Last Rites Reviews

If the visionaries behind Last Rites were picturing some kind of burning apocalypse, with cities overturned by chaos and zombies roaming the horizon, the end result here is pretty underwhelming. It reminds me a little about Nam. A game equally inept at rendering out its cinematic ambitions. But where that game at least instilled some feelings of chaos and unpredictability on its battlefield, Last Rites just feels wholly unequipped to do the same. I mean, the technical limitations here are palpable. It’s such a big, barren landscape -- but not in a good way. Not in a thematic way. It’s just poorly constructed, with no detail. A patchwork of wide streets and endlessly repeating blocks. Every other mission you’re thrown on top of some rooftop and have to work your way down through the building interior. These missions just underscore how little the game has to offer in terms of finer gameplay, like gunplay. And also how drab the game is as a whole; totally void of any identity -- visually or otherwise. It’s pretty garbage. Not recommended.

Playing this game was horrifically painful, I got it on the cheap side during a sale and boy was it not worth it. The music is and I suppose the sprite work are the only good things about the game, other than that this game is HORRIBLE. I spent most of the game wall humping and looking for itty bitty tiny little switches that blend in with the rest of the grey environment, I nearly tripled the likely play time just due to running around the same dead areas looking for 1 switch, not that the switch even remotely hinted at what it did anyway, meaning even more backtracking to see what the hell it opened. 11 levels total, all of them blew ass, and the final boss "spoiler" can only be killed by your nuke weapon if you put it up to level 5, meaning its a complete waste of time boss as well. Its a real shame as dos shooters of this era are rare on steam but booooooooy avoid this one at all cost! oh and if you do decide to buy it, as a heads up it'll run at like 100 times speed unless you go into the dosbox config and change the cycles=auto to something else, i had it running at 30-40 fps with 15000 cycles i think, good luck if you try to complete this slog.

Last Rites is a curious FPS from the late 90s. It's a pseudo 3D game that reminds me a lot of games like Alien Trilogy in terms of aesthetic. It was largely forgotten for the same reason as other games of its ilk like Strife. It released too late. By the time the game came out people had access to technically superior 3D titles such as Quake. However that being said. The Steam version lacks music and runs in Dosbox. And you need to reconfigure Dosbox inorder to aim properly up and down. So... refunded. I don't recommend anyone purchase this game until GOG gets ahold of it.

most of the guns are pretty fun to use but the game is ruined by what has got to be some of the most shit level design, and without an actual map, it's easy to get lost and have no clue where to go and what to do. it's just not good, at all.

[h1]Last Rites 1997 DOS BOX[/h1] [i]Old school FPS done the right way - loved the dark theme/atmosphere , amazing music , huge levels - never heard of this game before - highly recommended zombie ( in large masses ) experience ![/i]

Speaking of underappreciated gems. I have no idea where this game was all my life. It's the closest I've gotten to a proper ''spiritual sequel'' to Alien Trilogy. Now, that being said, it carries with itself a bunch of ''features'' that come with the game-type: -Instructions are a short bit of text at the start of a level, which you have no way to read again (that I'm aware of); and, while in mission, some levels have little to no indication of direction or where to find your objectives. -Graphics are, of course, outdated. Not a complete negative, especially since some of us don't run the best rigs, and the animations on enemies and weapons are good-looking. -While zombie AI is fine, maybe abit too ''ranged''-prone (at times), the friendly AI is suicidal and prone to getting right in your line of fire. They sadly have limited health, but I have never lost one in combat. Regardless of all this, though, the game is fun, the soundtrack is great, and if you enjoy older fps games, especially more objective driven ones, this one will suit you very well.

