CULTIC Reviews
Solid and definitely have an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.
If you love retro FPS, always shed a tear when you hear about Blood and you like to slaughter the adepts of a bloodthirsty cult, Cultic is the boomer shooter you've been waiting for.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Cultic’s shameless revelry in gore is delightful. Its array of guns is conservative in number but tightly focused in design, each weapon built for purpose and tangibly effective as a result. Pacing is a little one-note and insistently dingy visuals can be offputting at times, but the whole package remains a top notch retraux shooter. I had tremendous fun throughout, and while I’d like to see a little more unique personality from future installments, I haven’t had my fill of the action on offer here.
Cultic is a crunchy retro-inspired FPS that builds upon the foundations of Blood to deliver a viscious, violent delight.
With Cultic, the nostalgia hits hard. So hard that it was easy to overlook some of the lighter features of the game. Enemies are mindless cult fanatics, sometimes with a gun, other times with an ax, and on occasion dressed in more than just robes. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that Cultic made me feel like I was sitting on a kitchen chair in my friend's house, taking turns trying to clear levels like I was ten years old. When I find something that gives me that goosebump feeling of nostalgia, I eat it up. Cultic made it feel like Thanksgiving; I can't wait to see what the solo developer, Jason Smith, cooks up for chapter two.
Developed by one man only – Jason Smith – Cultic is an excellent old school shooter. The campaign isn't particularly long, but the second part will come as a free update in the future (hence the 'Chapter One'), and there's also a fun survival mode that will let you hone your skills.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Cultic is a creepy romp through tombs, towns, and other terrorizing areas. Tight gunplay, fantastic stylized visuals and a somber soundtrack are only held back a bit by the dumb AI and relatively trivial combat encounters.
A great return to classic pixel FPS. Although graphically it may not suit everyone and it does not bring anything new, the gameplay and the atmosphere are definitely excellent.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
CULTIC is a love letter for boomer shooter fans that has the perfect mix between old and new, resulting in a product with the potential to rise above similar games. It's a worthy look back to the roots of the FPS genre, while also forging a path into a new genre.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
One of the finest retraux FPS games available, CULTIC pays homage to titles like Blood, and actually surpasses them. From running, jumping, sliding, and reloading, to chopping heads, firing and reloading weapons, and throwing explosive dynamite or flesh-burning Molotov cocktails at the feet of robed fanatics, everything feels awesome. The levels are large and decently non-linear, and the atmosphere, visuals, as well as the OST, are top notch. Solo-dev Jason Smith has every right to feel proud of this wonderful ode to the era it was inspired from.
CULTIC: Chapter One, with its horror themes, retro art design, beefy gunplay and well-designed levels is hands down the best old-school inspired shooter released this year. There is so little to complain about the game that are not on a technical level. It’s crafted with so much love and care that it’s easy to envision CULTIC becoming one of the, if not, the best throwback FPS ever made by the time all the chapters are released. Kudos also goes to the publisher for launching the game with a fair regional pricing.
Cultic: Chapter One is quite honestly my favorite horror experience of the year, with some of the finest booming and shooting I've done. In a year that's also presented Turbo Overkill and Metal: Hellsinger, that should show you just how highly I think of the game. I only have two real issues with the game. The similar feel of the levels in nature is one of them. The only other is the episodic nature of the game leaving me I'm chomping at the bit to get Chapter 2, especially after the way this one ends. Aside from those, Cultic: Chapter One is an essential purchase for horror and shooter fans alike. It's up there with the absolute best games of 2022.
Today’s glut of “boomer shooters” is largely inspired by just a handful of classics from the original golden age of roughly 1993 to 1997. Any new game runs the risk of seeming too similar to one of these icons, of lacking its own identity. At first glance, Cultic seems sure to fall into this trap, given its evident similarities to Blood. In fact, Jason Smith’s fantastic first project uses Monolith’s 1997 game as a jumping-off point – and ultimately delivers one of the best retro shooters in years.
I wish Blood 2: The Choosen had been like Cultic.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
CULTIC is off to a great start, with Chapter One being an assortment of excellent combat, familiar enemies, and sometimes samey levels. It’s perfect to dig into for this Halloween season, and has a really great atmosphere that can’t be beaten. I’m eager to return to this when Chapter Two is released, as this is only half the story, making it feel a little incomplete. Chapter One of CULTIC offers a Nu-Blood experience, lots of replayability, and tons of memorable and emergent gameplay moments.
Cultic is a fantastic shooter that encourages experimentation with how you approach combat. Its vast arsenal and movement mechanics allow for various viable options against many enemy types and bosses. With top-notch presentation and horror aesthetics, Cultic does enough to stand out in the heap of excellent retro-style shooters.
Cultic is an astonishing achievement for a one-man studio. It has the creepy, sinister atmosphere of the finest horror titles, packed with the cathartic carnage of the best FPS games. It’s an odyssey into the heart of darkness, with the path blasted open by dynamite. Far more than just a worthy spiritual successor to Blood, Cultic is a descent into pure madness that you won’t want to miss.