Amid Evil Preview
What do you get when you take classic FPS shooters like Heretic and Quake and throw them into a fantasy setting? Developed by newcomers Indefatigable and published by New Blood Interactive, we are presented with Amid Evil. Amid Evil is a fantasy-themed FPS shooter that promises to revive the brilliance of the classics of this genre. As one would expect from a good retro-inspired shooter, Indefatigable’s debut release features aggressive enemies, non-regenerating health, large open levels and all sorts of hidden puzzles.
For such an action-oriented game, the plot in Amid Evil is simple at its best. We are told that our realm is being attacked by threatening spirits and it is up to us to exterminate these otherworldly creatures. In any case, all you truly need to know is this: you’re outfitted with magical weapons and you need to hack and slash your way through these spirits while traversing a creepy castle with a ton of spiral staircases.
You have stepped through one of the three portals that will begin your game. The weapon types in Amid Evil consist of medieval or fantasy themed items. You will begin with your standard two-handed battle ax that can do some pretty decent melee damage. Of course, over time your arsenal will grow to include staffs, polearms and various magical weapons. The first one players will find is a fire wand that shoots at an impressively rapid pace. While it does little damage, for now, it certainly is satisfying to be able to fire them off quickly to take down our opponents.
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“…the developers have done a wonderful job in also adding in a number of modern graphical features such as reflective surfaces and bloom lighting effects.”
When an opponent is taken down, we can occasionally collect the souls which will eventually fill up our soul meters. With a mechanic that evokes the Tome of Power from Heretic, it spices up our ways to kill our would-be slayers. For example, our starting ax will rapidly rotate, which can mow down a number of enemies at once, and our wand will transform itself into something reminiscent of Doom’s Plasma rifle. While these power-ups are limited, there are more than enough enemies to keep our soul meter from ever going empty.
The first level we have access to play through really shows how complex the maps are. Players will find ledges and bridges that crisscross over each other and walkways that move over and under obstacles. You can certainly tell the level design was inspired by classic shooters, so we’ll spend quite a bit of time traversing open areas full of awaiting enemies as we search for the keys and puzzle pieces that will help us move forward in our paths. Players will also want to take the time to thoroughly explore the areas, including underwater sections, in order to obtain additional weapons and health orbs via secret rooms. Not only will it help you through your game but there is no better feeling than seeing the stats screen announcing that we’ve managed to achieve 100% completion.Â
As earlier discussed, Amid Evil is obviously inspired by the looks of Hexen 2 and Quake, the developers have done a wonderful job in also adding in a number of modern graphical features such as reflective surfaces and bloom lighting effects. The final product is gorgeous and has everything that an old school fan of this genre would enjoy. While the enemy variety that we have seen so far is somewhat lacking, however, we must keep in mind this is only the first level so I am sure there will be even cooler enemies to come.
We’ve got fast movement, creative and interesting weapons and an excellently complex level design. While Amid Evil is still unfinished, we are treated with a pretty solid gaming experience to tide us over until the full release of the game. While few games have come and gone over the years that claim to be spiritual successors to the Heretic and Hexen titles, Amid Evil is pretty close to the real deal.
*** Early Access code provided by the publisher ***
