CULTIC

The “boomer shooter” revival has, in recent years, reached a point of saturation where “retro-inspired” often serves as a polite euphemism for “uninspired.” For every standout, there are a dozen clones that mimic the aesthetic of the 1990s without understanding the kinetic energy that made the era legendary. Jasozz Games, a solo-developer outfit led by Jason Smith, avoids this trap entirely. Published by the veteran hands at 3D Realms, CULTIC arrives not just as an homage to the past, but as a sharp refinement of it.

The premise is pure, distilled grindhouse: the player is a disgraced detective who, having been murdered by a shadowy cult, decides that death is merely a temporary career setback. The detective crawls out of a mass grave, finds a firearm, and begins a systematic, one-man demolition of the zealots who put them there. It is a narrative of pure momentum, shedding the need for elaborate cutscenes in favor of environmental storytelling and high-octane violence.

What sets CULTIC apart from its peers is its lineage. While many titles aim for the neon-soaked speed of Quake, CULTIC leans into the grime and “crunchy” interactivity of Blood. It is a game of mid-century firearms, TNT bundles, and dark, damp corners. However, Jasozz Games has infused this 90s skeleton with a modern nervous system. Underneath the pixelated veneer lies a sophisticated engine handling dynamic lighting, complex physics, and spatial audio that would have been impossible thirty years ago. It occupies a unique space in the market: it looks like a memory but plays like a modern tactical shooter.

• Visceral Combat Mechanics: A combat loop that prioritizes high-lethality and physics-based feedback, designed so every shot lands with impact and every explosion carries real danger.
• Environmental Tactical Depth: Players aren’t restricted to simple corridor shooting; the inclusion of traps, throwable objects, and destructible elements allows for creative, “thinking-man” carnage.
• Sophisticated Lo-Fi Aesthetic: A “brown and gritty” visual style that uses low-resolution textures and sprites within a 3D space, enhanced by modern lighting and particles to create a haunting, cohesive atmosphere.

The Rhythm of the Slaughter

In CULTIC, combat isn’t a mindless activity; it’s a high-stakes dance of kinetic energy and tactical attrition. The movement is built for fluidity, with slides and dodges that feel necessary rather than ornamental. Many retro shooters fail because they mistake “fast” for “fun,” but CULTIC understands that speed requires friction to be meaningful. Movement here means positioning, using cover, and managing a frantic battlefield.

The Gameplay Loop thrives on a “push forward” mentality. Enemies are lethal but fragile, and the game rewards aggression tempered with intelligence. Charging a room of cultists blindly is a quick route back to the grave. Sliding through a doorway, tossing a bundle of TNT into a group of zealots, and using the ensuing chaos to pick off survivors with a lever-action rifle is where the design sings. It is one of the few shooters where the environment functions as a secondary weapon. Kicking a chair into an enemy to stumble them, or leading a group into a pre-set trap, adds a layer of depth that most boomer shooters ignore in favor of simple “circle-strafing.”

The Engineering of Impact

The arsenal in CULTIC is a triumph of sound design and animation. The mid-century firearms carry a specific “heft” that makes modern military shooters sound like they’re firing airsoft pellets. The Mauser C96 and the pump-action shotgun don’t just make noise; they command the audio space. The shotgun’s kickback and the resulting “gib” effects on enemies are engineered for immediate, lizard-brain satisfaction.

This sense of impact is bolstered by a physics engine that is surprisingly robust for an indie title. Enemies don’t just play a “death animation”; they react to the force and direction of shots. This creates a procedural feel to the violence—one cultist might fly backward over a railing after a blast, while another might slump against a wall. It keeps encounters from feeling repetitive, even across repeated runs through the same subterranean tunnels.

Atmospheric Cohesion

Where many shooters use horror elements as window dressing, CULTIC weaves them into the core experience. The level design shifts from desolate, wind-swept wilderness to claustrophobic, bone-filled catacombs with a natural flow. The “lo-fi” aesthetic is a deliberate choice that works in the game’s favor, leaving room for the imagination to fill in the grotesque details of the pixelated horrors. The lighting is particularly impressive; flickering torches cast long, jagged shadows, and the glow of a dynamite fuse provides the only illumination in some of the game’s most tense moments.

The UI and Interface are refreshingly minimalist, keeping the focus on the world rather than the stats. It manages to feel “old school” without the clunkiness that usually accompanies that label. Inventory management and weapon switching are built to be instantaneous, so the “flow state” of combat is never interrupted by menus or “onboarding friction.”

Visually, CULTIC shows aesthetic intentionality in every choice. It uses a muted, almost monochromatic palette of browns, grays, and deep reds, which sounds drab on paper but creates a suffocating, effective atmosphere in practice. The “retro” look is a deliberate choice, and the low-fidelity surface masks a sophisticated 3D engine that handles hundreds of physics objects and complex light maps. A pixel-art style of this scope is light on hardware, and the aesthetic should hold up well across setups, with the chunky sprites looking especially sharp on a smaller screen like the Steam Deck. The spatial audio deserves its own praise—the design of distant, distorted cult chanting bleeding through stone walls is a genuinely unsettling touch.

PC via Steam is the intended platform, and the design shows it. The precision of mouse-and-keyboard control is vital for the game’s high-difficulty spikes and headshot-reliant combat. While the game supports controllers, the “flick” shots required to survive a cultist ambush are naturally better suited to a mouse. The inclusion of Steam Workshop support also suggests a long tail for the game, giving the community room to build custom levels and mods.

CULTIC is a rare beast: a retro-inspired shooter that isn’t afraid to innovate. By marrying the aesthetic of the 1990s with modern physics and lighting, Jasozz Games has created an experience that feels both nostalgic and cutting-edge. It is a grim, bloody, and highly entertaining journey that proves there is still plenty of life left in the “boomer shooter” genre—provided the developer has the vision to move beyond mere imitation. For anyone with affection for the “golden age” of shooters, CULTIC comes recommended, with the caveat that its short first chapter and occasional balance stumbles keep it short of essential.