Let's make a list of things we want in a '90s-style retro shooter: we'll need gross demons that explode into gibs, guns that don't need reloading, ludicrous running speed, and a heavy metal version of Hell to traverse as we're ventilating our meat puppet enemies. Hellbound, out today from Saibot Studios, manages to check every box on this list, but still misses the mark by a wide margin and, for all its earnestness, winds up being a shallow and unremarkable experience.
Hellbound is a violent first-person shooter that looks like it was made for a Law & Order episode about violent first-person shooters. There are the enemies that come apart like cherry pies dropped from a third storey window. There's bright orange lava and sludgy biker metal guitar riffs. And there's the gruff, basso profondo protagonist who calls everything "motherfuckers."
The idea is to recapture the joy of '90s FPS games that did the same things, and Hellbound isn't shy about tattooing its influences onto the worryingly vascular bicep that would have been covered by its torn-off sleeve. "Time to get serious," growls hero Hellgore, as you head into a huge arena to face a swarm of monsters, in an open and clearly loving homage to Serious Sam.
RELATED LINKS:
Hellbound is a Doom and Quake throwback that's out next month