Hrot (2023)

A retro shooter in the communist Czechoslovakia that will either take you back to the 90's or, in my case, will make you fall in love with the retro shooters that started all. Seriously, i went and bought Quake 1,2, Doom, 1,2 and Wolfenstein 3D ( never got to play them in my youth).The enemies are funny, sounds are hilarious, level design is smart ( did not manage to find all secrets and it bugs me).

Shoot, explore, find secrets, interact with the environment and have fun.

Let's not forget, the soundtrack in this game is brutal. It won my heart enough for me to update my "music for the road" playlist.

If you will not have fun with Hrot, Hrot will have fun with you.

Completing Hrot, I have no idea what just happened. I could talk about various aspects, enemies, vibes, gameplay, a synopsis of the events, but I have no idea what it all builds towards. And, I kind of love it.

The disconnect is cultural, where everything rooted in a culture and history I have a passing knowledge of, filtered through a sci-fi lens, filtered through a mid-90s game. It feels fresh.

Let me get the housekeeping out of the way first:

Gameplay: it's quake with a little bit of Duke Nukem 3d/build engine. You explore hallways, rooms, secrets, grabbing keys, health pick-ups, guns, and items looking for the exit. You sprint, shoot, and circle strafe like Doom Guy. Enemy fire isn't hit scanning, but some of your weapons are.

Story: you play person with gun, who shoots creatures/animals/people/aliens that hurt you. There is an unnamed invasion and/or disaster that has destroyed your country. It takes place in Soviet Russia in the 80s or 90s.

Sound: mid-90s industrial inspired musical with crunchy sound effects

That sounds basic, and it is, but how it all works together and how it is presented is exactly how it was envisioned. It's weird, funny, and unique.

People talk about "vibe" games, where you ride the waves of gameplay, chilling out to sensory stimulation. I would say "vibe" games are in actuality "chill" games, because Hrot is a different vibe game, in the fact it is going for a vibe and you as the player keep playing because of the vibe, but that vibe is anxiety.

Hrot is off kilter, weird, nerve wracking, intense, absurd, and unpleasant, but in a pleasant way. It's a horror game, but not in the traditional way. It's a nightmare world you have to fight back with brief moments of relief -- moments of humour, cuteness, or adventure are brief respites -- that make the phantasmagoria of Hrot seem more unreal and incomprehensible.