Review: Prodeus – That DOOM Feeling!

The first-person shooter genre simply would not exist how we know it now without the release of the original DOOM by Id Software. So many first-person shooter games to come out after borrow many gameplay elements are concepts that have evolved over the years. But sometimes it’s just fun to go back to the simplicity and mindless fun of the original DOOM for posterity’s sake. Prodeus on Xbox and PlayStation consoles brings together the visual style of classic DOOM with a few modern FPS sensibilities, but still manages to maintain the fun factor that old-school shooter fans loved about the classics. It feels like the iconic game that inspired it so heavily, sometimes even to a fault, but is still a heck of a lot of fun to play.

It’s easy to write off Prodeus as a DOOM-style clone that doesn’t stand out too much, but that would be wrong. While the game plays and looks like DOOM in many ways, a few gameplay elements mix up the formula into something interesting. You have plenty of guns that are both classic staples of the genre, but upgrades and secondary fire features add something new. Using a shotgun feels right, but having an extra blast shot lets you approach shootouts in different ways. On top of that, you can get upgrades to your character such as double jump, dashing, and a few other abilities to take on legions of enemies. It’s a nice touch that takes some of the best advancements in the genre over the last 20+ years but applies them in ways to not compromise Prodeus from feeling like you could’ve plucked it out of the mid-90s games industry.

Speaking of which, the visuals are what make Prodeus a joy to go through. The game uses the DOOM or Castle Wolfenstein style of graphics, with an almost pixelated look to most objects and characters. The gore and explosions that you encounter feel right at home next to classic DOOM visuals, even right down to the face of your character showing the damage and turning into a skull as you lose health. It’s a nostalgia trip and introduction to fun elements from back in the day to players who never got to experience classic DOOM-style games that were abundant back then.

But for as much as Prodeus is inspired by DOOM, it also gets a few shortcomings from it too. This includes difficulty spikes that can be a little frustrating on some levels, including fights that might be overwhelming without getting enough weapons beforehand. There are also levels that can be confusing on where you need to go or interact with, especially when key elements to the stage blend too easily with the background.

You might need to find a specific switch to hit to open a new door but might glance over it too easily when its either too small or hidden by a lot of stage elements. You do have a map to give the layout of the environment around you, but it’s not always complete and doesn’t give a clear waypoint to go to often. You can find Map icons to build it out, but the map can still be tough to read after that.

One of the better aspects of Prodeus is how you can replay any level you complete for better rewards and find secrets. This is helpful for getting newer weapons and other goodies that can be a big asset later on. You can even discover extra items to open up new stages and bonus challenges that further build up your arsenal.

The shop of the game acts like a full testing range for all of your weapons and abilities, which can be accessed any time from the Map Screen after you find it. Replaying stages is key to really going crazy against enemies with your weapons and finding out how Prodeus allows you to explore stages. You don’t need to do so to advance through the game, but it’s very rewarding if you do so.

All of this sounds great, but what about multiplayer? The original DOOM and Quake eventually had a following of players who liked to play against each other. Prodeus does have a multiplayer mode that everyone can jump into, but it’s a dead end. It’s difficult to connect with anyone in multiplayer because there are not a lot of people playing it. More than likely you won’t be playing this because of that, despite the single-player campaign having more than enough content to engage with.

If you grew up playing games like DOOM or simply love playing first-person shooters, Prodeus will be right up your alley. You’ll love going through stages and wrecking through groups of monsters with powerful weapons and wild explosions. It’s disappointing to see the multiplayer modes be practically non-existent, but the single-player mode is still a lot of fun. It’s not quite DOOM, but it damn near feels just like it.

Are you a fan of first-person shooter games? Have you gotten to check out Prodeus on any platform? Post a comment with your thoughts down below!