AMID EVIL Review Summary

A great boomer shooter with striking visuals and purposeful weapons, but confusing level design, dull easy bosses, and samey enemies hold it back.

Great boomer shooter: The game is hailed as one of the better boomer shooters, with gorgeous visuals and soundtrack. It stands among the best in the genre.

Great visuals and graphics: The game features beautiful visuals, with a stylish retro aesthetic and great graphics. The atmosphere and graphical quality receive consistent praise.

Unique and purposeful weapons: Weapons are distinct, each with a unique purpose, and are consistently useful in different situations. Their mechanics are curious yet satisfying, adding depth to combat.

Excellent level design: Players consistently praise the level design as a strong point, with spacious maps, readable paths, and masterful architecture. The levels are engaging, unique, and among the best on the market.

Varied enemy types: Enemies are highly varied with different abilities and attack patterns, making each level feel distinct. The diversity in enemies and bosses is frequently highlighted.

Confusing and annoying level design: Levels are often confusing, maze-like, and can be frustrating to navigate. Some players get lost and find the design obnoxious.

Level design is the weakest aspect: Many players consider level design the worst part of the game, citing large, empty, and uninteresting levels.

Boss fights are dull and easy: Many players find boss battles uninteresting and lacking challenge. Even on harder difficulties, bosses are too easy and predictable.

Enemy design is mediocre and samey: Enemies are rudimentary, lack variety in attack patterns, and feel one-dimensional. Some enemies are bullet-spongy or annoying.

Weapons lack impact and satisfaction: Weapons do not feel punchy or satisfying to use. Some weapons are underpowered or indistinguishable from others.

Retro FPS style: The game is described as a retro first-person shooter inspired by classic titles like Doom, Quake, Heretic, and Hexen. It features old-school mechanics with modern technology.

Alternate fire modes: Weapons have alternate fire modes that can be unlocked or charged, including a soul mode that enhances weapon behavior.

Boomer shooter genre: Many reviewers classify it as a boomer shooter or Quake-like, emphasizing fast-paced, arcade-style combat typical of 90s shooters.

Distinct weapon roles: Each weapon serves a specific purpose, with unique functions and behavioral characteristics, including lower-tier weapons that remain useful.

Magic-based weaponry: Weapons are primarily magic-based, such as wands, staves, and enchanted melee weapons that cast spells and use mana as ammunition.

Excellent performance across many devices: Numerous players report the game running smoothly on a wide range of hardware, from high-end desktops to low-end laptops. Specific examples include stable 60 FPS on a GTX 1650M laptop and over 80 FPS on integrated Intel HD 5500 graphics.

Minimal crashes or bugs: Many users experienced no significant bugs, glitches, or crashes during their playtime, even across multiple devices. A few noted minor issues that were eventually resolved.

Stuttering and hitching issues: Several players reported sudden stutters, hitches, and lag, especially during enemy spawns or in later levels. These performance hiccups detracted from an otherwise smooth experience.

RTX and DLSS support added: Recent upgrades introduced ray tracing and DLSS, enhancing visual quality and performance on supported hardware. However, RTX features are not available on AMD GPUs.

Scalable for low-end systems: The game can run even on garbage laptops and low-end machines, though performance may require lowering settings. On low settings, resolution and aliasing issues can make it barely playable.

Strong overall recommendation: A large number of clusters contain highly positive general recommendations, including phrases like highly recommended and definitely recommend. The sentiment is consistent across many reviewers with few caveats.

Appeals to FPS fans: Multiple reviews say FPS fans and pure FPS lovers will enjoy the game, especially those wanting a 90s-style experience. The recommendation targets the broader first-person shooter audience.

Black Labyrinth DLC praised: Reviewers strongly recommend the Black Labyrinth DLC, with some calling it better than the main game. It is described as a must-play and worth the purchase.

Boomer shooter audience recommendation: Many reviewers explicitly recommend the game to fans of boomer shooters, with multiple clusters stating it is a must-play for that audience. The recommendation is conditioned on already liking the genre rather than appealing to all players.

