Wrath Aeon of Ruin was worth the wait

[@KIRKCOLLECTS]

Thank you for checking out this review of WRATH! If you enjoyed it please be sure to like, comment and share, this is a big help for the algorithm. Also don't be shy about sharing any feedback for the game to help the devs out! What games are you currently playing or looking forward to? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

[@chuckschwa]

Good to hear the final game turned out well. I LOVED the early access levels, and I cannot wait to return to wrath!

[@VinylMorpheus]

Shocked it actually came out and even more shocked that it’s good. I bought Wrath when my wife was pregnant with our son and I hoped the game would be finished before he was born so I’d have time to invest in Wrath before I became a dad. Well now I have 2 sons and one is old enough to call me an idiot for preordering games. Jokes aside I’m glad this one has finally seen the light of day. Just like the System Shock remake I’m sure if the game is good people will eventually forget about the insane delay. Should they forget?…I don’t know.

[@KIRKCOLLECTS]

Haha two humans were developed in the same time Wrath took to come out. Well at least you have two sons to share the game with 🤷🏻‍♂️ lol More seriously though, I think what's important with troubled developments like this is that there's a lot of open and honest discussion about why it happened for the sake of fans understanding, because not everyone understands how hard development is, and for other game developers to learn from it. I feel like the issues Wrath faced were just things that weren't anticipated... and some bad luck.

[@VinylMorpheus]

Hey man. I got the game. I loved what I played and I was mad as hell about the delays. I don’t know if I ….forgive the delays? But like you said I think I understand and I’m personally ready to move past it. And if the game is as good as you made it sound then I’ll change my Steam score lol for whatever that’s worth.

[@VinylMorpheus]

It’s a free country lol no one held a gun to my head and forced me to buy it in early access. In all honesty that’s the risk consumers take any time they by a game in early access.

[@vinny-g6s]

Yeah, just let it go, enjoy the game for what it is now. I have my share with game development and it's tough, they picked an old and janky engine to work with and finding people who knows about it is rare. Be happy and don't go pre ordering games again lol

[@phobosslayer9203]

Not problem good game bro. (Low Eng sorry)

[@ZlimBratSki]

Fantastic review as always Kirk!

[@j85grim4]

How many sausage Batwurst-ski sausages out of 5 do you give it? Maybe you could start rating games out of 5 Bratski's 🌭 😁

[@RetroDeathReviews666]

This and System Shock remake were my most anticipated games for years and years. So glad System Shock turned out as good as it did, and also thankful to see this one also turned out awesome as I had hoped.

[@jaysanj152]

I actually respect the fact that the Devs sticked to their guns by developing this game on the engine they wanted to work on for pure authenticity and not switching to a more modern accessible engine like most indie boomer shooters has which only gives you an illusion of playing an old school boomer shooter. Yes, it's may seem "easier" to simply develop this on a more modern engine and it's obviously a more sensible approach. But the fact the these guys choose to challenge themselves instead of choosing the easier option is actually quite commendable really. If anything this game might probably and should be remembered as one of the purest Quake like FPS BECAUSE it's done on the Quake 1 engine. Glad this game didn't end up like GRAVEN and i hope devs are proud at what they have done.

[@bloodrunsclear]

Games are just coming out as 'This classic game...but with slightly better graphics and controls' And I can dig that!

[@Dave_Billing]

Using a legacy BSP-based engine has the advantage of allowing users to make their own levels and content easily. Quake maps are in fact very easy to make and unlike modern versions of the Unreal Engine, which doesn't really support custom made maps for its games, you don't need to have a good knowledge of 3D modeling to create them, as most of the world geometry is created using either CSG-based brushes and patches rather than model-based static meshes. I'm glad that it used a Quake engine variant instead of Unreal or Unity, both for the nostalgia factor and the ability to easily make your own levels. Plus, it's an open source engine, meaning it can be ported to virtually any operating system and likewise future proofed, provided there are programmers available who are willing to do so.

[@Badhero4]

The wait for this game made me experience the effects of aging.

[@tazzz001]

Quake ist Liebe

[@vojislavpokrajac7553]

After year of waiting, finally I can play it, was pretty nervous after Embracer Group cracked the whip on 3D realms to get all the projects out, and having seen Kingpin Reloaded and Graven being horrible to average, I was scared for Wrath, but after seeing your and ZlimBratskis review, i cant wait to play it tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up and squashing my fears.

