“I’m going to put on my golden spike fists and start punch the air rapidly, like this”, Amid Evil expansion The Black Labyrinth seems to say. “And if all you monsters in the mist should be pulped, then that’s your own fault.”
Set before the events of the base game, it looks every bit as bloody, and Blood-y, as its throwback first-person shooter predecessor. It also now has a release date: August 18th.
Here’s the release date trailer:
The original Amid Evil succeeded in invoking ’90s classics Heretic and Hexen (and goes so far as to use hexen3.com as a URL). I am pleased that it’s continuing to throwback to a previous era by making an expansion pack as a followup, rather than a standalone game. The Black Labyrinth was reported back in 2021 to include “10 large levels” and take 2-3 hours to play, with a planned $10 price. That might have changed in the years of development since, but there’s not a final price on its Steam page yet.
Earlier this month, developers Indefatigable have also released Amid Evil VR, a standalone spin-off that reformats the thoroughly retro, rapid-paced shooter for headsets. With mixed results, according to Rick Lane, who found it slightly cumbersome to control and less satisfying than its flat-screen sibling. That’s in part because Amid Evil’s weapons are all melee and projectile hybrids, and melee attacks rarely feel as impactful in VR.
The Black Labyrinth seems more likely to satisfy if you’ve craved more of the original. Aside from the glowing fistycuffs, I like the look of its reality warping scythe.
Graham Smith
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