Retro fans unite! We have an awesome, difficult, and gory first-person shooter out in the wild that goes by the name of Forgive Me Father. The developers, Byte Barrel, are intending to reinvigorate the classic gameplay mechanics that have been the building blocks of all others before it. Doom has cemented itself as a grandfather of the genre and it is clear this is one of its rightful descendants. Forgive Me Father reveals its lineage with fast twitchy gunplay, scattered arena pickups, and waves of enemies spawning throughout the game. However, it does throw in some modern mechanics to make itself stand out from the pack. It is currently available on Steam early access and is planned for a full release later this year. Forgive Me Father pulls off what it set out to accomplish and plays like an instant classic.

Gameplay

Forgive Me Father truly feels like a retro shooter in every sense. It duplicates that fast and floaty movement that made classics like Doom and Wolfenstein so chaotic. You play as a priest with an arsenal of unholy proportions, out to rid the world of the new horrific threat looming about. The game’s creatures and lore are heavily inspired by the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, giving this title a pinch of dark and twisted themes. So, yes, tentacles are in this game.

The comic book art style is always a nice welcome and it complements the lore very well. It almost gives off a Lovecraftian graphic novel feel. Since this is intended to be a retro shooter, the enemies are all programmed as sprites. This gives the game a 2D retro look but without the pixelated mess. The art in this game is very much appreciated and I was looking forward to advancing the levels just to see what other horrors I may encounter next.

Forgive Me Father is stage-based, progressing from level to level and blasting through monsters along the way. I found myself dying very often beyond the third level as the difficulty ramped up quickly. Constant movement was the right strategy for most areas, with some requiring a bit more caution and inventory conservation. If you are looking for a challenge, Forgive Me Father definitely delivers.

Along your journey, you will acquire skill points to spend on the surprisingly large skill tree. Some skills upgrade your current weapons, making them deadlier or more useful. I immediately upgraded my knife to make it throwable because getting up close to these creatures is a sure way to get killed quickly. I also chose to upgrade my pistol to dual wield to deliver twice the amount of damage in quick bursts. There are a decent amount of skills to choose from now, however, there were many that are currently unable to be unlocked. It seems like more skills will become available once the game leaves early access.

Currently, the early access of Forgive Me Father offers about half the levels it is intended to have once the game is completed. You can level up your character and spend skill points to an extent, but then it’s a waiting game. A recent update added a new Endless Mode, that will extend the game’s replayability while you wait for the rest of the levels to be released. Endless Mode pits you in an arena with waves of enemies and tests your survival skills. You can read up on more of the Endless Mode here.

Expectations

Forgive Me Father is off to a good start with its early access. The gameplay is solid, the art style is unique, and the difficulty is a challenge. The lore and story are told through written documents scattered throughout the map. The protagonist seldomly speaks about the environmental storytelling, trying to offer the player a glimpse into what may be happening and why. I hope the full release gives us more than just vague documents to unravel the true meaning behind this horrific event engulfing the city.

Gunplay feels just as it should, with fast movement speed and rewarding well-placed shots. The weapon choices are great and even with just six options, they are upgradable through the skill tree, allowing flexibility for different playstyles. Pickups seem balanced throughout most of the levels, but I did run into some areas where I felt ammo just wasn’t in abundance. It forces you to slow down and try to conserve a bit, but that almost felt like a polar opposite of the game’s core appeal. It definitely caused some frustrating moments but luckily I felt like this was not a persisting theme.

It is also worth mentioning that some levels can be completed in under five minutes, not attempting a speed run. Although this didn’t feel overtly short while playing, it has me a little concerned about how much content will be featured in the full release.

Verdict

2D sprite animations, dark comic book art style, and Lovecraftian-inspired lore. If these ingredients make your retro-ridden heart feel all fuzzy inside, then Forgive Me Father is easily a must-try. The game brings a refreshing sense of accomplishment with its difficulty curve and keeps you interested in its environmental storytelling. This game is still very much in early access and needs more content to make this feel like a complete package, but so far it overwhelmingly scratches that classic-shooter itch. Here’s to hoping Forgive Me Father brings a hefty amount of content and fleshes out the story when the game fully launches on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store later this year.