Before I jump into this somewhat... salute of a post, here's the description for Prodeus:
"Prodeus is a first-person shooter of old, re-imagined using modern rendering techniques. It reaches the quality you expect from a AAA experience while adhering to some of the aesthetic technical limits of older hardware.
The game features a hand-crafted campaign from industry FPS veterans, a fully-integrated level editor, and a built-in community map browser for instantaneous action with nearly limitless levels to play.
Get ready to paint the walls red. This is the Boomer Shooter you've been waiting for." - Humble Games
For the most part, I have no issue with this description, but... AAA... I wrestle with that. Don't get me wrong, it looks wrong, and I love what the indie team did here (shout out to Bounding Box Software Inc.), but I'd say it's more of a AA experience. My A.A. stands for affordably awesome because you can grab this game for less than 50% of the standard $59.99 shooter that tops the SRP.
I would've gone for 'Retro-AAA' (which they kinda sorta did), but despite how smooth the gameplay is... it still feels a bit rough in some areas like a number of AA games do (i.e. level transition). I shrug at the melting screen when it comes to transitions, but I can do without it and the loading screen from one area to the next. I know they wanted to give that retro feel, but... I don't think loading was necessary unless the levels are segmented to a certain degree that requires it.
The initial opening was beautiful, and even if I wouldn't expect every area to be like... that, it proves they have the know-how to deliver transitions in an alternative way. That melting transition screen could've been saved for the end of the levels or something. Doesn't break the game, and they did say, "...a AAA experience while adhering to some of the aesthetic technical limits of older hardware", but they also said, "It reaches the quality". I'd just give it a full-stop AA and surprise gamers with those AAA-worthy experiences the game reaches regarding the quality.
Overall, awesome shooting game that plays extremely smooth at a nice price... with plenty of replay value + level design fun. This isn't for kids, it's rated Mature for ages 17+... and is full of bloody gunplay action that one would expect from games like... Doom. So if this is up your alley, check it out here and... game on!
