Cultic: Chapter Two Review

For the sake of this review, this critic returned to the first chapter of one his favourite indie-made, retro-looking first-person shooters. No, scratch that. Cultic is one this reviewer’s favourite first-person shooters – period. Inspired by a couple of different classics of the industry, Jason Smith’s marvellous solo project mostly resembled Monolith’s Blood, but managed to surpass it in almost every way imaginable.

Cultic offered great action, with fantastic controls, highly immersive combat which could be approached in a variety of ways, and deeply atmospheric, enormous and beautifully dark dangerous places to explore. A second chapter was promised… which was supposed to be offered for free?

This doesn’t seem to be the case for Cultic: Chapter Two – and nor should it be so, because the hard work of its creator and the high quality at hand should be rewarded!    Chapter Two begins with the protagonist traveling through the crimson wormhole that opened in that spot where he defeated the eldritch abomination that acted as the final boss. The connection to the “other” side gets severed, and he falls down to an unknown place, but still on Earth. It will sadden those who expected a journey through the mysterious and elusive, “other” dimension. If one wants to, however, the story can start on the small “Interlude” map, which was part of a free 2023 update.

In Interlude, a cop working close to the morgue where the body of the too-stubborn-to-die hero is kept, must survive an attack from the cloaked cultists who have come to finish their nemesis off. Thankfully this man turns out to be as skilled in combat and superhuman in his reflexes as the undead main character. There’s no explanation for why that is, but Cultic always focused more on fun instead of realism.

Those who have been following Jason Smith all this time knows that he has been a very busy boy. Before one even starts the actual campaign, the Interlude shows all the polishing that has taken place. Apart from numerous bug fixes and new or updated settings, almost all rough edges have been smoothed out, and some new techniques have been added – for example the ability to grab a shield, block fire, or bash enemies with it. As we speak, Smith is also in the process of creating a Doom-like 3D map!

There are two new “boomsticks” here. The first one is a high-powered revolver that uses the same ammo as the rifle but is better for mid-range combat, with its alternative mode letting one become Clint Eastwood and shoot six rapid shots. The second is a semi-automatic shotgun that’s a tad weaker but also faster than the standard double-barrelled one. All in all, some welcome fine-tuning and some new stuff. As for the new campaign, at first glance it doesn’t seem to be a departure from the original. The maps are very large, filled with pleasantly hard-to-find secrets, and combat is fast and demanding, with cannon fodder enemies being skilled sharpshooters that need to be taken care of quickly and smartly.

In terms of new bad guys to kill, there are corrupted cops who aim to shoot, but don’t pull the trigger if the hero decides to hide behind cover. They wait for him to show his pretty face and offer a nice, additional layer to gunfights. A tougher and probably too spongy of a foe is a police officer who throws teargas grenades and can turn the hero to gibs as he unloads all six rounds of his semi-auto shotgun in a matter of seconds. Finally, there’s a typical suicide bomber.

Aside from three, there are a couple of more enemies to talk about. They are super simple in concept and behaviour. The important thing about those, however, is when one gets to fight them, not how. Chapter One was horror-themed. Chapter Two, on the other hand, leans heavily into horror, and can be genuinely scary at times.

Just like the classic FPS F.E.A.R., coincidentally also a Monolith product like Blood, this game frequently transitions back and forth between adrenaline-pumping action sequences, and segments where the lights go out, the music stops, and you are left to explore a place that evokes the feeling that something is terribly wrong. Things are hiding in the dark ready to get you – or, even worse, you are alone… but not completely. These parts make it obvious that Jason Smith has what it takes to begin working on a survival horror game for his next project.

Players will get to run-and-gun through all sorts of locations – from post-apocalyptic urban areas, creepily empty and silent shopping malls to slaughterhouses drenched in blood, haunted mansions, spooky swamps and farms, plus much more. Once again, the palette consists of various shades of muddy brown, making long, and even mid-range visibility a bit of an issue at certain places – but it’s a minor gripe in what is basically stellar design.

The campaign consists of 13 levels compared to the original’s ten, and most of the maps, if not all, are actually larger, thus you get more Cultic for a lower price than before. Great, right? Unfortunately, it’s time to talk about the one and only true flaw of Chapter Two – and it’s one so severe that it makes this a bit of a disappointing conclusion to one of the best indie-crafted first-person shooters of the decade.

Cultic’s levels where always dangerously close to being too big. Whether a matter of luck or simply the result of someone who knew what they were doing, this never became an issue. All stages had very tight design despite their gargantuan scale. Not anymore. Levels aren’t just larger, but their structure makes it much easier to start going in circles, and not in a way that will challenge one’s exploration skills. It’s just irritating.

There too many maps that send players on boring four-key-item searches, or maps with long, action-less stretches where they are re-visiting the same locations again and again in hopes of finding that blasted key or switch they missed. Enemy placement is a tad flawed as well, with plenty of aggravating moments where, unless you know what will happen next, it will be hard to keep health and armour meters intact. Not exactly unfair, just annoying.

It’s crucial to understand that Cultic: Chapter Two is tons of fun. The negativity of the previous paragraphs stems from how much better Chapter One was by comparison. Simply put, this is very good, but frequently deviates from what made the first chapter great. It’s also a matter of expectations. In a sea of bored and incompetent creators, Jason Smith stands out as an extremely talented, hardworking perfectionist, with a deep passion and respect towards his craft. In other words, this is good… but it could be far better with a little more care in the level design department.