[@NinjaFaceGames]

I'm so glad this delivered (Even if it isn't perfect). After Graven and Kingpin Reloaded I got a little nervous about 3D Realms published games, as this is/was my most anticipated shooter. Now I just hope this gets a physical release.

[@NKWittmann]

Nice of you to review games like this on harder difficulties. Tougher moments like the ones you speak of remind me of older ordeals like Plutonia or Valiant for Doom, seemingly impossible challenges which define the experience, and I'm glad there are still developers out there with the guts to put us through this, so let's say Wrath seems decidedly old-school 😊 I'll def give a try

[@zerotactix5739]

So glad and relieved to hear this!

[@dc1939]

Man this looks great. To me like the first real followup to Quake. No-brainer purchase

[@ianswift3521]

it's 25 years too late. truly feels like a relic. if this was released in the same era as Thief, then, fine. but it wasn't.

[@ianswift3521]

and ps i love quake and have every single halfway decent custom downloaded map and mappack made over the past 20 years. this isn't a game style lost on me.

[@HydraBill57]

​@@ianswift3521 Your statement makes literally zero sense🤡🤣Did dusk come too late? Are we not allowed to use any old school game design ideas in fear of being too late? Absurd. I love quake and retro fps games in general so of course I want more of something I love just like how I want more RPGS. I don't know where you got your ridiculous opinion on retro games but it's stupid and gatekeeperlike😂

[@MageBurger]

I only heard of this game from a recent Second Wind livestream, but this game looks like literally everything I desired from Quake 1 and I feel my life is more complete now having seen it. I don’t even wanna imagine what playing it is like, but I might consider getting to purchasing some day.

[@AbsurdShark]

Very fun and informative review. Thanks for making it. On a sidenote, i was sure i would find a Blood West review on your channel, but only saw the preview from its early access days. I hope eventually you will return to the full version too.

[@Angelfox51]

This is good news. After so many delays, I was worried the game could be a disappointment after what we had with Graven

[@IcyXzavien]

Can't wait to play 1.0 tomorrow. I really enjoyed what I experienced with what what offered in the early access.

[@sablebubble4630]

This is the only game in my life which I pre-ordered. And it's finally here. Great review, by the way, as always.

[@spartanezleonid3972]

I think this is the best retro shooter ever. Thanks for the review!

[@TheMC1102]

I got a similar experience from playing the new Quake II expansion, Call of the Machine. The maps are big, beautiful and atmoshperic, but the ammount of enemies that gets thrown at the player is just absurd.

[@chuckschwa]

I just finished playing Q2CotM, really enjoyed it! I wish all game remasters could be as great as the love Night Dive put into the quake games

[@Badhero4]

Imagine a drug user complaining that there’s too many drugs to do.

[@Vulkan1998]

Did you play on hard? Maybe lowering the difficulty is the better option if it gets too much.

[@TheMC1102]

@@Vulkan1998 I played on normal, but couldn't finish it, so I lowered it to easy.

[@Vulkan1998]

@@TheMC1102 understandable hope it was still fun

[@rosfell00]

Something that makes the Quake engine so special is that Carmack made it future proof, you can still boot up GLQuake and WinQuake in modern systems with little to no issues and the game will run just fine, that being said developing a mod for Quake, let alone a game is a titanic task on it's own, and Wrath started as a solo project...

[@Vulkan1998]

Originally they also wanted to port the game on the switch which would have been an insane undertaking.

[@mopeybloke]

A lot of people have a problem getting WinQuake and GlQuake running on modern Windows. Idk why it doesn't affect everyone. The real future proofing was releasing the source code.

[@Vulkan1998]

@@mopeybloke agreed

[@CatsOverdrive]

​@@mopeybloke yep

[@Mekkablood]

Great video dude, game looks like a blast.

[@mattc7420]

This game is like Heretic and Quake had a baby!

[@jonasking9587]

This and Dark Forces Remastered. Very hyped.

