Why are Boomer Shooters so popular?

[@MetalJesusRocks]

I read that Turbo Overkill was on consoles… but it looks like only PC right now. Coming to consoles soon. Sorry about that!

[@AaronH9111]

Yea I was looking on the eShop and was like where is Turbo Overkill ?? :)

[@danalabomme968]

@@AaronH9111 😅 I was lookin like crazy….

[@theweddingsinger1970]

Boomer is something gen z like to call millennials (roughly 30-40yr olds who played those kind of fps games back in the day) as it winds them up for being older. That's why the term "boomer shooter" is disliked so much. Retro shooter is a better term.

[@Spartan77]

It's all good MJ, I am still playing Blood Dragon and trying to fix my VCR so I get back my copy of Rambo 3, that the machine ate last week.

[@douggtg]

I also looked for Turbo Overkill on Switch and it's not there (yet). No problem. It was announced and will come out some time in 2023 it seems.

[@GammellNotCamel]

2:15 After a long day when you're tired and maybe only have an hour or two before you need to go to bed, it can be really hard to pop in a modern AAA game knowing you're going to have to spend a bunch of time doing tutorials and learning a bunch of new systems and what not. Sometimes, you just need a game that hands you a big gun and says "go nuts."

[@robinr2740]

And looooong drawn out cutscenes. Looking at you, FF 16.

[@lucasgrosso4795]

Amen.

[@raulgutierrezconstante8119]

Simplicity is close to perfection.

[@Ddarke11]

If you had 15 minutes, yeah I could see that. But 1-2 hours is pretty easy to get into for most AAA games.

[@hikerclarence7092]

For me the tutorials and cutscene times are replaced with wandering in circles trying to find the red key. But i get what you're saying because it's still easier to fire up and jump in

[@SnotlipsTM]

Maybe they should be called "DOOMER SHOOTERS"

[@MetalJesusRocks]

You are 100% correct, sir! 😂

[@sandymckerchar3287]

I second this

[@goldenheartOh]

I thought that too, but I like to think of "Boomer" as "things going BOOM!" Both are good tho.

[@stellarhole]

@@goldenheartOh Same

[@Domanator316]

My vote is for NUKEM SHOOTERS! 😂

[@Linkous12]

As someone who grew up playing games like Quake I've really enjoyed this wave of old-school shooters. DUSK and Amid Evil in particular are great games.

[@mcgibs]

The monotony of Boltgun is most likely due to the level design, which is of the more modern, interconnected closed arena style where there's a lot less exploration and most of the set pieces are things in the background. Also most enemies lean quite heavily on the spongier side, with some weapons not doing as much damage as you'd expect even when powered up.

[@necrosteel5013]

My thoughts on boltgun is that it lacks particularly special enemies that really alter the approach you take, it lacks any sense of scarcity of ammunition or health to encourage resource management and the level design really doesn't help with how simple they are.

[@mekal177]

couldnt agree more boltgun for the first 2-4 levels was fantastic but you quickly realize most guns are pretty useless and youre better off just using the standard starter boltgun makes the game feel kind of underwhelming

[@civilwarfare101]

I had an issue with the possesed enemies. I just wished they would just go down already but I still enjoyed the game.

[@grunnindieps1-stylesurviva200]

I still really prefer these kinds of fast pace shooters. You can just jump in for 30 min and shoot stuff instead of waiting for 20 minutes of cutscenes or dialog interactions. Edit: I do really like myself some modern story driven solo games. But when you got little time, I almost always go for some fast pace fps.

[@matternicuss]

Same. The gameplay is just way more satisfying and fun than modern shooters, where you usually hide behind cover and wait till your health refills. Also the level design in old school FPSs is so much more interesting and complex. Give me mazes over linear corridors any day!

[@LG-ro5le]

Exactly, i hate long cutscenes, even worse when you cant skip them, if i wanted to watch cutscenes i would watch a movie i dont need them in a game lol

[@christianlarson2933]

Not to mention the tutorial

[@giakhanh51004]

Well, Half Life and Portal seem like the only games fit your demands

[@giakhanh51004]

@@matternicusslol and then you get stuck and then you complain why the heck is this level so confusing

The main character in Far cry Blood Dragon is voiced by Michael Biehn, aka Reese from Terminator himself. It was a big part of the marketing for the game back when it was released. :) Also, you're shown playing Project Warlock, but I don't think you mentioned it's name. It's a great boomer shooter as well.

[@MetalJesusRocks]

Ok. That makes total sense! 😂

[@SolidSonicTH]

Wasn't his performance based more on Dwyane Hicks from Aliens?

[@Stormy4221-ft3sn]

Metal Jesus is the only person who didn't know that.

[@SolidSonicTH]

@@Stormy4221-ft3sn To be fair I only know it because I watched an OutsideXbox video on mediocre voice acting performances.

[@JimmyRaptis]

@@MetalJesusRocks you couldn't google that when making the video to confirm it?

[@Diggy22]

Dude, that IS Michael Biehn aka “Kyle Reese” from The Terminator in FarCry 3: Blood Dragon. They actually got him to do voice work for the game.

[@UndeadAaronGames]

People have no idea how awesome and experience it was to have your friends bringinging their Voodoo 3 pcs to your apartment , setting up laundry tables for all the computers and using a LAN to frag each other all night long in quake 3 arena , while being cooked alive from the pure heat of 6 CRT monitors going for hours.

