Fans of developer Spytihněv’s Quake-inspired throwback shooter HROT (pronounced “hu-rot”) have been waiting a long while for a full release of the game since it hit Early Access on Steam back in 2021. That day will finally be arriving this week, as HROT will be getting its 1.0 release on May 16. The full release of HROT will include three full episodes consisting of 26 levels, as well as four endless arenas for you fans of horde mode.
Wearing its 90s shooter inspirations on its sleeve, HROT takes place in 1986 in a small socialist country neighbouring Soviet Union (Czechoslovakia) after an unspecified disaster. You start out in a civil defence shelter deep under a Prague Metro station. It’s up to you to protect your homeland from the strange intruders.
One of the things that sets HROT apart from, say, DUSK, is its use of humour. For one, you can actually make use of the toilets a la Duke Nukem 3D, but in glorious low-poly fashion. You get soiled a-shirts for armour, skim milk for health pick-ups and so on. After each episode, the game provides you with a recipe. Seriously, the first two episodes gave you beef stroganoff and cauliflower brain. There are other quirky things in here, such as being able to play with toy trains, unpack Russian dolls, and even a working astronomical clock.
Obviously, there’s more to HROT than its humour. The game’s clever level design is steeped in that early 3D shooter atmosphere (read: brown and more brown), combined with some meaty weapons to cause enemies to spew out those glorious red pixels. Plus, you get to wield a hammer and sickle as melee weapons.
No word yet on if HROT will be coming to consoles.