WRATH: Aeon of Ruin is a boomer shooter reminiscent of 90s shooters like Quake that's been made with the same Quake technology. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth your time and money.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Review Overview
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Thrilling and Atmospheric Nostalgic |
Easy to Fall Off You Don’t Know If You’re Hitting Them Save System Could Be Better |
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Overall Score - 62/100
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin succeeds in providing an experience that undoubtedly looks and feels like popular 90s shooters Doom and Quake. It’s tough, thrilling, and has a great soundtrack. However, the overall experience suffers from annoying gameplay issues like not knowing if your bullets land, and how easy it is to fall off of elevated areas. It has the potential to be a great boomer shooter, but only if they fix a lot of the glaring issues this game released with.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Story - 5/10
There’s minimal story in this game, and almost no storytelling at all. There’s a short exposition dump at the start that makes sense of your character, his goal, and the world around you, but there’s nothing much after that.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Gameplay - 6/10
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin captures the fast-paced mayhem Quake and Doom were known for in the 90s. It succeeds in making the game feel like a spiritual successor to Quake. However, it also feels like there are many things they could’ve modernized or improved while keeping the boomer shooter 90s identity still intact.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Visuals - 7/10
I had very low expectations for WRATH: Aeon of Ruin visually, given how I wasn’t impressed at all with the game’s featured screenshots and the gameplay footage shown from the trailers. However, I quickly found out that it isn’t really an eyesore at all, and actually plays out very smoothly. It’s not terrible at all, but it won’t blow your socks off either.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Audio - 8/10
The audio of this game is something I found to be very effective. The well-composed soundtrack paired with the sound effects works to immerse you in the creepy realms you walk, with terrifying abominations lurking around. The eerie soundtrack and the distant groans of the monsters made me feel very uneasy and on edge throughout my playthrough.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Value for Money - 5/10
$24.99 may be well spent, but only if you’re specifically looking for a gaming experience that truly feels like the Quake and Doom games of the 90s. If not, your money is better off spent elsewhere. There are countless better shooters for FPS fans not specifically looking for a 90s boomer shooter game.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Review | Ruined By Issues
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin succeeds in making you feel like you’re playing a Quake-like game from the 1990s. However, just like the games of those times, WRATH suffers from a lot of annoying issues that feel super outdated and shouldn’t be present anymore in today’s games.
The game starts off with a little story. You’re an Outlander, who arrives on the Isle of the Dead after sailing the Ageless Sea for ages. You meet this divine entity called the Shepherd of Wayward Souls. After a tutorial, he explains that you’ve been chosen to save the world, which you can do by freeing the last guardian and slaying the monsters around you. After that, you’ll be off exploring with almost no more storytelling for the rest of your playthrough.
You’ll be navigating gigantic maps, each with a ton of secrets to discover and portals that lead to other places. There’s no visual guide or waypoints to guide you in the right direction, so you’ll head off on your own way. There are a ton of hidden pathways and movement puzzles that lead to ammo, health packs, and consumable spells. However, you’d often feel the urge to explore every little corner knowing there may be secrets around, which I think slows down the game’s pace.
You’ll start off with just a sword, which I thought would be a melee weapon that does well in combat throughout the game, but it was only really useful towards the beginning when it wasn’t too dangerous to use. You’ll then slowly gain access to more weapons, like revolvers, shotguns, and launchers, which you could switch to at any time in combat. You also have a variety of consumable spells at your disposal. Some examples of these spells include temporary invincibility, health on kill, and causing a frenzy that makes enemy units attack each other.
Combat in this game is pretty tough. You move fast, but so do your adversaries. They’ll always have the numbers advantage, and different enemy types will attack you in different ways. A lot of them have ranged attacks, and if you don’t take them down fast enough the game turns into a bullet hell. Even on medium difficulty, this game is no joke at all. It’s never a walk in a park and even just the regular zombie unit can be a threat to your safety if he gets his hands on you.