[@jqwright28]

To me, these games are very close to an arcade experience and that is what makes them so good. Nothing against cinematics, complicated menus or talking to npcs, it's fine but sometimes it's just nice to fire up a game and play without any interruption.

[@patrickbutler87]

Exactly! It's gameplay first gaming, which is often exactly what I want

[@civilwarfare101]

@@patrickbutler87 Its why I love indie games. There's almost something for everyone.

[@trevorfreund4110]

Dude, Singularity is SUCH a hidden gem, I picked it up back in the day for like $0.99 on a whim without knowing what it was and it was a BLAST

[@MetalJesusRocks]

I replayed Singularity recently on the Steam Deck...LOVED IT all over again. SO GOOD>

[@trevorfreund4110]

@@MetalJesusRocks I need to replay it! I was gonna play it on my physical 360 version, but on my Steam Deck sounds even better! 🤘🏻

[@light819]

Ravens last hurrah before the cod mines

[@kiskeangel2760]

Yeah,Singularity is a great fps with some Bioshock elements 👍I also enjoyed a lot Timeshift and the Fear series on my Xbox 360.

[@gedeuchnixan3830]

I was born in 87 and loved those games and was wishing for these type of games coming back for years, one of the very best is Metal Hellsinger. Fragging away while listening to Metal written for this game and performed by legit metal stars? It´s so freaking much fun and I don´t mind it being combined with a rythm game, the package is simply amazingly made and you feel the love put into the game.

[@poposterous236]

I'll agree that FC3: Blood Dragon, while technically not a 'Boomer Shooter', did herald in a new wave of nostalgia-based game design along with Hotline Miami which was released the year before.

[@Alconium]

Honorary boomer shooter for sure.

[@delscoville]

BTW, full 3D polygons was introduced with Quake, which is a Pentium era game. Just pointing that out. I'm old and remember this. Great video, BTW.

[@Phantasystar77]

I just started up Warhammer Boltgun and it's great. No constant cutscenese, no game urinalist difficulty. Just pure, fun, gameplay.

[@vinniecorleone62]

I'm a avid gamer at 60 years old & I proudly wear the "Boomer" name! I certainly dig Boomer Shooters from "Doom" & "Duke Nukem", all the way up to the addictive "40K Boltgun"!

[@rosstee]

Cool, so did you start gaming in the late 70's?

[@vinniecorleone62]

@@rosstee Since 1975 & "Pong".

[@rosstee]

@@vinniecorleone62 Classic. I'm a little younger - born in '77, so I started playing in the mid 80's with arcade games like Double Dragon.

[@That1PissedOffBoomer]

But that's not what they are.

[@That1PissedOffBoomer]

Boomers are baby boomers!!!! I'm GenX. We are not the same.

[@Spartan77]

In Blood Dragon, that is Michael Biehn doing the voice of the maim character. It was part of the whole bring back the 80's vibe the game was going for.

[@TheOctoJon]

Glad there’s a resurgence of the genre, I play through doom 1, and 2 every year, and play all the new retro style platformers. Good to see there’s similar new games in the doom style.

[@davida12345]

It never left and was never not popular, you just recently paid more attention

[@morriganrenfield8240]

@@davida12345it definitely left in the early 2000’s until the early 2010’s (around 2013)

[@jonathanr4160]

I don't care about what they're called, but those type of shooters are what I grew up with and still love. More abstract level design, faster gameplay, less hand holding, more focus on player movement over graphics, cinematics, or voice acting. What's crazy is how even 10 years ago, you probably wouldn't be able to find many retro FPS styled games on PC/console. The variety and quantity of indie games from shooters to platformers to RPGs available in 2023 is just amazing.

[@James-gj8rn]

Warhammer 40K Boltgun was absolutely fantastic and one of the best surprises of the year for me :)

[@Piernic]

I recommend Ashes 2063 and Ashes Afterglow.

[@rionugroho1403]

Yes!

[@XavierGage]

I recommend Nightmare Reaper

[@cjh0751]

There are some great shooters you've reviewed. Nice one Jason

[@legolongbuilds8021]

Sadly it comes from Netease, so it's a no go.

[@slickcubano]

As a young “Boomer” (I was born in '62) I love these games. They are perfectly mindless. I think the name “Boomer Shooter” was a young person that didn't know that Boomers are from 1946 to 1964. The generation that these games come from, span 2 generations. Gen X & Millennials. Thanks for the awesome video MJ!

[@potssnpanns8418]

They know when the Boomers were born. We all learn about the baby boom in history class. They just started calling younger generations that as an insult. Used mostly when people are unnecessarily stubborn/closed minded, or when they reminisce about childhood experiences they believe no longer exist, like a scraped knee or drinking from the hose. Yeah, a lot of people around my age do not think highly of older folks...

[@Magnulus76]

Yup. Younger Gen X like me, and older Millenials, played alot of these games and were the core audience. My favorite was Outlaws. It doesn't get alot of press now days.

[@DenverStarkey]

the first shooter game was wolfenstein in 1991 most boomers did not play shooters , the most advanced game system my boomer parents ever cared to play was the NES. my step dad did get into pc gaming later in his life but he mostly kept to RTSes.

