An interesting FPS/roguelike hybrid, with a frantic and addictive gameplay and lots of contents. It's got some balancing issues and sometimes you feel luck counts more than skills, but for old school FPS lovers it's surely an advised buy.
I wanted to love Paranautical Activity a lot more than I did. I actually got addicted to Ziggurat and other titles using the same premise, at least for more than a handful of runs. Sadly, this title doesn’t bring anything new to the table, nor does it set itself apart outside of the visuals. The levels are boring and the enemies and shooting are not satisfying enough to keep it going.
The soundtrack is the highlight of this mixed bag of good ideas and poor implementation and when all is said and done, it's a shame that the gameplay and visuals cannot live up to the scene set by the music.
Though the gameplay itself is fun, the lack of any balance to the difficulty at early stages of the game — even on the easiest difficulty — is maddening.
It’s repetitive, unfairly difficult and nauseatingly ugly to the point that it’s hard to tolerate, never mind enjoy, making it one of the most unsatisfying experiences I’ve had in recent memory.
Apart from the graphics and premise of shooting aquatic paranormal creatures, there really isn’t much here. This is a shame because the concept is so unique that it just feels like a wasted opportunity.
SummaryParanautical Activity combines the FPS action of games like Doom and Quake, with the randomness and difficulty of modern roguelikes like Binding of Isaac and Spelunky.