After 7–8 attempts, I finally made it :D Unfortunately, it turned out to be a very, very short game. I followed some of the development progress on Discord — especially the weapon design and such — so I’ll try to describe my impressions as constructively as possible, from my initial expectations to what I experienced in the last ~15 minutes of gameplay :)
At first, I was really impressed by the weapon design and the early environment screenshots. I thought this had the potential to turn out really great. I was especially impressed that you modeled the weapon yourself. I have to admit, I’ve never modeled weapons in Blender myself, and I always appreciate when someone expands their skill set to improve!
As for the game itself, I feel like it’s struggling a bit with its identity, if that makes sense. The menu is appealing and fits the game well. The title image / cover art initially suggests a cool shooter in an interesting environment with a variety of assets. In the end, though, it was mostly the same wall texture repeated, along with enemies popping in. I’m always a fan of when the cover art truly reflects the actual game and sets accurate expectations — but that’s just my personal opinion and not a major issue.
Regarding gameplay: the enemies are slow, but the damage you take from hits is way too high. Since enemies sometimes spawn very close to you, it can be impossible to escape — especially because they have colliders that can trap you in corners and essentially lock you in place.
I also noticed that the weapon constantly drifts downwards to the right… all the time… not sure why.
There’s also a score system in the game. I’m wondering why I’m collecting points when the main goal is to progress through the level and find keys. That can work if the level design supports it, but here the level doesn’t really offer enough to motivate a high-score chase. Personally, I think it would have been better to fully commit to one direction: either make it an arena shooter in the style of Quake/Unreal with a Wolfenstein-like aesthetic, or expand the level design and exploration elements to keep the player engaged.
One very important aspect is action–reaction. Whenever I, as a player, do something — whether it’s movement, pressing a button, or triggering an event — I need a response. If I shoot, why not add weapon recoil? The more senses you engage — visually (recoil), audibly (gunshot sounds), and even haptically (controller vibration) — the more polished the experience feels.
When an enemy dies, play a sound and let it disappear with even a simple animation. That alone makes a huge difference and can significantly enhance the overall feel of a game. Action and reaction — at least visually and audiovisually — go a long way. If you keep that in mind, it’s hard to go too wrong ;)
That said, I still had fun during those 15 minutes, and the sound design is totally fine. I enjoyed trying to make my way through — that’s something that often motivates me.
Please don’t take any of this personally. I’m just trying to give constructive feedback. It has always helped me improve over the years, and I’d like to pass that on to others.
Best regards,
Marco