[@awesomehigames]

Dude you're over 60 you aren't young

[@victorc1421]

@@awesomehigames Yep, I'll be 61 in October. That being said, 61 isn't that old. If I die today, everyone would ask, how old was he?...only 60...OMG, he was young. You'll understand when you're my age.

[@nagruvajse]

no body call that in other parts of the world. in europe, we just call it FPS GAMES. than we describe it additionally

[@johnwelander]

Never heard the term before now, but totally appropriate. Plus, you don't need an RTX 4090 to play these. Love the retro style too.Thank you very much for this particular video!!

[@JonDGAF]

Love seeing these games make a comeback. I was in Middle School when Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior came out. Always have been a fan of that style FPS. Redneck Rampage, Outlaws.....all great games.

[@miguelbranquinho7235]

Redneck not so much ahaha.

[@Lippeth]

Cultic was one of my top games of last year, inspired by games like Blood, RE4 etc. and made by one guy. A must play for lovers of the genre.

[@lifestorock]

Cultic is golden. The fact that it was done by a single dev makes it even more impressive. Can't wait for "Chapter Two". Maybe the dev even gets the hang on netcode and implements coop. He talked about it in a dev vlog.

[@Andross224]

can't wait to see the next episode of it

[@pizzakiep4157]

Cultic was insanely good, its up there with dusk for me

[@RetroRuss]

If you like Heretic or Hexen, try out Amid Evil.

[@Lippeth]

​@@RetroRuss I still play both Heretic and Hexen quite a lot; but sadly the things I love about those games aren't present in Amid Evil, which I found to be more similar to Painkiller: Hell and Damnation.

[@nightbirdds]

I actually work on a GZDoom mod called Dragon Sector (The Remake). We're working with GZDoom and Project Brutality to make something pretty cool. While I love the modern Boomer Shooters, I find making my own more fun.

[@jfitnesshealth]

all the best on that man! looking forward to it! Working on a brutal doom fork mod for v20b and yea it feels fun when you can make something work for what you want!

[@the-engneer]

You Doom modders are amazingly talented and underappreciated!

[@stolenname94]

I wished you had mentioned the skill tree and the differences between male and female in forgive me father. It blew through it in 2 days and played it for a good few weeks.

[@LegendOfGames]

I got into an argument with someone on Facebook when I said "Boomer Shooter" wasn't very good name to describe those games, and stuff like Asteroids is more like what a Boomer Shooter would actually be (my parents, who are both actual Baby Boomers, played that game back in the day.) The dude couldn't grasp the fact that the games were not made by Boomers (John Romero and John Carmack of id are both Gen-X) and that their primary demographic upon release was most certainly not Boomers. He also refused to accept that anything that isn't an FPS could be a type of shooter. And yes, I know "boomer" is now being used by Gen-Z kids to describe something old, but that's just dumb.

[@thiscommentor]

Thanks for introducing me to a genre I didn’t even know existed. I don’t have as much time these days to game but it’s nice to have these videos on in the background and remember moments from my childhood.

[@robsmall6466]

You knew about the genre already. They are FPS's. Boomer Shooter is a complete load of.....

[@minimvl]

@@robsmall6466 let people like shit

[@solar3mpire]

Boltgun also has a pixelation option in the graphic settings

[@cpl.barbarusc4814]

Thanks for adding Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon into the list, maybe isn't that much of a Boomer shooter but it has some elements like falling from great high without getting hurt, running without getting tired, a freaking minigun and bosses with lifemeters. Note: If Rex Power Colt sounds like Kyle Reese it's because it is in fact Michael Biehn who brought life to Kyle Reese and Cpl. Dwayne Hicks, the only bummer to the game is that the sequel ( even if I enjoyed it) isn't a Shooter like it's predecesor. And let's not forget about the music, to this day Blood Dragon soundtrack is still my jam.

[@jkcrawl]

The word "Boomer" is a mixed bag. It originally meant older people in their 60s/70s, then it became associated with people who have dated worldviews, now it seems to be refering to anything that's more than a decade old. I'm personally not offended by it, but I also think it's unoriginal and overused at this point and doesn't carry much meaning at all. I think the worst offense is Tim Henson refering to old guitar vends as "boomer bends" when they're actually blues bends. There's virtually no point in calling it "boomer bends" other than some weird passive aggression towards people who like that older style.

[@WH250398]

Prodeus is seriously good. I highly recommend it. I'm looking forward to Trepang 2's console release as well. The demo was amazing.

[@RAMPAGERX300]

Boomer shooter's are bloody awesome, the very best that FPS has to offer today for 90's gaming enthusiasts whether they were about during that period of time or not! 👌😆 Oh and by the way Metal Jesus, just letting you know the reason why Sgt. Rex in Farcry 3: Blood Dragon sounds like Kyle Reese from The Terminator movie is because Sgt. Rex is voiced by the one and only legend Michael Biehn! 👍😉

[@_DML_]

I think to allow the "zoomers" to continue butchering the English language is a bad thing, and as such, the meaning of the term "boomer" (ie. referring to the arbitrary "baby boomer" generation) should be maintained.

[@RoosTerJunkyard]

Nice video. In this revival of old shooters, we already saw new games replicating elements of doom and quake. I'm waiting for one inspired by the first Unreal, with those big inhospitable landscapes to explore and enemies with complex patterns.

[@MatrixAlphaCWX]

Yess this comment right here. I agree.