[@MulekeTrairao]

I am glad and relieved to know that Wrath turned out well. Thanks for the review, Kirk! Absolutely loved the editing and script, as always! About the community's reaction to the game's development, it's perfectly understandable, considering that 3D Realms would just delay the game and not justify their decisions. It took them a good while before they became open with the community about what was going on. One of the developers turned to Twitter to explain things a few years ago, but that tweet wasn't shared on 3D Realms' social media accounts (AFAIR), not even on Steam, so most people weren't aware of the problems the dev team was facing. In the last Realms Deep, Kristus explained why the game was taking so long to develop. Now that is a proper and more public way of addressing community feedback, it just took years for them to do it. 3D Realms has been making mistakes in the communication and management departments for years now, and it will be very difficult to regain their customers' trust. Only share a release date when you're absolutely sure you can hit it. One or two delays are fine, more than that and people get concerned.

[@goodall1bay]

'The cooked up pandemic,' how could we forget

[@JcGross93]

I'm happy it's out, I got it on early access and have not touched it in years I think, I was waiting for the finished product. I get that making games is difficult, I get that unexpected hurdles come along. However, I don't believe for a second that COVID was the reason for all these delays we had (by "all these" I mean in the industry in general). I believe this is just poor management and most Devs are using it as a get out of jail free card.

[@j85grim4]

Maybe but, I would much rather wait for something good than not wait and the product is an unfinished shit show.

[@unrealdevon]

We need more games made in the Quake engine. Nothing can beat that original feel this gives the game.

[@mastergame1311]

Looks cool, I will certainly revisit the game soon. The early access was very solid already and it seems the full release delivers.

[@Lord_Deimos]

I own the early access version which was amazing already but I waited for the full release to properly enjoy this

[@Sentay0]

Holy shit it's finally done

[@onlyusernameleft2]

12:38 Ah yes, leaving. AKA the "Decino strat."

[@Lakezhealme]

I'm excited to buy this one.

[@BloodRedFox2008]

Good to see an instance of a game getting delayed for years that actually turned out good in the end. This game and the System Shock remake are like the opposites of Duke Nukem Forever and Skull and Bones, two games that got delayed so much they became jokes even before release, and when they finally did come out the consensus was "it's so mid it's not even funny bad..."

[@Calypso694]

Glad to see this turned out better than Graven did…

[@iamvigant]

I agree, it was ultimately worth the wait. Some early backers were discontented - okay, delays suck, but these people generated a disproportionate amount of hate to be pitied. Their aching backsides will be of no concern to all other players who arrive now, after the full release. I finished the EA version years ago (lol) and it was fine, a bit lacking. What a treat to actually get my hands on the FULL game! ^^ bet it rocks

[@Anuskasv0]

So happy this game turned out great, definitely a must buy.

[@janoycresva919]

Kill me goddes

[@colbyboucher6391]

I don't think the engine is even the selling point here, it's the crazy interconnected level design, personally. The earlier versions made me think of Spyro the Dragon if it was a gothic boomer shooter, kinda. (Also one of these games having a proper checkpoint system rather than just manual saves is great). 15 levels might not sound like much but they're huuuge. I thought it was dead too, until recently, frankly.

[@j85grim4]

Haha I heard another reviewer say it reminded him of Spyro too, that's funny

[@colbyboucher6391]

@@j85grim4 It's something about the way the models are designed plus the whole "collect stuff to unlock new levels in a little hub world" idea.

[@j85grim4]

​@colbyboucher639 A lot of games have done that though so it's funny that your minds went to Spyro.

[@GWG_GameChannel]

*Игра выглядит интересно*

[@eduardodiaz9942]

The reason the delays hit so hard, is because what was already available was excellent. I can't wait for tomorrow. About that room in the Gardens: Cruel Aegis. Seriously, they trivialize it.

[@KIRKCOLLECTS]

That's ultimately what got me through it. Had to search for one though cuz I was out of them. If I had gotten the slag cannon first it would have been easier too.

[@brandonrogers331]

What bugged me most about the delays is they waited until the last minute to say "hey we need more time."

[@Moji55a]

Just use Ruination Blade until those 2 big cyst monster shows up.

[@drakescakes5629]

The thing I like to hear is actually that this game is too hard in the aspects mentioned here. This is a positive and super rare moment where a developer actually should do a downgrade because there game is too much haha. Rather than most modern AAA developers release there games with minimal effort and don’t upgrade/update there content for months if sometimes ever.

