With the retro FPS renaissance having been underway for a few years now, you'd think that there wouldn't be any new or surprising entries in this well-worn genre. Industry juggernauts like id Software, 3D Realms, and Monolith already mined a lot of material from classic engines, so what could be left? Why not a game based on text adventures with a structure similar to Turok that employs some vector graphics for its art style?
Enter Paradox Vector, a relatively small scale title from the likes of Schmidt Workshops. Created by one person, it's surprising how competent and polished this game is ahead of its official release. There are certainly some kinks to work out, but it's hard not to be constantly impressed by how much Schmidt has been able to pack in by himself. There are bigger budget titles that don't even feel as good as this, even if some kinks could use ironing.
The main gist of Paradox Vector is a story about ancient evils coming to destroy Earth. At least, I believe that's the plot, because I sort of skipped over all of the text contained in the preview build. Since the title is still in early access, I wasn't too worried about figuring out how certain plot threads fit together. Stories have never been especially important in shooters and Paradox Vector doesn't hammer you over the head with unskippable dialogue boxes or lengthy speeches from NPCs. The narrative is there if you want it, but can be easily ignored if not.
What struck me was how trippy the level design can be. Playing into the whole vector graphics art style, a lot of the different rooms you'll enter employ programming tricks to teleport you around the map. This leads to situations where you'll be walking on a single level while rounding corners, then appear a few stories above the last room. You look back and question where you are before realizing the game is screwing with you.
It's a gimmick that wouldn't work nearly as effectively if the game world was rendered with traditional visuals. Because of the textureless walls, your mind is filling in a lot of the blanks and this lets the level designs get away with mind games. It also flips the typical maze-like designs of FPS titles into patterns you may not be able to get too familiar with.
That's not to say there isn't a set path or anything. The game doesn't teleport you around at random. If you enter a specific door from a certain angle, that's when you’ll trigger this different hallway. A map that is collectible in each level will help guide you better, so you typically don't get too lost. Still, it's a very unique trick that is sure to be exploited even better in later stages.
As for enemies and such, Paradox Vector doesn't have an extensive roster just yet. You'll be fighting a lot of the same robots and jellyfish creatures during the first nine areas with some rather standard FPS weaponry. The guns feel pretty nice, but the crosshair seems to be off-centered. I'd often attempt to line my shots up and completely miss despite what the X was telling me. It's a little aggravating, but ammo is rather plentiful, so you can fire with reckless abandon.
The biggest, and most pleasant, surprise of Paradox Vector was its overworld. This is where the Turok influence is felt the most. You can sort of navigate to each level in whichever order you like (certain areas will require specifically colored keys) and the paths between them are up to you. You'll enter a big room that has some beautiful imagery and deal with light resistance on your way to the next dungeon. There's always a sense of wonder around each corner, beckoning you to explore deeper.
Sadly, the performance dips a lot during these segments. It's not to a degree where the game is unplayable, but I'm not sure what is causing the framerate to chug here. The main levels don't have this problem, so there has to be some kind of memory utilization bug going on. If only I knew more about programming to say, but that's just the nature of an early access title. This is still remarkably polished for what is an "incomplete" build.
What I played from the early-access build was the first nine dungeons and boss fight. There is a tease of more after, but I decided against venturing further to save a lot of those surprises. With a more in-depth trailer set to be revealed at Realms Deep 2020, it seems that a final release may be weeks away for Paradox Vector. I don't want to spoil any of the surprises, so I'm going to wait patiently for more.
If any of this sounds interesting to you, Paradox Vector is currently available on PC for $9.99. That's basically a steal for what is looking to be a rather interesting and breezy little FPS campaign.