
It's not really incomplete though. This is chapter 1. It's $10. Chapter 2 will probably be $10. You will have 2 separate entries in your library.
They could have released as early access for $20 and said Chapter 2 would come next year but I'd imagine they'll get more sales at $10.
ChoosableOne
ChoosableAll
I didn't like this marketing strategy. When I saw Cultic is out in Steam App, I just bought it instantly. Then I saw it's called "Chapter 1". I was following this game for some time in Steam, I didn't know they will release this game in two parts. Even in Steam library, it shows up as "Cultic", not "Cultic: Chapter 1". When you search the market, it shows up as "Cultic". It's better to have them as chapters instead of early access though.
MiguelItUp
Member
Highly recommend checking this out. Feels like a love letter to Blood that just ended up becoming its own thing, and it's really awesome. I was following the dev for the longest time, and man, it's definitely come a long way.
VN1X
Banned
About 3 levels in and playing it on Very Hard but I wish I had opted for the highest difficulty instead. It's still quite easy to just pick off enemies from afar with the lever-action rifle or some well placed pistol shots (especially with the accuracy upgrade). That said you do miss out on some of the schwanky movement tech though what with the slide-and-leap mechanic. That's something this game definitely excels at: the movement and gunplay feel incredibly satisfying at all times. Weighty but still arcadey which I like. However I wouldn't have minded faster walking and run speeds. I wish those could be increased a smudge (and I'm pretty sure it was higher for the demo no?).
All in all though I'm glad I got this on day one as it feels very polished and definitely worth the 8eu so far. If the subsequent episodes are available for a similar price then CULTIC is looking to be peak Boomer Shooter(tm) and one that can proudly stand next to other Neo-Retro titles such as DUSK, Ion Fury and Viscerafest. Good shit!
EDIT: I'd also like to echo though that I'm kind of tired of all these types of games releasing in piecemeal fashion though. Whether it's Early Access or CULTIC's episodic approach (which might as well just be EA also) I can't help but feel a bit disappointed whenever I'm excited for one of these to come out only to realize I might be waiting a year or longer for the full thing to come out. Obviously there are reasons for this (funding for one) but yeah... You'd think that with publishers such as New Blood and 3D Realms they'd be able to get these things out the door in more complete states instead of constantly releasing them half finished. Oh well.
All in all though I'm glad I got this on day one as it feels very polished and definitely worth the 8eu so far. If the subsequent episodes are available for a similar price then CULTIC is looking to be peak Boomer Shooter(tm) and one that can proudly stand next to other Neo-Retro titles such as DUSK, Ion Fury and Viscerafest. Good shit!
EDIT: I'd also like to echo though that I'm kind of tired of all these types of games releasing in piecemeal fashion though. Whether it's Early Access or CULTIC's episodic approach (which might as well just be EA also) I can't help but feel a bit disappointed whenever I'm excited for one of these to come out only to realize I might be waiting a year or longer for the full thing to come out. Obviously there are reasons for this (funding for one) but yeah... You'd think that with publishers such as New Blood and 3D Realms they'd be able to get these things out the door in more complete states instead of constantly releasing them half finished. Oh well.
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IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
Apocryphon
Member
I'm into the 5th level now. The first 4 took me about an hour each, so if that holds up, Chapter One looks to be 8-10 hours long if you explore the levels looking for secrets and weapon upgrades.
Honestly the more I play of it the more I love it. Combat is ridiculously satisfying and every single weapon is a joy to use. I didn't fully appreciate the RE4 comparisons until I got to the 4th level, but I understand what people are talking about now.
Movement is really well executed. I think the speed is perfect. The combination if wide open and claustrophobic spaces works well to add variety in how you approach enemy engagements.
Enemy roster seems solid, though I hope there are a couple more yet. Molotov are fantastic, as is the TNT, and the ability to combo them and strap a molotov to a TNT bundle is very useful.
I played the first two levels with the colour filter turned on because I didn't know know how could turn it off. I played through the next 2 with it turned off and I think I'm going to keep it off for this playthrough and them leave it on next time. I like both, but I think the colour works well with it turned off so that how I'm playing it for now.
After Prodeus I wasn't sure whether this would be disappointing or not, but I'm having a fucking blast. The Blood influence is there, but the Dusk and RE4 vibes come through more strongly. Pacing is really good too. The lulls in action you get at certain points are well crafted. The start of level 3 with the forest area and the bridge is a lot of fun. I reloaded my save a few times at the bridge to experiment with the weapons. I ended up placing unlit molotovs on the ground, spaced out and that worked best for that encounter. The fire effects are very Blood-esque.
It'd be a real shame if people pass on this because they've called it Chapter One. There's plenty of content and at then price they've released out for it feels like a steal. I wasn't sure what the value proposition would be initially, but I would pay $30 easy for this. It's polished and runs well on the Steam Deck locked to 40fps.
I am perhaps having more fun with this than I had with Prodeus. I think it's probably as good as Ion Fury and I'm 100% in for Chapter Two, whatever that looks like.
Apocryphon
Member
Yeah, other people are saying 3-5 hours so I must be playing through it really slowly. To be fair, I am scouring every inch of every map for secrets and playing on the highest difficulty. Game is great!
Herbspiceguy
Member
Honestly I don't get the hype/overwhelmingly positive reviews. I feel it pales in comparison to Blood and some of the modern boomer shooters (namely Dusk, that really nails it). I don't get that feeling of excitement and satisfaction with Cultic as I do in those other retro FPS's. It's not bad at all, it just feels just very bland with unnecessary extra bells & whistles. Also the music feels out of place and the sounds are crap. On the fence of refunding.
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Apocryphon
Member
IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
It's very fucking weird to see the return of the 3D Realms brand. I remember playing the shit out of Terminal Velocity, etc as a kid. Now 25 years later here's that same logo again.
IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
I've been waiting for soooooo long.
Hopefully this means the GOG release is imminent, too.
Hopefully this means the GOG release is imminent, too.
MiguelItUp
Member
Can't wait. Chapter 1 was awesome.
PontificationEngine
Member
Legit hyped for this today. Hoping for more lightly RE4 coded FPS action.
TerribleAtThisGame
Banned
Played the demo and it was quite cool. The episodic nature totally turns me off though. I don't wanna play your games across ten years. I'll pick up the definite edition or whatever when I'm 58.
tylrdiablos
Member
There's only 2 chapters. (Chapter 2 releases later today and is the final chapter.)
Chapters are $10 each and provide 8-10 hours of FPS fun each. (More if you like the additional/optional bonus modes.)
Chapter 1 was released October 13th 2022.
Chapter 2 is/was released September 18th 2025.
Feel free to pick them up when you're 58.
Guilty_AI
Gold Member
in your defense, game will probably be on a good sale by then
TerribleAtThisGame
Banned
I'll be playing on my retro OLED for that old school experience.
Guilty_AI
Gold Member
Simulating a retro OLED screen inside your brainwave VR system
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Barakov
Member
ZehDon
Banned
Heck yeah - Chapter 1 was pretty solid overall. Interlude was great, too. Can't wait to see what's in store.