Wrought Flesh

If you enjoy low-fi graphics and a rather eerie theme for a shooter game, then you might want to keep an eye on Wrought Flesh. This game is being developed by Narayana Walters, and it retains a very old-school 3D look. While it might look like it came out in the early 2000s, there is an intrigue and depth in the ideas that are holding up this late 2021 release.

While it is not yet available to buy, the game has a pretty simple premise. Take on the role of a Gajeshian Cultist, and use your body – built on the corpses of long-dead saints – to rip out the organs or enemies to empower yourself. You will face off against all manner of enemies, human and alien, and you will have one task: to kill a specific individual on the planet of Colcol.

How you manage to get there will be entirely up; to you, but with a range of weapons and an interesting organ-based stats system, Wrought Flesh looks very intriguing indeed.

A classic shooter experience with a new twist

While the looks of the graphics might be more something like Turok than Crysis, there is an artistic style within Wrought Flesh that is very impressive. The gameplay, though, looks to be the main draw for this particular title. You will take on the role of a body that needs constantly upgraded and improved with the organs of those whom you kill. With numerous weapons to choose from – including a finger gun – how you take down enemies to then harvest them will be entirely up to you.

Your job is to explore the somewhat terraformed planet of Colcol and hunt down someone to kill them. The plot feels like it was lifted from a late 1990s FPS, but the gameplay feels modern enough to keep players coming back for more.

Low-res action for those keen to explore (6/10)

The premise of Wrought Flesh is quite simple: you need to kill enemies, eat their corpses, power yourself up, and then equip the organs that you get from butchering people. This will be done through a low resolution, low poly count game that is extremely basic to look at but also very fun to play.

The release is not too far away, and this title looks like it could be one for those with low-end machines looking for a new shooter to try out. It is certainly quite different from most of the games released today, harking back to an era that was very different.

Pros

• Simple enough gameplay premise with a good range of guns
• Interesting stats system looks to capture a modern approach to FPSs

Cons

• Lacks the artistic polish that most 2021 gamers will be looking for today

Back towards the end of the 1990s, rough 3D shooters were all the rage. Many tittles came and went without much fanfare, but a certain few helped to lay the groundwork for the entire first person shooter genre in the years to come. As rough as some of these titles were, they laid the groundwork for what we have today. They also set the foundations for a large range of imitation-style games that followed the same format – titles like Wrought Flesh.

If you look at images of Wrought Flesh, you would believe that the game came out in 2001 as opposed to 2021. However, what was released was a highly enjoyable shooter that clearly wears its inspirations on its sleeve. What makes Wrought Flesh unique, though, is its organ-tearing system. Is this unique gameplay system good enough to keep you playing through to the end, though?

Old school FPS fun with a modern twist

Upon loading up Wrought Flesh, you would be forgiven for thinking this could be something like an expansion for the original Half Life or perhaps even something earlier like Quake. What makes Wrought Flesh so fun, though, is the fact that you are able to tear out the organs of enemies and use them in your own body for powers and augmentations.

You take on the role of a Gajeshian Cultist, someone steeped in mythology who is developed from the body of long-lost saintly figures. Your job? To roam the levels of Wrought Flesh, slaughtering everything from space pirates to monsters that feel like they fell out of a biopunk novel.

This adds a lot of intrigue to the gameplay, which is some classic Duke Nukem-style run and gun chaos. You spend an inordinate amount of time in this game just blowing people away with automatic weapons. The augmentation system, though, is what sets Wrought Flesh apart from many of its predecessors.

A nice trip back in time without the issues (8/10)

Wrought Flesh is a good game. It is fun, fast-paced, frantic, and clearly built on the concepts that made the 1990s and 2000s FPS games so fun. It also adds enough innovations to help make players who have been there and done it really see something with potential evolve. Yes, the visuals look like they are at least two decades old. Yes, much of the game can appear a bit janky and weird.

Pros

• High quality first person shooter that provides an interesting trip down 90s-00s FPS lane
• Augmentation system is unique and helps to keep a clearly retro-inspired game enjoyable
• Makes the most of its limited visual assets to create diverse, enjoyable levels throughout

Cons

• Looks a little rough around the edges and plays that way too; definitely aimed at vintage gamers