[@vgmaster9]

Would also like to see a revival of 2000s era shooters like Doom 3, Half Life 2, Halo, FEAR, Far Cry, Quake 4, Prey, Crysis, and early COD.

[@DaBigCheeso]

As a 90s PC Gamer, I'm here for this revitalized Boomer Shooter craze

[@Siranoxz]

As a fellow 90´s gamer i commend you for that fellow 90´s gamer.

[@vanadyan1674]

Hate the genre name, love the genre.

[@tykralin756]

Well, I fall into that category. I guess I could be called doom boomer shooter, or a doom & gloom, boomer shooter?

[@J.A.Z-TheMortal]

Although it has not been released, Fallen Aces deserves an honorable mention, due to its unique take on the boomer shooter genre. It has a beautiful cell shaded look, and 1930s mob scene setting. I play the demo on a regular basis, and im hoping the devs will announce a release date soon.

[@itsrainingcats9968]

It's not a retro FPS though.

[@J.A.Z-TheMortal]

​​@@itsrainingcats9968It is a shooter. Is just not a fast, twitchy shooter like Doom or Quake, and is also not as slow paced and Metroidvania-like Power slave or System Shock. So Its IMO an awesome in between.

[@TonyP_Yes-its-Me]

As a 63 year old guy, I can assure you that many of us still play games. And not just old classics. I've just finished Cyberpunk. You shouldn't be surprised that we know games. We were the pioneers. I played Space Invaders when it first came out. I literally played Pac-Man until my fingers bled. Actually bled. Onto the console. I recently re-played all the Quake games for nostalgia, and it was so refreshing to just be able to play a game. Just play. No levelling up, no open world, no side quests, no lore, and best of all, no deep multilayered, morally complex, flawed protagonist. Just "If it moves... shoot it. If it doesn't... shoot it it anyway, just to be on the safe side".

[@MrMaxim]

You know they should really have the same philosophy with movies. Just make movies without all the bullshit, even make them feel like 90s/2000s movies.

[@frankiepoindexter445]

Excellent video. I grew up playing many "boomer shooters" in the 90's, including Duke 3D, Quake, Hexen, Heretic, Blood, Unreal, Shadow Warrior, Wolfenstein, Goldeneye, Turok, and especially Doom (which I have probably played for over 10,000 hours). This is my first time ever hearing of Prodeus, and I just bought it on Steam because of your recommendation. Thank you!

[@VeloCetera]

Heretic was so great. Thanks for reminding me of it!

[@Slayer-777-]

The gameplay of each game looks highly addictive and a Ton of fun

[@LordDeBahs]

Blood is The best game made in build engine . old shadow warrior is cool too

[@Gabi-bv9ux]

People interested in this style of game should absolutely check out Cultic, Amid Evil, Zortch. Dread Templar, G String, Hrot, Nightmare Reaper, Trepang 2, Sprawl and there is plenty more (both out and coming very soon).

[@leonah2137]

On the part at 0:50 -- My dad is a younger boomer, currently in his 60s, and he's the one who turned me on to FPS in the early 90s when i was still single digit aged. He got copies of Wolfenstein, Spear of destiny, Doom, Blake Stone, Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem 3d, etc. Those were actually the last games he ever really played seriously before dropping the hobby altogether by 1997-98. 'cause of that, I thought title was appropriate, humor aside. I remember him and his friends who were either his age or even up to a decade older pirating copies of these games on floppies and photocopying the instruction manual and strategy guides and making huge-ass binders out of them. It was a wild time.

[@strangevision99]

I heard the term before but didn't think of the generational name. I thought it described the nature of the gameplay. All fast action shooting, lots of booms!

[@WildPork]

I believe you are correct. I heard the name comes from "boomstick" shotguns.

[@Tapp-Mourningwood]

​@@WildPorkThey should call them S-Mart shooters then. 😉

[@That1PissedOffBoomer]

Oh..... Wow if that's the case then uhhhhh.... I feel a little embarrassed.

[@That1PissedOffBoomer]

Well I get the boomstick thing but baby boomers ARE baby boomers. I was 16 when Doom came out. I don't know that many people that are my parents age that play FPS's. Sorry but that's bullshit. I was the target audience age for Doom when it came out, not my parents. STOP FUCKING EQUATING MY GENERATION TO MY PARENTS!!! Learn to read, get a dictionary. It's written plain as day. Boomer is short for BABY BOOMER!!!!

[@Raijinald]

Classic 90s FPS formerly known as DOOM Clones.

[@swinoob616]

Adaca, White Hell, Wrath Aeon of Ruin, Blade of Agony, Hell Denizen, Herald of Havoc...and a lot more!

[@tracksuitcheems]

It’s not a term of endearment. It’s continual slide of our language into grunts, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and rhymes. It accelerated in the vacant corporate platitudes of America in the 70s and has been adopted by the zoomers to emotionally distance them selves from all of the clear temperamental similarities they share with the boomers. We called it pixel art back when we still had our words.

[@negativespace261]

HIGHLY recommend Ultrakill as well. It’s an utterly brutal game, definitely more challenging when it comes to boss fights. But the mechanics are like a mix of DMC and Quake. It’s amazing stuff!

[@PoilQC]

Dusk is what initially got me into boomer shooters. Actually never knew the therm ''boomer shooter''. I just called them retro styled fps or like pretty much everyone else ''ps1 graphics fps''

[@canabalmartin97]

Same here!