[@tibersulla2305]

This is why I always avoid early access, even for games I'm salivating for (like Gloomwood), always feels like it's gonna be abandoned... glad it was not the case this time. Seems this game has some interesting spins on classic fps tropes, like making quick saves limited items and using monster remains as ammo, sounds fresh to me, although I might be playing this one on normal.. I know some don't feel the difference between engines, but I kinda like this uses quake's id tech 2, something always feels a bit different for me somehow, also it's nice playing something not done in Unreal or Unity for change. Also, your reviews are clean good Sir, hope you get more viewers.

[@eduardodiaz9942]

New Blood are trustworthy publishers. Dusk and Amid Evil are early access success stories, and Ultrakill and Gloomwood are headed the same path.

[@tibersulla2305]

@@eduardodiaz9942Oh I didn't mean to doubt New Blood, in Gloomwood's case in specific it more about wanting the complete experience. Still, I have been letdown by trustworthy companies before, CDProject Red... So no matter what I don't go for early access.

[@ChickenShred]

Is there much information about the game's development history? I always thought the cause of these delays were Slipgate Ironwork's bad history of making games, at least when I heard the main devs of Kill Pixel left development. And I couldn't imagine Embracer Group, owner of 3D Realms, could give the current devs much of a budget to work with due to their awful business practices of buying way too many game studios and usually laying them off as a result. How was the game even finished at such a good state? Did the Kill Pixel devs come back? Were they the ones that hired more modders like Kirk mentioned in the video? Am probably wrong about a lot of this, though I've always been curious as to what caused these delays in the first place.

[@j85grim4]

I just saw pictures of your console game collection on Instagram. Wow those are all your's still?

[@Hyacsho]

Finally, I can watch this tomorrow haha!

[@vagabundorkchaosmagick-use2898]

Mmmh, that limited saving system sounds like a game to play on normal or easy mode. I hate that system. Edit: Hello, it's me from 5 seconds into the future. I just want to say that it's a good thing you can disable that stupid option and use the normal saving system as all good classic FPS games from the last 31 years.

[@hanselmanryanjames]

Loving this game so far. My biggest complaint is there's not enough enemy types, about 10 more unique enemies would have been the sweet spot.

[@BirdRaiserE]

NO WAY it came? First Graven now this? I'd written them off entirely!

[@adiveler]

I remember when there were only 2 levels, the monsters you encounter on each level were depends on if you did that level first (easier encounters) or second (harder encounters), does that dynamic difficulty still present in the full game?

[@KIRKCOLLECTS]

I don’t think so. I felt like every level had a similar progression in terms of enemies.

[@adiveler]

@@KIRKCOLLECTS Well, I guess this is something to ask the devs directly. When it was only 2 levels, it was easy to see the difference when playing them in different order.

[@reanimatedfish]

Worth the wait? I mean, maybe it would have been if they hadn't axed multiplayer, the lore entries, and whatever was lost in the shuffle. It's... Okay, at least.

[@Nakhab]

That death from executioner charge, oof. It can almost flatline you from 100/100 on Outlander.

[@ShadesMan]

1:18 - *cough*darkplaces*cough* But yeah this game is lit, when I make more custom maps for this I may do the 'Quake 1 valve format' goodness vs Q3bsp2 but I digress!!!!

[@TeamBeefVR]

Wohoo and don't forget you can play Wrath standalone on Meta Quest!

[@thismonkeyjustworks1255]

It’s a good game that’s published by 3D realms? Crazy, notice how it isn’t developed by slipgate

[@Moji55a]

Splitgate just needed good leadership, They actually helped developed Wrath under KillPixel who had his vision on this game.

[@heidiwynn]

I like that it was made in the old Quake engine.

[@Imorajna]

Turok vibes. I'm in

[@markymark2791]

You're my goto for boomer shooter reviews. Im hoping you're doing a phantom fury review. wanna hear your opinion on it before I buy it.

[@RealHero101111]

crucible of souls level is just crazy!!

[@vilsondeoliveirajr]

Darkplaces isn't at all antiquated, it is a very capable engine... Just take a look at Xonotic, Doombringer and other games made with it... WHY Wrath doesn't use most of darkplaces effects and features is not clear for me, but wouldn't be that hard to make an "HD MOD" for it, using parallax occlusion mapping, decent shaders and upscaled textures... And this games deserves this... =) (Just look at Quake Rivarez edition, it looks quite good...)

