The first-person shooter genre has been around for more than 30 years (if we count Wolfenstein 3D), and all this time it has been constantly evolving, getting new gameplay mechanics and getting rid of outdated ones, so modern shooters have almost nothing in common with the founders of the genre.

But still, there was something very attractive about the fun and addictive gameplay of the first shooters, even if it was quite primitive from a modern perspective. That is why in recent years the subgenre of “boomer shooters” has emerged, i.e. “shooters for old people” – modern games that copy the gameplay and even the graphics of famous games of the 90s. Their popularity is eloquently evidenced by the fact that they even got their own category on Steam.

In this article, we tried to put together a selection of the best boomer shooters, in our opinion: they all have fast and simple gameplay, almost no plot, a huge number of enemies, and deliberately simplified graphics (often even sprite).

 

AMID EVIL

A fantasy shooter that looks like the legendary Heretic: medieval castles and other fantasy worlds, magical weapons, and very bright, rich graphics. The game has very high dynamics, even simpler puzzles than Heretic (if you can even call them that), and enemies that “throw” various flashes at you, which you need to dodge in time – it’s a bit like bullet hell elements “on the minimum settings”. The locations also sometimes remind you of the first Unreal, so you can get nostalgic.

AMID EVIL was released 5 years ago and has received several content DLCs since then. Despite the intentionally pixelated graphics, the game looks very good visually: it even has ray tracing support for shadows and reflections, and owners of VR headsets may be interested in a separate version of the game, AMID EVIL VR, which was released last year and also has very positive reviews on Steam.

 

CULTIC

If AMID EVIL can be called a modern reimagining of Heretic, then CULTIC is a modern Blood. The protagonist is alone against an ominous cult, and the gameplay, the world, and even the graphics look like we got a real sequel to the first Blood on the same engine instead of an incomprehensible second part.

CULTIC is being developed by one person, the first part of the game called Chapter One was released in 2022, and a year later the second part, Chapter Two, was announced and is still in development. However, even the first half looks like a self-sufficient, albeit rather short game – it will take about 5-6 hours to complete.

 

DOOM (2016)

Yes, the same DOOM reboot from 2016 – despite the fact that it looks like a modern game with very impressive graphics even today, 8 years after its release, it is 100% a boomer shooter in terms of gameplay.

Surprisingly not quite straightforward and interesting locations, classic monsters in a modern form, and the signature frantic gameplay of the first games – DOOM 3 with its flirtation with horror elements, fortunately, the developer decided not to copy it at all.

DOOM Eternal, released four years later, developed some of the innovative mechanics of the previous installment, which made some players feel that the new title was overloaded with arcade elements and gameplay that no longer resembles the original DOOM: Eternal also has a very high rating on Steam, but still slightly lower than DOOM (2016).

 

DUSK

With gloomy graphics in a predominantly gray-brown palette and emphasized low-poly models in a “thrash mountain” atmosphere, DUSK gives the impression of the first Quake, which was transferred to either Blood or Redneck Rampage locations.

Like most boomer shooters, DUSK has very high dynamics, both in terms of shootouts and simply moving around locations. What distinguishes the game from other representatives of the genre is the excellent weapon mechanics – such a flawless execution is very rare.

Therefore, it is not surprising that despite the graphics that are not very impressive even by the standards of the genre, DUSK is considered one of the best boomer shooters of our time: the game has almost 20 thousand ratings on Steam (which is much more than the vast majority of other representatives of the genre) and 97% of positive reviews.

 

HROT

A Czech shooter set in Prague in 1986. HROT was developed by one person on an engine of his own production (!), and the developer, according to him, was inspired by such games as Quake and… Ukrainian Chasm: The Rift.

While other boomer shooter developers usually try to make a “beautiful picture” in the “outdated” style of the 90s, the author of HROT seems to have had the opposite goal: the game looks as “ugly” as possible, with low-poly and angular models, in the “50 shades of brown” palette.

