Amid Evil Review

 

This game's aesthetic is ridiculously appealing to the fantasy nerd in me.

Amid Evil is a 2019 retro shooter released by New Blood Interactive (who also released Dusk). It's easily described as an updated Hexen; for those who never played that title (I'm one), it's basically a dark fantasy skin of Doom, although Amid Evil definitely adheres closer to the Quake archetype. Its pixelated graphics also bring to mind id's mismash of fantasy and sci-fi. However, Unreal is another title that comes to mind, with Amid Evil's copious colored lightning and its arsenal's secondary firing modes. Suffice it to say that Amid Evil is thematically a mix of 90's shooters, and if you've played any of the aforementioned titles, you won't be lost.

There are seven episodes, each consisting of four levels with the last level being a boss fight. Each episode is thematically distinct. My favorite was the Arcane Expanse, a trippy sequence of dark fantasy cathedrals often traversed through floating rivers of ether. My least favorite was the Sacred Path, a labyrinthine maze full of ugly elementals, stupid-looking plant monsters, and giant rock beasts. All the episodes are fairly solid, although Dusk definitely has Amid Evil beat in the level design department. The arsenal is the best part of the game, with your typical selection of firearms being replaced by magical swords and staffs. You start off with an ax, which isn't completely useless, and you soon find the Staff of the Azure Orb, which shoots tracking missiles. The Whisper's Edge is my favorite weapon. It's a sword that flings green energy that can hit multiple enemies, making it a good replacement for the shotgun, and its secondary power up mode reminds me of the razorjack from Unreal. The Celestial Orb is also awesome. It's basically Quake's rocket launcher, but instead of firing rockets, it shoots random planets pulled from other dimensions. Pretty metal, eh? Rounding out the selection of guns is a trident that is functionally identical to Quake's lightning gun, a mace that does serious damage, and a messy tangle of ribbons called the Aeturnum that fires a slow moving ball of energy that destroys everything in its path a la Doom's BFG. Every time you kill an enemy, you absorb its soul (a Dark Souls reference?), and when you hit one hundred, you have access to alternate firing modes for all of the weapons. These are ridiculously powerful and fun, but you'll often find yourself unsure when a situation calls for such carnage. The game pace is more similar to Quake than Doom, and you'll seldom find yourself overwhelmed by a horde of monsters. After playing Doom Eternal, Amid Evil is certainly the more laid back affair.

All things considered, I enjoyed hunting keys and slaughtering knights in Amid Evil's many gorgeous levels. It's about a ten hour experience, give or take, and if you're hunting for a good shooter with a dark fantasy vibe, you can't go wrong. Dusk is a stronger experience, but Amid Evil's a much prettier game with a better arsenal. Feast your eyes on the screenshots below.