[@GypsumGeneration]

Literally no one calls them ps1 graphics fps.

[@lillpoetboy]

I'm 42 years old, and I have been playing shooters since I was 14 years old way back with the original Doom, Quake and Wrath of Earth on my old dos computer ( yeah I used floppy disks back then for my pc games), and have continued to love shooters to this day, and I'm just NOW hearing the term boomer shooter, and thus why I am here. Making this comment. Ion Fury and Forgive me Father and UltraKill are some of the best boomer shooter's I've ever played, hands down straight up badass awesomeness. And made me realize I am attracted to that 90's style shooters because I played those games growing up, and I still play them ( the newer updated ,more polished HD versions ) to this day.

[@kalega311]

Great list! To prevent anyone else from being offended by the genre name, lol, "Boomer shooter" actually has multiple layers to its definition. It also comes from shooting w/ a "boomstick" (nickname for shotgun during the OG Doom days). So, you could always think of it like that lol. Of course, graphics aside, the genre can also be called twitch shooter, arcade shooter, or run-n-gun FPS like you stated.

[@osheroth]

Prodeus is so damn good, almost as good as Dusk; though aside from the first two dimensions it kinda feels rushed and not that focused, still an amazing experience

[@TheMightySilverback_]

Dusk is definitely the undisputed king but I agree Prodeus is excellent in it's own right.

[@SuckItDown]

Prodeus is a strange case, it ends when is starting to get really good.

[@FunkSwaggMusiK]

Ion Fury, Dusk, Blood 1 & 2, Turbo Overkill and WH40K BG are my jams

[@HoroJoga]

Boomer shooter is 100% a term of endearment as you pointed out. The friends I have who enjoy those kind of games aren't even from the 90s, some of them born after 2000 and they love the genre.

[@Hawk-xo4uo]

The main character in FC3 Blood Dragon is voiced by the actor who played Kyle Reese in Terminator and Hicks in Aliens, Michael Biehn

[@DerelictCountry]

I've always found MJR's cluelessness on these topics to be so endearing. He's the OG boomer gamer

[@MetalJesusRocks]

I know, right?

[@overlordalfredo]

He is not a boomer though... He is too young for that term

[@infernogott]

@@overlordalfredo boomer is everyone starting at 30. its a meme

[@overlordalfredo]

@@infernogott I know the meme and that's still not correct it's people in their 60 and not just that, it's a specific kind of attitude of a person of that age that fits the meme. A "Boomer" would be the parents of someone in their 30ties, it's targeting a different generation.

[@DerivitivFilms]

Boomer shooters are particularly incredible in VR. The Quest has been getting VR ports of stuff like Doom 1-3, Quake 1-4, Half-Life, Wolfenstein, and Prey. Along with stuff like Compound and Amid Evil. I don't think Blood Dragon is a boomer shooter, it's too modern, but it is retro inspired, so I say it gets a pass.

[@NicholasBrakespear]

The real reason so-called "boomer shooters" regained popularity: It's not their simplicity... the opposite. It's the sophistication and coherence of their gameplay; the fact that their gameplay is intrinsically tied to their level design. That's actually why they immediately feel so good to play; they flow, immediately, because their entire design revolves around the way level geometry channels gameplay. This is also why Boltgun, as Civvie observed in his video, is NOT a boomer shooter; I love it to bits, but no it's not at all. It's a post-Painkiller arena shooter. It locks you into arenas, and spawns enemies around you. That's not a boomer shooter. That's not what the old-school 90s shooters did. In fact, the original Doom didn't spawn enemies at all except for three exceptions: pain elementals spawning lost souls, arch-viles resurrecting enemies, and the Doom 2 final boss. All the teleport ambushes were done using a finite number of enemies sitting in a nearby room, triggered to attack the player via sound pipes, and physically walking into a teleporter in their brainless pursuit of the player. Dusk? Amid Evil? Yes. Boomer shooters. Boltgun? No. A so-called boomer shooter isn't about speed or simplicity. It's about the mastery of level design and the direct interaction between that level design and the moment to moment gameplay; no enemies conveniently pooping player-reactive amounts of ammo, no waves spawning. Each level is a handcrafted puzzle to solve, with a finite number of resources and a finite number of enemies, with the player striving for the optimal violent path through this labyrinth. Watch the "devs play Doom" video series, in which Romero plays through and discusses the first chapter of the original Doom, and you'll begin to understand what it is that genuine "boomer shooters" are actually trying to recapture. In fact, play Dusk, and pay attention to the games it frequently pays homage to in its level design - from Thief to Half-Life - and you'll start to understand what it's really all about.

[@lehran2516]

I'm just happy to see new games that don't have a 2 weapon limit. After BioShock added the weapon limit I thought it was a lost cause.

[@SMJSmoK]

IMO what Blood Dragon did really well was that it put this whole 80's action movie inspired aesthetic with neons, synthwave etc. into the gaming "public consciousness". It's not the first game that did that (we had Hotline Miami a year before and others), but it did that on an almost AAA level and it exposed a lot of people to this. And as a fan of this "subculture", I'm really grateful to Blood Dragon, even if it's not necessarily at the top of the list of these 80's inspired things for me (there was just too much Far Cry in it for me and after a while the gameplay got really stale and repetitive, just like Far Cry).

