As an old shooter bunny, Christian sees in Witchfire not only a modern first-person shooter, but also an emotional journey into the past.
In my head, Quake 2 still looks pretty snazzy, minus the RTX nibbles in the recent, no-longer-indexed remake. Unfortunately, such glorified memories just never stand up to harsh reality! Even the RTX version looked like polygonal mush to my eyes – with pretty lighting effects.
And quite honestly: the years brought much more than just pretty graphics! I also wouldn’t want to miss many gameplay innovations and comfort functions in the shooter genre today. I thought single-player baller orgies with a dark horror setting were somehow a relic of the past.
Witchfire now proves me wrong: What the developers showed at the Summer Game Fest really got me! The mix of shooting and spellcasting is really catching my attention – even though I’ve never played Painkiller:
Love at second sight
I first saw Witchfire 2019 without feeling any real attraction. Sure, it looks fancy, but somehow I was under the delusion that after CoD: Modern Warfare, I’d never need another shooter. PvP multiplayer was (and still is) my first port of call when I want to have some real fun.
Almost three years have passed since then. After CoD MW lost its appeal for me as well with its live service, my shooter soul went in search of it again.
Why this Witchfire?
To quote my absolute favourite novel series The Dark Tower: Ka is a wheel. It roughly means that fate doesn’t form a straight line, but a cycle. And that’s the feeling I get with Witchfire! Like I’m emotionally back at the very beginning of my shooter career and now I like the kind of games again that my 14-year-old self was already celebrating.
I particularly like the fact that Witchfire harks back to old virtues without forgetting the graphical achievements of the last 20 years. Fast movement and hard shooting like in Quake, but spectacular lighting effects and photogrammetry level design that give the whole thing an ultra-modern look.
Plus roguelite elements that I often love, which are supposed to give progress even if you fail mercilessly. The dynamic-looking gameplay that seems to rely on practice and dexterity. The clever exploitation of environmental elements … I can see myself inside playing Witchfire like crazy!
Clearly, I haven’t tried Witchfire yet. So far, there’s no guarantee that it will all work as well as the latest trailer suggests. But given the experienced squad of former Painkiller developers, I remain hopeful.
If you want to learn more, you can read up on Witchfire in our review.
Are you like me or does Witchfire leave you cold? Why? Let me know in the comments