Thanks to this approach, the author managed to create a kind of brutal aesthetics of socialist Czechoslovakia, while gameplay-wise HROT is really very similar to the above games.

 

Ion Fury

Another game that clearly shows the inspiration of its creators. Ion Fury is almost a one-to-one copy of Duke Nukem 3D, the game even uses the same Build engine (or rather, its modernized version – EDuke32). Therefore, DN3D fans will feel right at home in Ion Fury: the same controls, look and, of course, gameplay.

The game was released 5 years ago and has a very high rating on Steam (93% of positive reviews). At the beginning of this year, a sequel, Phantom Fury, was released, which uses the Unreal Engine and has more modern polygonal graphics. However, it seems that the change of developer did not benefit the series – the reviews for the sequel on Steam are “mixed”.

 

Prodeus

In our opinion, it is one of the best representatives of the genre today. Again, Prodeus copies the gameplay of the legendary first shooters, mainly DOOM and Quake, but adds some modern mechanics, such as unlocking new weapons by collecting game “currency” in locations.

Despite the use of a modern engine (Prodeus is built on Unity), the sprite graphics also immediately reminds us of the “classic” – or rather, its updated version, the Brutal DOOM mod. The fountains of pixelated blood and piles of monster pieces sometimes seem to just “stain” the monitor screen.

However, brutal cruelty is not the only feature of the game. Prodeus has perfectly balanced and interesting weapons, challenging locations, and absolutely “right” 90s gameplay.

 

Turbo Overkill

Few boomer shooters manage to combine an “old-school” style of graphics with a really beautiful visuals, and Turbo Overkill is one of them. A cyberpunk future, hostile AI, skyscrapers flooded with neon light, augmented enemies – it seems like you’re in a mix of Blade Runner and Cyberpunk 2077.

All representatives of the genre have a very dynamic gameplay, in which you have to constantly move to survive – but Turbo Overkill looks like a boomer shooter on steroids. The protagonist runs around like a madman and continuously kills enemies in whole packs – even in a rolling motion, because he has a chainsaw built into his right leg.

 

ULTRAKILL

An unusual boomer shooter concept: in ULTRAKILL, you have an endless supply of ammo, but there are no first aid kits in the game – and health, traditionally for the genre, does not regenerate over time, as is customary in modern shooters. You can restore it… by taking a blood bath after killing your enemies – and to do so, you have to tear them to pieces in melee, which makes you take risks every time.

ULTRAKILL is the only project in this selection that is still in Early Access (for the fifth year already), and the game is created by one person again. At the same time, it has an absolutely incredible success on Steam – while other games usually have a few thousand reviews, at best a couple of tens of thousands, ULTRAKILL currently has over 115 thousand reviews, 97% of which are positive.

 

Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun

The Warhammer 40K universe is not very lucky for high-quality first-person shooters – after all, it was not created for this genre. But fortunately, there are some very good projects, such as Boltgun.

Unlike many of the other games mentioned in this article, which still modernize the classic gameplay with some additional elements, Warhammer 40,000 Boltgun does not betray the classic “run and gun” scheme.

The game looks like a complete clone of the original DOOM, but in a different universe: a space marine from the Ultramarine Order uses a chatterbox and a chain sword to fight his way through the endless forces of Chaos. The plot is practically absent, and the graphics, despite the fact that the game uses Unreal Engine 4, look like a mixture of objects from the same DOOM in the locations of the first Quake, painted in all the colors of the rainbow.

 
If the games mentioned in the article are not enough (or you have already played them all), you can pay attention to the following worthy representatives of the genre.

Kvark – another Czech shooter that also takes place in Czechoslovakia in the 80s.

Nightmare Reaper – a very unusual mix of boomer shooter and rogue-lite with procedurally generated locations and a lot of weapons.

Project Warlock – is a Hexen-style fantasy shooter with magic and hand-to-hand combat.

Selaco – is a promising project that is currently in Early Access. The game has a very nice visual style, and it is absolutely impossible to say that it is created on the GZDoom engine (modified DOOM).