Early Access Review | Wizordum - Fire, Brimstone And Guns

Picking up the final key of the level summons more enemies than you have ammo. Maybe you shouldn't have rushed and missed so many shots. Maybe you should have explored more and found the holy doom trinity; ammo, health, and armour. But you didn't, and now you have a parade of goblins flinging fire and swinging clubs at your heels. That's fine though, all that's left is to escape. The gate to the drawbridge slams shut and you wildly look around for another way out as more enemies spawn and your reserves run lower and lower. Now out of ammo, you manage to just make it out past the crumbling walls.

Give em the old *MAGIC HANDS*!

Wizordum is a fantasy-themed Doom-like that uses 2D pixel sprites in 3D space. Level design is what it does best. The secrets are varied and well-hidden. Some room layouts add difficulty to the fights while others are wide open, allowing for breathing room. It does a great job letting you peek ahead at the objective to let you know where you need to go. Sometimes it's coloured banners signalling the direction of a key or a door you can glimpse through the crack in a wall. 

Much to ponder.

The game has multiple difficulties and the combat is well-balanced. Harder difficulties require more careful shooting and more diligent exploring to keep up with ammo. There is a mace for a melee attack, but its range is short and the attacks are slow relative to the two weapons in the demo. This means that once out of ammo if there are two or more enemies standing close to each other, it's time to run. 

There are, however, a couple of aspects of the combat that fall short. There is no knockback to any of the weapons and you can't walk through enemies, they are impassable barriers until killed. If you get pinned against a wall, table, or corner by an enemy, you will be locked there as they pound you over the head or chew your face off. 

“Who need courage… When you have a gun.”

Wizordum is a fun game to tear up and explore. Its weapons are unique and even shoot from different parts of the camera, making some better for shooting around corners than others. The checklist is challenging, par times really make you rush. The music is charming and fitting for the theme. I am excited to see the finished project.