As we walked through the spaces of the Digital Dragons 2019, the nostalgic '90s PC video game inside us kept us from not-noticing the Cathedral 3-D, characterized by the classic beige colored peripherals such as PS2 keyboards and cathode ray tube monitors.
With a name that winks at Catacomb 3-D and a look vaguely reminiscent of the first Quake, Cathedral 3-D reverses the most classic fantasy cliché by placing us in the shoes of an "evil" creature defending its treasure from the "good ones". Basically, it is an arcade FPS in which constant and endless hordes of foot soldiers, archers, wizards and other boring humans face off, with the sole purpose of scoring as many points as possible before the inevitable defeat.
As mentioned, the look is very reminiscent of Quake, especially in slow animations and enemy mechanics which, however, are much less stupid than they may seem. The creature, to defend itself and the treasure, spits flames in linear or conical mode, to be alternated according to the amount of enemies, and is much faster and more agile than the opponents: you can in fact make double or triple jumps.
In the current state of the game, surviving is quite simple: although health and "ammunition" are limited, it is possible to recover both with goblets (golden for health, red for flames) scattered throughout the map and reappearing regularly. With enough reflexes and careful attention to avoid getting stuck in corners, it's easy to outwit any enemy. However, there is an additional problem: the treasure. The enemies, in fact, will attack not only the player but also the treasure chest, and when the latter is destroyed it is game over. It is therefore necessary to always keep an eye on it, or carry it with you (since it can be collected) around the map continuously.
The game, as you can guess, is pretty simple, but as fans of games like Devil Daggers we think it does Cathedral 3-D has a chance to become another Steam phenomenon. Unfinished Games, the development team, is currently working on improving the game and adding new gameplay elements. We have no idea when it will be available, so stay tuned for updates.