[@control_the_pet_population]

Yep, that was my issue with Blood Dragon... after 40 hours of vanilla FC3, the gameplay just wasn't unique enough. That's not a knock on the game necessarily, I just got burned out on it before completing it... one of those "one day I'll go back and revisit it" games that I'll get around to one of these years. That said, for a relatively quick and cheap mod of FC3, it's got a fun 80s sci-fi story and some fun visuals... but at the time, I was just burned out on FC3

[@olafsigursons]

I really don't remember there were these neons. It's the color of one of the color pattern on a 286, but neon? Never seen some.

[@newfiepacer]

Blood Dragon is one of my favorite games! It's so fun and super funny. Highly recommend that game to anyone, so the more categories it's in, the more people will see about it and play it and hopefully with added interest we can get a new one like it hahaha

[@Psilocybin77]

In 1993 my high school best friend Tom, installed Wolfenstein 3D on all the PCs in our library and next semester did that throughout our first computer lab, once they had it running. The following year we had a MASSIVE open air room, like a greehouse filled with PCs; so he installed both DOOM and Mechwarrior on those. Looking back I am so grateful for my high school experience and the friends I made. For perspective, my High School was established in the 1960s to allow for vocational minded students (in a Canadian province with an oil based economy). By the Nineties the school was unable to meet attendance requirements, and in 1993 it was converted into a, "School of Science and Technology". It was a one of a kind school at the time and featured many innovations; including hundreds of PCs, both in the library and in a massive lab that nearly filled 1/3 of the main floor of our school. In retrospect I never would have found my love of PCs and PC gaming if not for Tom, and all those computers filled with those awesome games. It was a labour of absolute love (or rebellion) for Tom, installing those games disk by disk and I never told him thanks. I'd been a console gamer since I was 6 years old with an Atari 3600 up to Super Nintendo up to that point, and Wolfenstein 3D proved to be something I'd never known I wanted my entire life. Those games changed gaming for a lot of people, so there's a lot of nostalgia baked right in. Good memories. (PS. Tom's mother was head librarian at the school and our Computer labs teacher, was very relaxed in how he treated us lol, our school population was tiny for that first 2 years, and we got away with stuff that wouldn't fly in most schools).

[@josephcronin2965]

Its been years since I've heard someone say Souped Up. When something is Souped Up, it's usually a car.

[@joemouton1194]

A few other recommendations are Nightmare Reaper, Cultic, and Wrath:Aeon of Ruin. A lot of the boomer shooters are built for mouse and keyboard in mind so PC might be the go to for these games.

[@allergic2life]

Makes me happy seeing all these retro looking games come back! So many good ones!!

[@WildApple_OP-Plays]

Nice video! You mentioned Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon... I think the first "boomer shooter" would be Rise of the Triad remake from the same year, 2013. However bad it was, it is a milestone, because some of the guys would later make Ion Fury and many other games.

[@thejervis86]

These types of games are amazing and it really is refreshing to see a resurgence of the genre.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

It's one of those things that went away for stupid reasons, and I'm not surprised that they're back. Especially for the folks that have work and families and need to work whatever gaming they're doing into short bursts from time to time. Something as involved as an RPG based shooter can be too much commitment to get to enjoy without taking a week off work for.

[@justinmohan7103]

This is one of the best videos you have done in a long time. Good topic. I like these games. They are easy to play just like you said. More modern and Tripple A games are becoming too complex and the indie games are just fun with simple stories.

[@MetalJesusRocks]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@raulgutierrezconstante8119]

Born in '64 I'M GAMING !!! I ain't old..... it's the skin what wrinkles ( and you loose hair, get fat n'stuff like that but who cares ! ) Man, I love to game, shooters are my kinda candy.

[@audie-cashstack-uk4881]

51 look 30 lol re2 remake re3 remake re4 remake re rev re rev 2 and tears of the kingdom this Yr pc 4k 120hz and my switch

[@revenant6872]

Boomer Shooters are FPS style games that come complete in the box, require a degree of peripheral awareness to navigate complex maps, usually require skill to dodge and shoot rather than just shoot, hide, reload - - don't have cutscenes every few minutes, don't have any microtransactions, weapon and player skins, stupid dances or pay to win mechanics. You don't build a fortress and shoot at the same time either.

[@bellotriggerfish]

I love these retro-styled shooters. Never heard of Proteus, but I LOVE the gore factor you showed in your gameplay. Looks like something right up my alley. Thanks for the vid!

[@MrShinZero]

These are my favorite kinds of games. Ever since launching Wolfenstien 3D via DOS as kid. Seeing the resurgence of Boomer Shooters as a genre in recent years has made me really happy. There are lots of great ones but my personal favorites have been Dusk, Ion Fury and Amid Evil. The Quake re-release was also very well done. It included a new expansion called "Dimension of the Machine" that was just awesome.

