The perpetually rain slick streets of Sundown Metropolis may be the most effective surroundings ever rendered in GZDoom—it is uncluttered, atmospheric, and attractive in that classic cyberpunk means. The skin areas evoke yellowed paperback reminiscences of Neuromancer’s Sprawl, with sparsely adorned interiors that really feel proper out of Johnny Mnemonic. Moody synths bring to mind Vangelis’s work on the Blade Runner soundtrack, with somber moments of reprieve after the carnage stops. Past Sundown is, kind of, an FPS constructed out of stuff you have seen earlier than, however organized with such precision and polish that these acquainted tastes really feel all new.
What’s instantly hanging about Past Sundown is how each ingredient of the presentation feels exact, thought-about, and deliberate, a technical triumph provided that it runs in a virtually 20 yr previous open supply engine constructed on the bones of 1993’s Doom. This is not meant to disparage GZDoom—it is simply uncommon to see one thing of this high quality, like discovering an incredible monitor on Soundcloud and study it was made on a cracked copy of FruityLoops.
You play as Lucy, a newly unfrozen road samurai within the make use of of unseen mafiosa Yuri. The primary main space is structured round you performing a success on a Yakuza boss, however that itself is not any simple process, as a result of the bastard has locked his entrance door. Buying and selling contraband with shifty shopkeeps, taking out minor gang bosses, and hacking a web that appears just like the Macintosh Plus Floral Shoppe cowl are the means by which you pry open Sundown’s metropolis little by little.
I actually appreciated the change in context: slicing an arm from a pit boss to open a biometrically sealed door or hacking a terminal to open a safety gate is not that a lot totally different than keycard looking, but it surely makes Sundown Metropolis really feel a hell of much more alive. What additionally retains that vitality going is a thumping synth & vaporwave soundtrack by Karl Vincent: crisp hi-hats and snare hits, wispy synths, and punchy bass riffs sound real in a means that lots of different soundtracks chasing that ’80s & ’90s sound do not. Simply hearken to Wrath of Apollo‘s gnarly, A.G. Prepare dinner-esque bass synth and attempt to inform me it would not get you going.
Although there’s nonetheless a good quantity of backtracking (which GZDoom’s restricted automap would not make any simpler), I used to be impressed by the readability of the extent design, and the way coherently every thing was laid out, particularly given each the variability and scope of the surroundings in even simply the primary couple hours. There are penthouse shootouts, a zombie-infested quarantine zone guarded by a non-public army firm, and hacking sequences that teleport you right into a CYMK tinged digital backyard of greco-roman statues and low poly impressions.
Each the construction and scale of Sundown Metropolis harken again to a number of the Doom modding scenes’ most spectacular customized .WADs, specifically the bigger maps from legendary megawad Alien Vendetta. As somebody who has some expertise on this little area of interest, it is laborious to not see Past Sundown as a victory lap for the GZDoom neighborhood.
Past Sundown shocked me with its gunplay too—I’ve performed lots of GZDoom complete conversions, and Past Sundown sidesteps the commonest pitfalls (clumsy glory kills mechanics, an overabundance of weapon and enemy variations). The katana-swinging yakuza enforcers that pour in by means of teleporters accomplish that dozens at a time, excellent fodder for a shotgun with an arc so vast that it genuinely clears rooms. Racking up kills fills up your “energy blow” meter, an instakill katana fast draw that returns an honest chunk of well being and ammo. That meter stuffed up a bit too quick for my liking–there had been a pair white knuckle shootouts that positively felt undercut by having prepared entry to a therapeutic deathblow, however the transfer is so satisfying to drag off that it is solely a small grievance.
Past Sundown is a group of concepts and strategies pioneered by different video games, books, and movies, however seeing them right here, executed with such a excessive degree of polish on such a compressed scale, is uniquely spectacular and gratifying. These snug with taking part in on Ultraviolence or Nightmare issue might discover Past Sundown’s issue wanting, however truthfully, half the enjoyable is soaking in these wealthy lo-fi cyberpunk vibes. If that is in any respect interesting to you, positively regulate (and take into account selecting up) Past Sundown because it exits early entry.