[@j85grim4]

Man, you have that video game journalist voice down. You must have listened to a lot of ign and Gamespot reviews growing up huh?

[@KIRKCOLLECTS]

Gametrailers 😁

[@j85grim4]

@@KIRKCOLLECTS I remember the first time I watched one of your reviews, I thought it was gamepot or ign. You do a good job though of giving well written reviews. I have discovered several games thanks to your channel.

[@ananon5771]

Do arcane dimensions next. No reason not to

[@robertirwin999]

Thnaks for review. Spawning and no proper save system make it a hard no.

[@thelonelyone5534]

Does it have horde mode?

[@horrorjunkie96]

how would you rank the difficulty next to other popular retro shooters?

[@horrorjunkie96]

does increasing difficulty setting increase the enemy spawns too???

[@travistotle]

"Each of Wrath's 15 maps are BIG" I audibly groaned when I heard this. What is with boomer shooters lately getting caught up with making their levels longer and longer and longer?? Maybe it's just me, but I'd MUCH prefer a classic shooter that favors a higher number of shorter, sweeter, compact maps, rather than pushing through a level for what feels like 2 hours. It seems like ever since Doom Eternal favored these giant sprawling levels, the rest of the boomer shooter market followed suit, and most retro shooters these days now have levels that feel like they go on and on and ON. The just-released Turbo Overkill (while an awesome game) was like this, too. I know this is mostly a nitpick, but shorter levels aren't necessarily a BAD thing devs!

[@THESHARD83]

it's simply a style some people like more shorter maps and some people like big sprawling maps with tons of secrets (arcane dimensions anyone?)

[@colbyboucher6391]

On one hand, I 100% agree, but on the other, I think Wrath sort of earns it by actually using that size to do interesting stuff in terms of level design, at least. As groan-inducing as this is to say they really are set up a bit like Dark Souls zones where they loop back on themselves and you're working off of checkpoints, although in this case you're placing those yourself.

[@kroman6083]

I agree. It gets old quickly and makes me tired of the level. I played the full release of HROT last year and didn't have that problem, the levels went by quickly. Same with other recent releases. This is my problem with mods/wads, they often go overboard with the size. See The Black Parade for Thief for example.

[@travistotle]

@@THESHARD83 I get that, but sometimes it just gets in the way. Civvie 11 just reviewed this game and even he mentioned several times that the levels being so long really hurts the game's pacing and can lead to some stretches of boredom.

[@alewis514]

One major complaint I have about this game is how these fast melee zombies are broken af. Every bullshit death coming out of nowhere was these bastards. They can claw through 100 health and armor in like 3 seconds and you barely see their models cos they get so close. Other enemies can be tough but generally don't cause unfair deaths.

[@tazzz001]

I play on hard, and after 7 levels i have more than 30 saves left.. The game is too easy forn Quake lovers.

[@DifferentRussian]

Bro, Heretics can be 1shot with charged ruination blade, cmon. Pretty much everyone can be 1-2 shot with that thing. The only ones you don't want to do that with, are the exploding ones.

[@gast128]

The first EA levels released in 2020 were great. What is released now not so. Lengthy levels with annoying projectiles spamming enemies placed on distant ledges.

[@KeimpeJ]

The engine was not the reason for the delay

[@riojulio9650]

In the end i save 70 soul theters :)

[@astrochicken2551]

Good game, literally unplayable console port due to softlocks (among other bugs). 3D Realms are aware of the situation but do not plan on releasing a patch, so this faulty product will continue being sold to unsuspecting PSN consumers with no recourse for a refund. Buyer beware would be an understatement.

[@koba3824]

The level design and art direction seems to be higly influenced by Dark Souls 1

[@randymagnum8178]

Where am I , Bizarro world ?

[@robertirwin999]

The limited savegame thing makes it a probable no-buy from me. Shame.

[@Torgo1969]

Limited saves? That's a huge red flag for me.

[@jotaa9660]

You can have limited saves, there is an option for it

[@fragsman]

In my personal experience the game lacks of good music. I played with "Dusk" soundtrack and is GREAT. You're shooting things around YOU NEED HARD CORE MUSIC not this cementry sounds..

