[Game Review] Post Void

 

I can talk about the greater context of gaming and culture that Post Void was birthed in - the rise of rogue-likes over the last decade, the retro-comeback of the Doom-like, the deep fried trend of digitally burning everything into a heap of references and emotional appeals as a satiric and exhausted sigh at the Internet's omnipresence - but, honestly, who gives a fuck.  Post Void isn't original, and it sits so comfortably in the current gaming zeitgeist that its edgy style could be considered downright quaint, but any and all pretentious validation I could spew to convince you to play this game pales against the honest to god truth: this game is just really fucking fun.

Post Void is a Doom-like rogue-light.  You run through a series of hallways (11, to be exact) shooting everything you see and trying to make it to the end before your life drains.  At the end of every level you get to choose one of three powerups, and if you die you go back to the beginning.  The game is something like if you mixed Doom (though, with the precision of a more exact shooter) with an acid metal album.  The colors are ugly and acidic, "burnt" into a migraine-inducing blur (it should be noted: don't play this game if you are prone to seizures or migraines - this is not friendly to the eyes).  Enemies span smoking men in trench coats with a giant mouth for a face, to eyeballs sticking out of the walls shooting projectiles.  It is that disgusting kind of metal you listen to when the world feels like a chaotic, unbearable whirl.  It's a modern nightmare, tripping acid in hopes of curing a hangover.  

It isn't a game for everyone, but if you have any love for the shooter genre, than it is more than worth a shot.  The game is criminally short, but that reservation is partially what makes it so great.  When I finally beat the game, I did it in seven and a half minutes.  The shooting mechanics are tight, but perhaps a bit generous, if I am being critical.  A friend and I mockingly called the game "headshot simulator", since the best way to make it through is by popping heads as quickly as you can with the pistol.  Those headshots, in particular, felt as though they had quite a bit of leeway for their hit boxes.  Often, keeping your reticle just in the general orb around the heads was enough to get the shot, but without actually testing it is hard to tell if this is actually the case.  Each level is under a time limit, as your health drains over time.  To recoup your health, you have to kill enemies, but stopping to pick off a straggler you missed could have you losing more health than you are bound to gain.  Getting through quickly and moving through your mistakes is key to getting to the end. 

Post Void really isn't any more than that.  It is a migraine simulator that lets you shoot shit, an arcade game beyond the internet void and back.  It costs as much as a coffee, and will probably squeeze five or so hours out of you, your skill in shooters depending.  Just be sure to take some Advil afterwards.      

 

 

 

7.5