Selaco, the preview of a very old school shooter, inside and out
Selaco
In recent years a school of authors has been expanding which, in strong controversy with some transformations undergone by the genre in recent years, especially in the triple A field, has begun to preach the art of creative recovery of old graphic engines for the creation of modern first person shooters. The idea is to seek the spirit of the classics not only in the game mechanics, but also in their technological heart, making it current and present on the market again, in a series of operations that, taken all together, seem almost the result of a twentieth-century artistic avant-garde, more than the efforts of individual development teams. Of course, there are no collective manifestos or particularly revolutionary intentions here, but the various studies that have embraced this school of thought have nonetheless established, at least implicitly, some points that all the others have followed almost to the letter. As we could see in the Selaco preview, this game fully embraces this current of thought.Charismatic protagonist
Selaco, would you ever say that this is the same engine as Doom? Altered Orbit Studios has chosen none other than the Doom engine, that of 1993, to make its work. More precisely, it focused on the GZDoom port, based in turn on Zdoom, which boasts more advanced features than those of the id Software classic. So far nothing that has not already been done by other games. For example Ion Fury has taken the Duke Nukem 3D engine, while Wrath: Aeon of Ruin that of Quake. What Selaco seems to do much better than the others is to look like a more modern title while still maintaining a retro style. In fact, looking at some videos it is hard to even think of it as a game made with such an ancient engine, so much is it able to convey a contemporary feeling. Selaco gives the impression of being able to push Doom's engine towards peaks it has never touched before.The protagonist of the game is a certain Dawn, the captain of ACE Security, who must fight incessantly against the invasion of Selaco, an underground structure where the last human beings live, the few who survived an unprecedented disaster. Her struggle with no quarter of her will lead her to visit the deepest recesses of the new home of mankind, discovering its dark secrets.
All this translates into a title with explosive gameplay, in which Dawn will have to contend with enemies that seem inspired by those of F.E.A.R. for artificial intelligence, that is, they are able to produce strategies that adapt to the player's behavior. So expect them to try to hit you from behind, or, when outnumbered, try to surround you.
Looking at the available material, Selaco's gameplay appears to be really fast and dynamic. Dawn can slide, hit running enemies, and most importantly, move at great speed. The most impressive aspect, however, remains the graphic one, which boasts environments that appear to be alive. During the shootings you will see the splinters produced by the bullets flying around you, the glass that shatters, the sheets of paper that are raised by the movements of the air, the advanced lighting effects and so on. Really something portentous, considering the starting point.
Alternative Modes
Delaco's colors are also not bad. Besides that, Altered Orbit Studios has promised that the game will have a column composed by industry veterans and will be voiced by professional actors and actresses. Of the latter, only the name of Dawn's voice actress, Melissa Medina, is known, while the others will be communicated at a later time. Music issues aside, the developers have also promised extra modes, such as the Incursion one, in which you will face endless waves of increasingly stronger enemies. Scoring points will unlock items for the single player campaign. Game modes aside, it deserves at least a mention that Selaco will support mods natively. After all, it is based on GZDoom, so there was more to expect.Between the old and the new
The shootings seem ultra dynamic In short, Selaco's philosophy always seems to be the same to take back the old games and use them as foundations for something different, but in this case the result does not seem to completely reject modernity, which appears in different aspects of the realization. We will see if the final version will confirm the good impressions made by the material we have had the opportunity to view. As usual, the final word will be up to the review. Until then, that is, until we have access to the final version, we can do nothing but suspend the judgment. When will we be able to play Selaco? You may be wondering. The currently marked release date is August 25, 2255, but of course this is a joke of the developers. Unfortunately, there is still no official release date. It is not even known if we will be able to play it in 2022 or if we will have to wait any longer.Selaco is a game that all first person shooter fans should wait for. Despite the "ancient" graphics engine, it is a game that radiates modernity from all pores. Some obscure points still remain, but there is certainly time to enlighten them all, perhaps with a good try. For now, however, we must be content with what we know. However, no one can take away the hope of seeing more similar operations in the near future.
