// PC GAMER — GAMING
I've played countless Doom engine games, so believe me when I say this one that combines the FPS with JRPG combat might be the coolest one in 30 years
Free Doom total conversion End of Starlight is part bullet hell, part surprise RPG, all enigma.
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I know my Doom, and its many derivatives. I've been covering it for years. It has almost never left my PC in over three decades, so I do not say this lightly. End of Starchild—a completely free, standalone game from prolific musician and indie dev Em Essex—might be the single coolest thing built on Doom's venerable, time-tested foundations.
If that's not enough to convince you to download a whole 36 megabytes of game, then how about this; End Of Starchild (standalone sequel to 2021's Time Tripper, which you should also play) is Doom refined and polarized into a finely tuned, ultra-stylish bullet hell arcade game. It's a brisk six levels of blasting through ornate eldritch environments at ludicrous speeds (even faster than Doomguy's 60mph sprint), weaving through blankets of shmup-styled neon bullets thrown your way by an all-new cast of enemies. They each drop single-use consumable sub-weapons, adding an improvisational edge to the action.
Every map feels truly distinct, with a distinct aesthetic, pacing and rhythm, from dancing between ambushes in the wings of a surprisingly cozy cult library complex to a psychedelic neon arena rave accompanied by chaotic battle-chatter. It's bookended by gorgeous animated title cards for each level ("Her Warm Words In Winter" is a hell of a name for a Doom map), and after each sortie you return to your protagonist's inner-city apartment, which gradually fills up with unlockable decor and unsettling yet poetic letters in your mailbox.
The weapons are familiar, for the most part, but punchier than their OG counterparts. The shotgun (singular) hits like a truck. The machine gun deals more damage if you keep the fire button held down. Rockets hit almost instantly and explode in a skull-shaped cloud inspired by some classic shmups.
Each enemy feels like an arcade reinterpretation of a classic Doom archetype, often firing a mixture of pink (directly aimed) or blue (radial/random) bullets to be navigated. A few concepts feel entirely new for Doom, like a cosmic wizard who warps around evasively every time he takes damage, while opening lingering portals to Saturn's rings to pelt you with micro-meteorites.
If that sounds unnecessarily cool, End of Starchild carries that vibe through the whole game. Even the save system is stylish. Instead of quicksaving freely, you can create checkpoints at kiosks run by a gravelly voiced gremlin of a shopkeeper, who'll remember your progress if you trade in a little blood (health), sweat (your score) or tears (resolve, the game's equivalent to armor) for a second chance. There's character to every action, no matter how small—difficulty selection is handled through the elevator panel in your character's apartment building.
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And if you're good, you might be done in three hours or less. But that's the first layer.