Try it out: Several reviewers simply recommend giving the game a try or a shot. This is a low-commitment positive suggestion aimed at curious players.

Community fair range: $14.99 - $19.99.

Game completion: 9.0h.

Story completion: 9.0h.

Session length: 1.0h.

Amid Evil often starts slow: early weapons and the first chapter can feel boring or underwhelming, but enjoyment tends to click after unlocking stronger weapons such as the lightning gun and reaching more complex later levels.

Friction: Poor initial weapon feel; Boring first chapter and early levels; Underwhelming first impression; Weak early gunplay and hit feedback; Slow pacing before ramping up; Lack of immediate progression depth.

Unlock drivers: Unlocking the lightning gun; Later levels becoming more complicated and better designed; Sticking with the first chapter until it improves; Weapons becoming more enjoyable to experiment with as you progress; Combat and difficulty ramping up significantly.

Old-School Boomer Shooter Veteran: Run-and-gun combat with key hunting, maze exploration, and secret hunting on high difficulties. Motivation: Reliving classic fast-paced, magic-heavy FPS combat and mastering hard difficulty and secrets. Stance: buy.

Fantasy Atmosphere and Visual Spectacle Seeker: Slow exploration and sightseeing, appreciating art and taking screenshots between fights. Motivation: Enjoying a beautiful high-fantasy world and its unique visual presentation. Stance: buy.

Genre Newcomer Seeking Accessible Retro FPS: Uses save/load often, appreciates clear navigation, and plays at a comfortable pace. Motivation: Finding an accessible entry point into old-school FPS design. Stance: buy.

The 8-11GB VRAM cohort reports the game running well, while the 12-15GB VRAM cohort reports poor performance and input delay. The <8GB VRAM cohort is negative, with stuttering and lag cited and no clear positive performance reports.

Windows <8GB VRAM: negative. A user on an 8GB VRAM Windows 11 system reports ridiculous stuttering and lag, with no clear positive performance reports in the included snippets.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: positive. Users report the game runs great and recommend updating DLSS for better visuals, with no performance complaints in the included snippets.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: negative. Reports describe performance as lacking for how old the game is and how low the system requirements are, and one notes a clear delay in one direction when enemies change movement.

Steam Deck: The audit finds AMID EVIL is largely playable and well-regarded on Steam Deck, with users reporting smooth performance and precise controls. The main friction is a Proton compatibility step needed by at least one user to get the game working, which places it in the tinkering-required range rather than seamless. No reports of crashes, unreadable UI, battery drain, anti-cheat errors, or external launchers were found.

Linux and Proton: Available Linux/Proton-related feedback is positive. One reviewer confirms the game works after launching through Proton, and another states it runs great on Steam Deck. Other comments are general gameplay or performance praise without Linux-specific blockers, so the game appears to run well on Proton/Linux with no significant tweaks required.

Monetization: The audit finds no evidence of predatory monetization. The only paid content mentioned is traditional DLC, with one reviewer also noting a free level DLC. Reviews discuss a low upfront price and reasonable game length; none mention in-game purchases, premium currency, loot boxes, gacha, boosters, or pay-to-win. Per the criteria, traditional DLC and base-price/value comments cannot by themselves raise the score above 20, so the game is scored as Fair.

Comparison to Hexen and Heretic: Reviewers frequently compare the game to Heretic and Hexen, noting it as a worthy successor or spiritual successor. The inspiration is clear, but it forges its own identity.

Comparison to Quake and Doom: The game is often compared to Quake, Doom, and other classic shooters. Reviewers note its fast-paced gameplay and retro style.

DLC adds new content: The game has a DLC called Black Labyrinth and possibly a free level DLC. The DLC provides additional lore, gameplay, and a gauntlet weapon, and some consider it better than the main game.

Part of New Blood trilogy: The game is considered part of the New Blood FPS trilogy alongside DUSK and ULTRAKILL. It is praised as the best-looking entry of the trilogy.

Developed by New Blood: The game is developed or published by New Blood Interactive, the studio behind DUSK and other boomer shooters. It is also developed by Indefatigable.