Dread Templar

The terribly-named “boomer shooter” trend is going strong nowadays, with some really great titles being released over the past few months. There have also been some massive duds that really show how actually hard it is to make a game in the scene feel retro and fresh at the same time. Thankfully, we have a positive entry in the subgenre being discussed today. Dread Templar is the perfect case of a retro shooter that might look and feel like it came from twenty-five years ago, but features...

Still, whatever flaws you can find with Dread Templar, one thing counters them all: it’s hellishly fun to play. The speed of the action, your impressive arsenal, the pounding soundtrack – it all combines to create a thrilling first-person experience that you can’t help but lose yourself in. As far as retro-inspired shooters go, Dread Templar is up there with the best of them.

Dread Templar is a perfect shooter by 90's standards. It replicates the 90's shooter model from all avenues of design which both help and hamstrings the game. The gameplay is fun but would be more fun with a bit more of a modern influence. That being said, Dread Templar is immensely impressive when you realize it was made by a solo developer.

With a load of fun weapons to use and frontloaded with creative levels, Dread Templar is a game with a few flaws -- like its relatively repetitive final two acts -- but nothing that detracts from having an action-packed, bloody good time.

Are you nostalgic for the boomer shooters of yesteryear? Do you yearn for the days of keycard hunting, hordes of foes, and just enough plot to string it all together? Well, T19 Games’ Dread Templar has you covered, delivering a love letter to the retro FPS genre, to both its credit and detriment. Fans of the original Quake and DOOM games will definitely get their fill from Dread Templar, but it doesn’t have much ambition to carve out much of its own identity.

Competent is definitely not the worst descriptor a game can attain, but I’d be happier if Dread Templar had found a way to truly distinguish itself. When I find myself with that retro-shooter itch, I can’t see myself coming back to this one. It takes more than good gunplay to make an experience memorable, but there isn’t much more to Dread Templar than that.