[@vinnykster]

Great comment. Adding Ion Fury and Amid Evil to my list of games I want 😎😎😎😎😎

[@LightParanoia]

Nightmare Reaper is also phenomenal. GBA styled roguelite mixed with DOOM, and with Andrew Hulshult at the helm for the music. And some fun mini games you play to level up your character played on an GBA 😂 Highly recommended

[@LilFeralGangrel]

the re-emergence of Boomer Shooters was probably caused by multiple things. the release of Doom (2016), Wolfenstein: the New Order (2014), Shadow Warrior (2013), probably re-ignited curiosity in this genre. But the first game to show the genre was being reborn was probably Dusk, followed by Amid Evil, Ultrakill and Ion Fury. What i really like about these games is that they're not just old-school shooters, they try and take the best parts FPS games from multiple eras and mix and match to create something new. These devs are not afraid to flaunt modern day design convention and really play with the tropes. It shows that we don't have to constantly push the envelope forward to make revolutionary games. sometimes we just need to take old ideas and mix and match until we have something that's really great... also another thing i like about them is that they can run even on my cruddy pc and i like that.

[@ThisSteveGuy]

Glad you brought up Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon. What a cool little hidden gem. I was thinking about it when you were talking about the other games, so i'd say it counts, at least aesthetically.

[@christianhl1]

@MetalJesusRocks in Far cry 3 : Blood Dragon the main character Rex Power Colt is voiced by michael biehn who played kyle reese you are correct :) thank you for making your videos keep it up! i love seeing your passion not only for games but all the era's!

[@richardsavings6690]

And on the subject of Blood Dragon, I'd consider it an Open world adventure/Boomer Shooter hybrid. Any objections?

[@666slateran666]

Weve been in a boomer shooter renaissance for awhile now. Hits like ion fury and obscure stuff like cruelty squad. Also anything nightdive does, good times my friends.

[@robsmall6466]

The original games they are based on were never, ever called boomer shooter. FPS and that's it. 🤡 term

[@666slateran666]

@@robsmall6466 It's kind of a joke term. It's not as descriptive as meteoidvania. The true boomer games are war games and ww2 strategy sims lmao

[@robsmall6466]

​@@666slateran666It's a joke that doesn't make any sense. Unless you go with the weapon sound effects argument. Sounds like some KZbinr or game developer tried to be all hip and just failed really hard. It needs to be rejected

[@whatwho9714]

Boltgun is definitely not slow it’s super fast paced your supposed to sprit. You can turn on auto sprint in the menu

[@bigalexg]

Being a boomer myself I can tell you there were plenty of us playing the first 3d shooters when they came out in the 90's. There were plenty of younger players then too, of course. The reason we might call them boomer shooters today? Maybe the boomer players never made it out of that style of play. As shooters became more complex they said, "shit, too many buttons to keep track of. This is too much work. I just want to run and shoot". Their brains couldn't learn to manage a lot of extra stuff to keep track of because past a certain age that gets hard. I had to force myself to keep current with new games and I kind of quit competitive MP shooters because I wasn't able or willing to keep up. Instead I moved over to RPG's and Souls-like, when I wanted a challenge. The sweet spot for me was Unreal Tourny and Quake 3 arena where even in my forties I could often end up near the top of the leaderboard. Particularly the rail gun mod for Quake - one gun one shot you're dead. These modern boomer shooters don't do it for me - they feel kind of boring TBH. I don't get the appeal. Maybe THAT makes me a boomer?

[@vancecannella6995]

I don’t think Blood Dragon is a boomer shooter, but it’s a fantastic game and a great ode to old school/retro gaming!! It was the first game I ever got all the achievements for and I’ll never forget it!

[@LordDeBahs]

its very boring gameplay . game even made fun of it . i found most open world shooters boring. rage did it right

[@vancecannella6995]

@@LordDeBahs Nowadays the gameplay might feel a bit boring and dated. However, being a reskin of Far Cry 3, which was an innovative game for its time, with a comical tone, I loved it!

[@andoryuu74]

I think the real issue with 'Boomer Shooter' is yet another example of Gen-X erasure. This game style almost exclusively originates from Gen-Xers who were in their 20's back in the early 90's and it sucks to see it attributed to a generation that doesn't deserve it, regardless if it is intended as derogatory or a term of endearment.

[@sokar_rostau]

To be fair, most of the games we played were made by Baby Boomers.

[@andoryuu74]

Doom and Wolfenstein. John Romero born 1967 = Gen-X. John Carmack born 1970 = Gen-X. Yes there were likely some boomers in the industry, but the genre defining devs were Gen-X.

[@sokar_rostau]

@@andoryuu74 OMFG. For 30-odd years I've thought that Doom was made by George A. Romero. It just made so much sense I never questioned it. It has to also be considered that Boomer isn't a term reserved for Baby Boomers. It's applied to people involved in a boom, like oil boomers. It can, and probably should, also be applied to things like the DotCom boom (which makes Elon Musk a DotCom Boomer and Jeff Bezos a Double-Boomer). When you look at it this way, there was indeed a boom of these kinds of games in the '90s, so Boomer Shooter is still an apt name. As far as Gen X erasure goes, I haven't heard it before and I do kind of like it. While I partly agree with the general sentiment, I don't think it's a useful way to view things. Millennials are a sub-set of both Gen X and Gen Y. The youngest Millennials are in their mid-30s but the youngest of Gen Y are still in their 20s, and we've gone straight from talking about Millennials to Zoomers. It's not just Gen X that's being forgotten. At the end of the day, we're all created by a media needing stereotypes. The irony of it all is that the oldest Zoomers have far more in common with Boomers than they want to believe.

[@scottanderson7239]

Generation X are not Boomers they are Generation X boomers are our parents.

