Dread Templar

Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.

There are so many of these 90s-inspired shooters that anyone who is a fan is having a field day with all the options available.

While not having the quality and personality shown by the greatest boomer shooters, Dread Templar is a fast-paced, fun and deep enough retro FPS that knows its stuff.

If you are done with Quake remaster, Dread Templar is a great choice to continue.

Dread Templar offers over twenty-five levels, but somewhat monotonous level design. However, hordes of enemies, adrenaline-pumping action, a systematic way of upgrading and a high-quality soundtrack will make you fight through hell to the successful end.

Escaping the deep hell of early access Dread Templar manages to offer you a nostalgic and old-school gameplay style, which is more than enough to set it apart from other shooters in the market.

Dread Templar is a good example of a solid boomer shooter. It's fast, the enemies are dumb yet formidable, and the level design begs for exploration. The upgrade system is quite nice but doesn't show off its capabilities until you get further into the game. Weapon types are fine until you get them really powered up. While some things are a bit unfair, with explosions reaching far beyond their intended range and enemies refusing to drop ammo, Dread Templar remains an adrenaline-pumping experience that you'll return to - as long as you aren't expecting anything revolutionary.

If you enjoyed playing Doom and Quake, be it back in the day or now, then you will enjoy Dread Templar. It has all the defining hallmarks of a game from that era along with the lessons learned in the last 30 years.

I liked my time with Dread Templar, especially when the game took off and began to offer a challenge on par with the best exponents of the young retro FPS subgenre. On the other hand, I think it needed a bit of work to really stand out, perhaps by handling the upgrade system or the boss battles in a different way. In any case, Dread Templar is a good game that understands the classic fundamentals of the genre and contains adrenaline-pumping moments in polished and emotional combat.

There have been quite a few boomer shooters in these last few years and to be honest, Dread Templar is not the best of them, falling just a tiny bit short of the likes of Dusk, Amid Evil or Prodeus, but it's still funny and entertaining, especially if you're looking for a classic FPS experience.