[@MarquisDeSang]

I simply don't have time to play a game without saves.

[@janark4078]

There are saves.

[@MarquisDeSang]

@4078 But you need to unlock the unlimited save in the options or something. This is not SNES, we are on PC. Why change a design that always works for FPS?

[@Moji55a]

​@@MarquisDeSangIdk it's Killpixel game, his game his rule. Also there's an option in the game to enable old quicksaves.

[@PossessedGR]

Wrath convinced me never to buy a title in EA from 3D realms again. They consistently lied while clearly knowing they can't deliver. Even though the final game might be good (to be decided if I actually play it after all this bitterness), it should be a cautionary tale for EA titles that get overhyped by the publishers.

[@j85grim4]

The reviews are out though and the final product appears to be good. Wouldn't you rather wait for something great rather than not and get a buggy unfinished mess?

[@ExValeFor]

@@j85grim4I'd rather not get dicked around for 5 fucking years

[@gunsharck]

Early access, says it all. Are you expecting a finished game????

[@mudkipzuzu]

What did they lie about?

[@PossessedGR]

@@j85grim4 I have no issue with waiting for a good product. I have issues when the devs and publishers lie in your face. They could have been honest instead of lying about content delivery. I just pointed out the bad practices of the publisher. The game is great now that it is released, but their practices were anti-consumer.

[@artman4444]

This looks like PS2 graphics

[@Benieg83]

Avoid this game like the plague. It is infuriating. The limited saves, lack of ammo and overpowered enemies is horrendous.

[@jotaa9660]

Skill issue

[@Benieg83]

@@jotaa9660 Look out, we have a tough guy over here.

[@jotaa9660]

yes you can bet iam ! >:)

[@Noname-yu8qw]

why using an old engine, thats dumb, you can obviously make the same look in new better enngines

[@Shrekster5E]

Very underwhelming

[@j85grim4]

I quit before finishing the first level lol 😅

[@APEXGuerilla]

I really don't like the visuals...prefer Prodeus 🤷‍♂️

[@radek4634]

for someone who deals with boomer shooters on a daily basis, your expectations are extremely low if you like wrath. i havent played a more irritating boomer shooter in a long time. some enemies shoot with virtually no cooldown, so you have to hide behind walls throughout the game or as you mentioned, withdraw. its a sign of bad design, nothing more. the game has open levels and spawns enemies every now and then after picking up keys or items, some parts of the map have to be cleared of enemies three times and each time you kill the same 2-3 monsters in groups of 3, 10 or 20. and all you have to do is play the old painkiller, a 20 year old game, to see how weak wrath is. there almost every level has a new enemy, and often it is only at this level. the amount of work that was put into it makes the wrath look like it was put together in a year. additionally, each opponent has an alternative attack or skill. and the shooting is not that good at all, even compared to old games like pankiller. i was bored in wrath like never before. i dont recommend it to anyone. 3/10. it cant even be compared to games like cultic or dusk. and compared to amid evil, which is colorful and simply beautiful, these levels look like a weak mod made by amateurs. and limited save is the stupidity and ignorance of developers. nothing more. want a challenge? you dont have to use any save ever,. you can even play with one hand, blindfolded, holding your breath, and finish the whole thing in one go, do whatever you want. ive never understood this argument that players have no challenge unless someone tells them what and how to do it by restrictions in gameplay. play how you want, challenge yourself, who the fuck cares.

[@Moji55a]

Why are you so negative, do you even played Wrath? like yeah it has flaws but to act this was a "mid" gane is just absurd.

[@radek4634]

@@Moji55ayes, i played it, thats why i have an opinion on it. and to sum up everything i wrote above - it bored me and i dont remember any boomer shooter that was as boring. even not the best ones either have better shooting, or interesting levels, or you jump around like a rabbit and the gameplay is varied. in wrath there is literally nothing interesting. solid and works - thats the best that can be said about it 5/10. but honestly its even better to play the original quake, which is 30 years old and simply better in every aspect, and more fun.

[@justinl8791]

Game is good, though not without problems(levels too long at times, save system a bit redundant, shotgun alt fire hard to use, audio mixing issues for sound effects) but it's a damn sight better than fucking Graven.