[@wolfietigerstripes3248]

what i love about this era of gaming is everything is cool now!! I remember back in the day when I was playing a ps1 game at a party when everyone else was playing either gamecube, ps2 or xbox, and I got asked many times "why are you playing an old game for"? well for me I loved my ps1 games as much as ps2, my sega genesis, etc. now i love that a lot of indie developers are making games in this retro aspect like side scrollers, beat em ups, the boomer shooters as you mentioned, etc. I love it all!!! I mean HD gaming is cool, and games are getting better and better, but now there is no shame in playing older games, or older style games too, HD gaming is now just another Genre instead just a "better" game.

[@tdouble81]

Prodeus is great! I'll check out Boltgun too, that seems to be a nice change of pace.

[@Daakist]

I loved Doom for psx and n64. The music and art were so atmospheric. Doom was the first and maybe the only Boomer Shooter I liked.

[@elpinguino6934]

Doom isn't a boomer shooter lol

[@VRnamek]

brats call anyone over 30 boomer these days. That's our 90s FPS. both Far cry and the first modern Wolfenstein came up with those DLCs that play much more like those classics. Lately I've been into replaying actual 90 FPS in VR. it's awesome

[@FlameG102]

Honestly I want to say it was more doom 2016 that rekindled widespread interest in old shooters. A modern shooter, with no stamina meter, no 2 weapon loadout limits, and no reloading? what a concept! it reminded people of why Doom was fun. Which then drove people to stuff like Brutal Doom, and classic doom, and it's contemporaries. Also, It's still a crime that Blood Dragon never got a follow up proper game

[@blaketindle4703]

GManLives really got me into the Boomer Shooter Genre! There’s still awesome new ones being made and there were a lot of old classics I never even knew about! Old games like “Blood”, “Outlaws”, and “Star Wars: Dark Forces”. The newest one I’ve played is “Warhammer 40K Boltgun”! That game is awesome! And it has a taunt button lol! Definitely something more games should have!

[@davida12345]

Too bad that's not a genre, just a little kid who doesn't understand much term

[@Cosmic-Bear.]

My dad is pushing 60 and he was gaming hard in the 90's. Hell, both my parents, they themselves got me into videogames pretty early lol But yeah, I get that it's really weird that "boomer" became an insult for people who sometimes aren't even in their 30's...

[@GG_1318]

its from the 30 year old boomer meme which was about millennials

[@Kildzr]

Quake, Unreal, Blood, & Doom. The OGs.

[@JamieBainbridge]

FPS have always been showcases for latest technology. You know how groundbreaking Wolf3D and Doom were in their time. Don't forget the "Does it run Crysis?" meme.

[@MusicFromAnotherTime]

On the latest steam sale I just bought like five boomer shooters along with a steam deck so I can't wait to play more of these.

[@MetalJesusRocks]

Yep! Me too 👍

[@KoolManLuke]

One of my favorite boomer shooters to release recently that wasn’t mentioned is Cultic. Kind of a modern take on Blood. Excellent game and level design.

[@gonzalocanas8335]

Yeah and they add 10-11 days ago a free interlude. Interlude for what?...Cultic 2 is coming :)

[@HoLDoN4Sec]

oh man i LOVE Blood Dragon, it is funny how a little standalone fun project spinoff of Far Cry can literally foreshadow the entire series. its literally the very best Far Cry game in the series - from environment design to aesthetics, gameplay, soundtrack, story - it all matches itself very well. the end portion of Blood Dragon is also a very VERY nice homage levels from retro-shooters of old (quake, doom, hexen etc.) and old 80's inspired sci-fi action movies vibe (terminator, predator, mad max etc.)

[@comedylyfe2113]

I did come up with an idea for a boomer shooter were you fight against shadow monsters, creepy clones, and experimental monstrositys made by the shadow lord

[@IRWPD]

Ion Fury looks fun. Need to check that one out.

[@joemouton1194]

I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s using the same engine that make Duke Nukem 3D and Blood. Just way more beefed up.

[@decisionparalysis7856]

I was so shocked at how good Project Warlock looked seeing you play it, I went to the steam store to add it to my wishlist and the option was not there, turns out I already own it. Totally going to play that game, I don't know how I acquired it, probably a bundle, but yeah thanks for that XD.

[@JadeMythriil]

Project Warlock was part of a humble bundle a year ago. I got it myself and was instantly captivated by how well it plays. It was definitely a hidden gem for me.

[@danielsala81]

​@@JadeMythriil I got in February 2020 with my HB subscription.

[@lillpoetboy]

i love it when your backlog of games is so massive you have No idea what you have in your library until you come across a video on youtube of this cool game, only to find out you bought it two years ago. I love that feeling.

[@decisionparalysis7856]

Yeah I know, Steam is pretty cool like that, bundle sites are pretty awesome. I have more games than I will ever actually be able to play. I had to quit buying them as they became an addiction, those deals hook you. I currently have 1,215 games, which is actually nothing compared to some other people. I admit a lot of those games are never going to get touched. I love it when something like this happens though. @@lillpoetboy

[@Sl4wt3r]

One thing that I love about this particular genre making a comeback is the absolute flood of secrets and Super-secrets to hunt for. Those are something admittedly small that I really missed from boomer shooters that never really transitioned over to modern set-piece shooters with their constant need to make sure that every player manages to find every checklist collectible.

[@danielpindell1267]

Retro shooters because these games are around the retro days.