Summary
- Boomer shooters are an ever-growing sub-genre inspired by classics like Doom and Quake.
- Horror Boomer Shooters combine action with oppressive atmospheres and nightmarish enemies for an adrenaline-packed experience.
- Games like Cruel and Nightmare Reaper shake the genre up by incorporating roguelite elements into their gameplay.
Inspired by the likes of Doom and Quake, Boomer Shooter is an ever-growing sub-genre of video games comprised of fast-paced shooters with a retro twist. Their blocky visuals and reflex-dependent gameplay are not only the perfect love letter to the aforementioned classics, but are also a combination that makes for a lot of fun.
Best Modern Boomer Shooters, Ranked
Fans of 90s-era first-person shooters are sure to enjoy these engaging and immersive boomer shooter games.
With the explosion in popularity of Boomer Shooters over recent years, many developers have put their own spin on them by combining their gameplay with other genres. One of the more successful combinations that regularly crop up is Horror Boomer Shooters. These titles take the high-octane action of Boomer Shooters and shroud them with oppressive atmospheres, creepy visuals, and nightmarish enemies, crafting an experience that juices up players' adrenaline in more ways than one.
1 WRATH: Aeon Of Ruin
Dark Fantasy Blasting
Wrath: Aeon of Ruin
- Released
- November 22, 2019
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Windows, Linux
Players itching to get their hands on Doom: The Dark Ages should absolutely check out WRATH: Aeon of Ruin. Like The Dark Ages, KillPixel Games and Slipgate Ironworks' WRATH is set in a bleak, dark-fantasy world where players will utilize firearms with a medieval twist to take down all manner of beasts and ghouls. One such weapon is the Fang Spitter, a gun players will acquire early on in the game that does what it says on the tin: literally firing clips of teeth at enemies.
2 PAPERHEAD EP0
Cardboard Shooter
|
Release Date |
November 14, 2024 |
|---|---|
|
ESRB |
N/A |
|
Developer |
Paperhead te4m |
|
Genre |
Horror, Boomer Shooter |
While PAPERHEAD EP0, developed by the aptly named Paperhead te4m, is only a free preview of the upcoming full game, PAPERHEAD, it is still an impressive and spooky package all on its own. The game sees players fighting through a cardboard world where everything has gone horribly wrong. Players have access to the typical weapons expected of a boomer shooter, as well as a pencil that allows them to alter the world around them and create things like bombs.
Fans of The Binding of Isaac might want to check this one out based on its visuals alone, as the enemy design from PAPERHEAD feels very inspired by Edmund McMillen's signature style.
3 Forgive Me Father
Lovecraftian Shooter
Forgive Me Father
- Released
- April 8, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Byte Barrel's Forgive Me Father introduces cosmic horror to the boomer shooter genre with its Lovecraftian-inspired 2D visuals. Although its gameplay is just as fun as other shooters, Forgive Me Father's hand-drawn aesthetic alone makes the game worth players' time. Throughout the entire experience, players will feel as if they've been sucked into a pulpy horror comic, but don't forget to fight those wonderous and grotesque illustrations that are charging forward.
4 Prodeus
Ol'Reliable Hell
Prodeus
- Released
- September 23, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature // Blood and Gore, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Bounding Box Software
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Prodeus stays true to the boomer shooters' Doom roots by pitting players against the monsters of the chaos dimension, AKA hell, as well as an evil AI. Prodeus plays similarly to its influences but manages to maintain its own identity by modernizing the conventions of games from yesteryear and combining 3D visuals with some stellar pixel art. Not only that, developer Bounding Box Software packed a detailed level creator into Produes, providing map designers and mod enjoyers alike ample content to sink their teeth into once the credits have rolled.
Prodeus is also a delight to listen to, with its soundtrack being composed by the legendary Andrew Hulshult, a name that will crop up a few times on this list.
5 Nightmare Reaper
2.5D Rougelike Boomer Shooter
Nightmare Reaper
- Released
- July 16, 2019
Blazing Bit's Nightmare Reaper innovates on the boomer shooter genre by taking its template and combining it with both roguelite and looter shooter elements. Assuming the role of a psychiatric patient, players will delve into their nightmares over and over again, battling through procedurally generated levels with the loot they find.
8 Roguelike Games With Horror Elements
Roguelike gameplay and horror-themed storytelling make for compelling combination in gaming.
Nightmare Reaper is made more of a treat to play thanks to music by, once again, Andrew Hulshult. With a mysterious narrative and small details like the various mini-games attached to players' progression systems, Nightmare Reaper becomes a blast.
6 Cruel
Low-Poly Roguelike Boomer Shooter
|
Release Date |
January 9 2025 |
|---|---|
|
ESRB |
N/A |
|
Developer |
James Dornan |
|
Genre |
Horror, Boomer Shooter |
CRUEL, developed by James Dornan, is another roguelite boomer shooter that combines the former's addictive progression with the latter's equally addictive gameplay. The game sees players fighting their way through a hotel full of monsters with the expected arsenal of weapons, as well as several upgrades that can be collected along the way. While it may seem simple in premise and execution compared to other titles on this list, CRUEL's brutal gameplay, pulsing music, and dark atmosphere make it just as memorable as any other boomer shooter.
7 HROT
Soviet And Bizarre Boomer Shooter
HROT
- Released
- May 16, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
HROT' s is a weird little boomer shooter that pits players against the likes of masked soldiers, horses, and, in some sections, four-wheeled loaders. It's bizarre in all the right ways, funny, eerie, and perfectly suited for its oppressively brown Soviet aesthetic. Players will easily get lost in HROT, if not for its terrifying absurdity, then for its fine-tuned gameplay. When players are finished with HROT's campaign, they can test themselves in the game's endless mode or its spoof of Bomberman, Bombermod, because why not!
8 Cultic
Exploit Enemies In A Boomer Shooter Reminiscent Of Blood
Cultic
- Released
- October 13, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Jasozz's Cultic, as the name implies, has players facing off against the ranks of a twisted cult. In visuals and concept, Cultic seems to be borrowing more from the Blood area of the boomer shooter gene pool, but the further players get into the game, the closer it feels to one of its other main inspirations, Resident Evil 4. Gameplay is slower than a typical boomer shooter, going so far as to allow players to forgo the characteristic guns-blazing style in favor of a more methodical approach where players will utilize traps and exploit enemy behavior.
9 Ultrakill
Ultra-Fast Murder Mayhem
Ultrakill
- Released
- September 3, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Hakita's Ultrakill is an ultra-fast boomer shooter that sees players styling on enemies in increasingly wild and explosive maneuvers. Players assume control of V1, a robot fueled by blood who is forced to descend into hell when humanity is wiped out. Angels, demons, and everything in between, players will face near-endless threats during their descent.
Between the high-octane action of Ultrakill's gameplay, players can discover secret levels that shift the tone fully into horror. These scares aren't just conventional jump scares either, with one moment in the game having the potential to send unprepared players into an existential nightmare.
10 DUSK
The Ultimate Boomer Shooter
DUSK
- Released
- December 10, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- FPS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
David Szymanski's DUSK is a rabbit hole of horror. The game initially starts as a backwoods nightmare, with players fighting through the stereotypical cultists, but it continues to expand into grander realms of horror throughout its playtime. Like some of the levels in Ultrakill, DUSK has the potential to pull players out of their FPS haze to frighten them with some genuinely disturbing environmental design. On top of that, some of DUSK's enemy designs, seven years on, stand out as the scariest among shooters. Players' horror adventures with DUSK are made all the more memorable by its soundtrack, composed once more by Andrew Hulshult.
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