The biggest issue I have with this game is how you never know if your bullets are actually landing. When you shoot at an enemy unit, there aren’t any splatters of blood, nor are there any hit markers. They just kind of flinch a tiny bit, which isn’t noticeable at all, especially if there’s so much happening on your screen. Another big issue I have is how easy it is to fall off of elevated places. There were so many times where this happened and I had to take a hike to get to where I was.
Overall, the game does well in immersing you in that eerie dark fantasy atmosphere where danger lurks in every corner. Gameplay could be so much better if only the issues discussed were fixed. I get that it’s a boomer shooter, but games could still modernize and fix outdated issues while being able to keep that retro 90s shooter identity.
Pros of WRATH: Aeon of Ruin
| Things WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Got Right |
|---|
|
Thrilling and Atmospheric Nostalgic |
Thrilling and Atmospheric
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin had me on the edge of my seat throughout my entire playthrough. I believe the game is able to make its players feel this way thanks to its difficulty, how you’re never safe, the opponents’ creepy character models, the dreadful soundtrack, and the chilling sound effects. These all combine together to create a uniquely thrilling and hair-raising atmosphere.
Nostalgic
The game definitely looks and feels straight out of the 90s. Playing WRATH will undoubtedly remind you of Quake and Doom, along with their over-the-top weapons, ugly and creepy abominations, and hellish/sci-fi horror environments.
Cons of WRATH: Aeon of Ruin
| Things That WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Can Improve |
|---|
|
Easy to Fall Off You Don’t Know If You’re Hitting Them Save System Could Be Better |
Easy to Fall Off
The game feels slippery in the sense that it’s very very easy to fall off of elevated places, requiring you to walk all the way through the areas you’ve already cleared just to get back up there. It’s really annoying to have to do that constantly, even if you don’t take fall damage. It also doesn’t help how when you’re struck by enemies in melee range, you bounce off them, increasing the chances of falling off.
You Don’t Know If You’re Hitting Them
My biggest issue with this game is that I don’t know if I’m actually dealing damage when shooting at enemies. There’s a total absence of any indicators that tell me I’ve hit them, like hit markers or blood splatters on hit. All they do is flinch a little bit when shot, which isn’t noticeable at all when so much is happening, or if they’re at a distance.
Save System Could Be Better
Saves in this game come in the form of consumables called Soul Tethers, which you could pick up and put down at any time, even before a boss fight. The concept is nice. However, it doesn’t really work for me since the game is tough, and these consumable saves only come every now and then. Because of these, I’m inclined to use them right away, since there are often difficult areas to clear or tough opponents lurking right beside the area you found the consumable, and you’d rather use the save right away rather than lose all your progress.
Is WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Worth It?
Only If You’re Specifically Looking For A 90s Boomer Shooter Experience
The game captures the classic 90s FPS feel of games like Quake and Doom. However, it also suffers from a lot of annoying issues that affect the overall gameplay experience for the worse. You’ll only really appreciate this game if you’re looking for something that captures the essence of 90s Quake and Doom, but I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone else, even hardcore fantasy FPS fans.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Overview & Premise
You play as Outlander, an entity tasked by the Shepherd of Wayward Souls to hunt down the last Guardians of the Old World. Navigate ancient ruins, learn lost secrets, and take down the horrific threats around you.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin FAQ
How to get to WRATH: Aeon of Ruin’s secret areas?
The secret areas are scattered throughout the game. If you see banners or posters, try walking through them as there are hidden paths behind them sometimes. Always try to explore ledges where you’d need to do some platforming to reach as well.
How to do skill jumps?
A lot of the hard-to-reach places in WRATH require you to charge your melee attack, run, jump, and release the attack at the top of your jump for maximum distance.
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin Product Information
 |
|
| Title | WRATH: AEON OF RUIN |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 27, 2024 |
| Developer | KillPixel |
| Publisher | 3D Realms, Fulqrum Publishing |
| Supported Platforms | PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC |
| Genre | Action, FPS |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | WRATH Aeon of Ruin Website |
