Realm’s Deep is by far my favourite of the gaming showcases over the last few years, as it tends to show off the greatest amount of titles that are up my alley. Instead of going through every trailer that pushed my buttons (and there were a LOT, I tell you) I’ve written about five games that had demos released so I’ve actually had my hands on them over the last week.

REALMS DEEP 2023

PHANTOM FURY

A spin-off of the incredible Ion Fury that targets the first-wave of 3D FPS games as its choice of aesthetic instead of the Build Engine, giving Phantom Fury the vibe of the infamous Duke Nukem Forever E3 2001 trailer. There’s an ever-so-slight dusting of Im-Sim to this, as you check out computers for safe codes and can interact with almost anything that isn’t nailed down. The guns all feel decent and there’s some fun variety in the arsenal but right now there’s something a little off about the whole experience that I am willing to put down to a slight lack of polish that will no doubt be sorted by the time this is actually finished. A few bugs and weird polygon clipping issues, little things like that. Giving it the

benefit of the doubt for now because I think this could be a banger.

IRON MEAT

A fairly solid Contra clone. As the name kind of implies, the alien enemies in Iron Meat are horrific mixes of flesh and steel, with big chunks of meat taking over vehicles like cars and trains. Proper Tetsuo: The Iron Man body horror stuff. It looks cool and the pixel artwork is of a very high standard. Other than that, it’s basically identical to Contra III and that game is wicked.

THE KINDERMAN REMEDY

An extremely grim concept that doesn’t quite lend itself to a short demo. You play as a disgraced surgeon who is now plying his evil trade at a high security prison complex where you have to balance your torture and human experimentation with actually helping the inmates so you keep the inspectors off your back. You play both Kinderman and his accomplice - a psychotic nun who works in the prison - who helps you with finding your ‘subjects’. Unfortunately, the demo really does just feel like you’re completing a checklist rather than freely managing things, which may just be an issue with the demo as it is clearly the tutorial section so you are very much taken by the hand through the whole demo. The setting is likely going to cause some controversy and I hope the full game can deliver something a bit more interesting to go with it.

THE LAST EXTERMINATOR

An absolutely brilliant ‘Duke Nukem 3D-a-like’. Despite being fully 3D, this is a game that very much takes influence from Duke’s legendary Build Engine game, with a similar real world setting, loads of interactivity, secrets to find and satisfying weapons to blast away at the enemies with. There’s a sprinkling of ‘Soulsborne’ stuff in the level structure, in that you open up shortcuts throughout the stage to allow easier traversal between areas but other than that, this is very much an excellent tribute to one of the finest classic shooters. I think this one might be a big one, so keep an eye on it.

Now, while I’ve been preparing this week’s newsletter a demo that I feel is ‘Retro FPS adjacent’ was released and, although nothing to do with Realms Deep, I want to talk about it here because it is one of my most anticipated games of 2023.

MALA PETAKA

A NES/Mega Man inspired retro FPS that manages to nail all of the key aspects you need to deliver a top quality shooter. It feels great to move around, all the weapons are satisfying, varied and useful, all the enemies provide a different challenge, the map design is fiendish and fun, there’s some cool trickery with the GZDoom engine to keep you on your toes, it has a really nice, interesting and unique art style and the soundtrack is banging. Simple, right?!

ROBOCOP: ROGUE CITY

Oh boy, I bloody loved this demo. Teyon’s previous title, Terminator: Resistance, is a game I have already talked about at length. The game itself is a solid, serviceable FPS that has a dash of the recent Fallout games in the formula, meaning there’s some larger areas that you can explore, some stealth elements and a bit of crafting - nothing too outrageous - but this creates a foundation for the incredible Terminator fan service to really shine. It’s honestly the best bit of Terminator-based media since Terminator 2 and the clear, genuine love the developers have for the franchise elevates what would be a good but not great title into something I think is well worth checking out. I’ve said it since RoboCop: Rogue City was announced - if they can keep that level of LOVE and authenticity for RoboCop then this game was going to be an absolute belter.

So, as I find myself stomping slowly through the foyer of a TV station that has been taken over by a gang of Nuke addicted bad dudes, blasting them to pieces with RoboCop’s iconic Auto 9, with all of his famous HUD elements from the first-person sections from the movies recreated perfectly and, crucially, while THAT RoboCop theme plays, I was in fucking HEAVEN. These guys GET it.

Firefights play out like the drug warehouse shootout in the first film - you slowly move around the area, tanking your way through enemy fire and turning them into a crimson mist. It’s extremely violent to the point of almost being hilarious - just like the movie. Everything explodes when shot, so you’ve got debris flying all over the shop, glass panels shattering, blood hitting the walls and it all feels so satisfying to be this powerful, almost unstoppable force.

They don’t even try to get around the fact that Robocop slowly shambles his way around the movie scenes. That’s what Robocop is. That’s what he does! It makes sense that you’re pretty hard to kill. It makes sense that you’re heavy, slow and feel like you’re moving some hefty weight around. Sure, this isn’t going to be what you want in an FPS game that requires skilful mastery of your movement options but this isn’t that game. This is a Robocop game. About Robocop. So they’ve made you move and feel like you’re actually fucking ROBOCOP. For me, it works. It feels unique and really puts you in the metal legs of one of Sci-Fi cinema’s most iconic characters.

It’s a pretty substantial demo, with you probably needing around two hours to see everything. After that initial mission, there’s a sequence in the police station that pushes the plot along a bit before you’re placed in a much larger, free exploration hub where you can wander around a bit of Old Detroit. There’s a little bit of detective work and a few street crime side quests to do when you’re not tackling the main missions, which often require you to make choices as to how you’re going to deal with them with different outcomes. You can also gain experience points and improve things like RoboCop’s internal HUD, the Auto 9 handgun or even - yes - his movement speed and begin to shape your playstyle. These are the elements that, if they are compelling and fun, could be what raises this from a solid shooter that captures this iconic series perfectly into something even more special but the first impression Rogue City leaves is one that indicates this might be a good time for most people but an absolutely essential pickup for fans of Robocop.

I can’t wait for this one. I was blown away like Murphy after this demo.

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