Endys Hambu

Seeing anybody acknowledge this game, even as a little nod, makes me way happier than it should. Screenshots don't really do it justice. It's got piles of atmosphere: Your equipment is unreliable, breaking down at the slightest provocation and sometimes not working as expected in very subtle ways (Space Beast Terror Fright would later do something very similar), but it's keeping you alive. The opposition packs a considerable punch. Your suit is solar-powered, but objectives are often in dark areas, forcing you to dive in and get out as quickly as you can. This is one of those cases where the System Shock-era clunk, although painful to deal with today, adds to the experience, like Space Hulk '93. The music is good for AdLib stuff. The first level's track sets a fairly bleak, oppressive tone, which certainly fits being thrown into the deep end like you are here. I'm a little disappointed that it didn't keep that same attitude throughout, but it might get depressing fast. Is it perfect? No. Does it hold up particularly well now? Absolutely not; the maps are made of blocks like Wolf3D and some of them are frustratingly labyrinthine. But the devs cared; the game drips with attention to detail, in things as subtle as your temperature gauge creeping upward if you step near magma. This one deserved better than to quietly die in Doom's shadow.