Supplice is a stylized old-school, fast as hell first-person shooter that directly descends from the lineage of Doom. It’s a blink-and-you’re-dead kind of game, where you run and turn almost like a racing car, with the difference that you are armed to the teeth. Well, you will be soon, since at the start you only have this odd drill that doubles as a melee weapon and powerful shockwave emitter. If you love a throwback to the 90’s, this is your game, but don’t go expecting anything to blow your mind, apart from the enemies’ bullets.

Saving Space

As an engineer that is part of a terraforming team, you are tasked with a job that instantly goes awry – to prepare new worlds for humanity to colonize, as we have outgrown Earth. Naturally, this involves encounters with creatures who want nothing but to throw a spanner in the works, but thankfully you are resourceful enough to discover the conveniently placed weapons and raise hell.

The maps are quite large and feature a non-linear design. There are stairs, elevators, floors, switches all over the place, and it’s easy to get lost, even more considering that some of the places look very similar. Thankfully, you have a map that shows your position and your current goals, so you can make some sense out of your surroundings. Still, there’s the occasional backtracking to do and this doesn’t help to get you engaged within this alien world, although things improve as you learn the layout in a few playthroughs.

You are built for speed, unusually for an engineer, but one thing that you don’t have in Supplice is a jumping ability – you are bolted to the ground. This undermines some of the depth that the combat could gain from, as it is widely regarded as one of the actions that are crucial in any first-person shooter. A throwback it may be, but being limited to strafing to avoid enemy fire is somewhat of a letdown.

Despite the pace, going on a blind rampage is a surefire way to get your armor and health drained and restart the large levels from scratch. Taking a cautious approach and dealing with a low number of enemies at a time will be your best strategy.

During your escapades you will find various terminals that you can access to read some lore, sometimes even to find a hint that isn’t key to your progress, if you know your way around shooters where you must blast everything that looks conspicuous. The terminal text feels a bit cluttered and drawn-out, and you’ll instinctively start to skip it without paying attention, as the action is the focus here.

The selection of weapons is reasonable, but nothing to write home about. You have the usual assortment of rifles, shotguns, miniguns, and a rocket launcher, among others, albeit with fancy names such as Cyclomortar and Cremator. The feelings are good, as much as can be for a game with such a stylized and fast-paced approach, but not quite at the level of current shooters where a lot of attention went into aspects such as weight and recoil, factors that are pretty much ignored here.

Classic in the Classic Sense

Supplice is targeting the very specific niche of old-school shooter fans who can’t get enough of Doom and Duke Nukem 3D. In that sense, they will be thrilled with this game, as the gameplay is frantic, the levels are expansive, and there are more switches and elevators than you can throw a drill at. It’s enjoyable, challenging, and has room to grow with more episodes and weapons.

On the other hand, this probably isn’t something you haven’t seen or experienced before. There are other shooters that do the same thing with comparable quality – or even better – such as Project Downfall, Fashion Police Squad, Ultrakill, or Ion Fury, and you can surely find a lot more with a quick search. Give Supplice a shot if you collect these classic shooters like it’s 1995, thank it for the memories, but don’t forget to bring your butt back to the twenty-first century when you’re done with it.

Pros

• Fast-paced and smooth
• Stylish pixel graphics
• Sprawling maps with plenty of ways to get lost

Cons

• Sprawling maps with plenty of ways to get lost, backtrack, and get frustrated
• No jump action
• Nothing groundbreaking or too exciting

Rating: 7/10