'Forgive Me Father': A Fast And Refreshing Retro FPS Game

There’s been a number of retro-styled FPS games released in the past few months, but Byte Barrel’s “Forgive Me Father” stands out as a unique experience that merges the gameplay of a '90s shooter with the dark and mysterious mythos of H.P. Lovecraft’s works.

“Forgive Me Father” is a fast-paced shooter with a gritty, gory and comic-book-esque aesthetic that lifts plenty of themes from Lovecraft’s works of horror, particularly the “Call of Cthulhu” short story and, to some degree, “The Shadow over Innsmouth.”

In the game, players can take the role of either a male priest or a female journalist who each has their own playstyle. The former favors a slow and defensive playstyle, while the latter is designed for more aggressive players by way of having shorter spell cooldowns.

Regardless of character selection, “Forgive Me Father” plays much like the old “Doom” or “Blood” games. Most of the levels are claustrophobic, but there’s almost always more than enough space to circle-strafe and backpedal while blasting cultists, zombies and other monsters.

Over the course of the game, players are given an arsenal of Prohibition Era weapons, from a humble six-shooter to the notorious, barrel-fed Tommy Gun and one of the best-feeling shotguns in gaming. There are some weirder and wackier weapons thrown in the mix as well, like a gun that shoots ball lightning.

There are also some interesting magic spells, from a healing cross to a voodoo doll that can nuke an entire room.

“Forgive Me Father” has a progression tree that lets players exchange skill points for weapon and character upgrades. It’s not exactly in-depth, but it helps keep the game interesting in the long run.

The soundtrack and level design have both received some praise. Fans and critics liked the overall feel and gameplay of “Forgive Me Father,” but they also criticized some of its finer details, such as the forgettable story and dismal writing.

Difficulty has been a pain point for some players as some Steam reviews pointed out that there’s an imbalance between the amount of health and ammo pickups relative to the number of enemies in a level. In harder difficulties, enemies also become bullet sponges that soak up too much precious ammo.

Overall, “Forgive Me Father” is great for players who want a good time shooting bad guys. There is much potential to be unraveled here, but everything that the game offers is enough to satisfy anyone who’s looking for a good retro shooter.