Iprobably spend most of my time with retro-styled shooters being distracted by the pixel art: appreciating the cardboard-thin enemy sprites, and textures that (hopefully) warp when you get up close. The illusion is difficult to conjure, and all too easy to break, but Killspiracy TV feels pretty authentic to first-person shooters of the late ’90s, even as it ditches their typical level design for procedural mazes.
In each, your goal is to rescue a bunch of cultists – cowl-wearing types with televisions for heads – before hoofing it back to the entrance portal, if you can find it. I like the outlandish enemy and weapon designs, and the stages themed around graveyards, pyramids and other atmospheric settings. There are some impressive visual effects, including a low-poly mist I could stare at all day. But I spent much of the game lost, trudging between samey corridors. Cultists initially appear as twinkling guiding lights in the distance, but the game offers no such help when you’re trying to stumble your way back.