Jumping into this game late, I found myself disappointed. While the zombie apocalypse setting intrigued me, the outdated gameplay and lackluster story failed to captivate. It feels like a relic of its time, struggling to impress in the present. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3253762537 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3251402713

I love a good retro first person shooter. I'll gladly even play a lot of the less good ones, but this game is just straight up awful. Unimpressive graphics and so-so weapons. Enemies look weird when they animate and they're not that fun to fight. Those are not the biggest problem by any means. This game has the - without exaggeration - absolutely worst level design I've ever seen in an action game. Big confusing mazes. Make that HUMONGOUS confusing mazes. Switches that you press and have no idea where in the level anything happened. Often they make a previously unopenable door openable (with zero indication, of course.) You CAN NOT see if a door can be opened. So you just run around and press every door looking thing and about 1 in 20 will open. Sometimes, one that was previously locked can now be opened. You will have no way of knowing whether a door will eventually be able to open or not. Just run around and press every door in these enormous levels again if you pressed a switch somewhere. One of them will probably do something now. The levels also don't have any rhyme or reason to their design. It's just a bunch of large rooms thrown around with no reason for where anything specific is being placed. Bang your head against the wall for long enough and you'll make it through. The second stage of the game took me 48 minutes to complete - and that was without getting lost all that much. Was it interesting? Nope. I actually owned this game back in the day, so I was interested in trying it out again. Some things are better left in the past... Truly, this one takes the cake: It is the single worst first person shooter of the 90's. Well... theres always TekWar, but surely that will never make it to Steam, so we can continue pretending it doesn't exist.

Last Rites is, by all accounts, an old first-person shooter game from the DOS days way back in the 90's as it's gameplay mechanics are quite dated but, although this did get in the way somewhat of my overall enjoyment alongside some levels' maps being quite poorly-designed, I did still have enough fun with the time spent on this game that I would recommend it, albeit somewhat hesitantly. For details, let's start off with the overall premise of Last Rites, as it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with various ghouls, corpses risen from the dead, alongside other monstrosities such as giant mutated flies, rats hungry for flesh and flying mechanical droids poised with dual rockets that are to be expected with such a dismal setting here! No doubt this is why there is a fair selection of weapons on offer, since each of the 8 firearms have their own strengths and weaknesses as far as strength, accuracy and general situational use goes since it is a good idea not to rely on the one weapon for the duration of the game and, instead, spread your main usage to 2 or 3 weapons and slowly escalate them into later-tier weaponry as the levels become progressively harder and more complex. It's why I do quite like the setting for this DOS game here, with how it perfectly encapsulates the somewhat horror aspect that Last Rites is going for alongside the various threats lurking around in the dark and hidden behind or around the corner of various areas that you'll be making your way across the game. Speaking of which, the 11 levels that Last Rites offer vary in quality of the map design and the overall length of them as some are quite short (Level 1 and 3 come to mind, alongside the final boss level of 11 although that's to be expected!) whilst others are rather long. (Level 10 is a great case of this for the right reasons whereas Level 2 and 4? Well...) Touching upon the map design here, what makes a great level is the feeling of complexity in such a way that subtle parts of the way the level is structured allows for the player to figure out where to go and how to reach their objectives and unlocking new areas without being confused to the point of requiring a walkthrough. To this end, Last Rites' best level is, shockingly enough, set in a SEWER of all places as Level 6 is designed in such a manner that it starts you off in a central area that is relatively small but slowly opens up paths to other areas through the use of buttons and levers to unlock doors, giving you plenty of health and ammo along the way to ensure you survive against the monsters as well as the odd secret here and there for those who like to explore that little extra, even if some are behind transparent walls that one would only know by trying to walk against them! (An old FPS tradition back in the day, I'm sure!) That is one good example of a level that Last Rites does well, however Level 2 was simply atrocious in terms of how one is meant to achieve their objective as, to prevent potential spoilers, the main goal for the mission is not made clear to the player without knowledge of one of their two utility systems that is the Scanner, a device that shows a map on the bottom-left corner activated by pressing F2, to show the objective alongside items and enemies around them made this level not just bad but absolutely terrible when you see how similar everything looks and is designed in such a way that navigating the place will waste your time trying to wander all over areas simply to progress! (Would not shame anyone who looks up a walkthrough on YouTube, I certainly did on multiple occasions!) On the note of things that are handy for knowing, F3 is to activate the Headlamp (the other utility system) that is ideal for lighting up particularly dark areas although beware of running out of energy that can only be replenished through battery packs, F4 and F5 are to be COMPLETELY avoided as the former messes with the movement of your character as it dictates your mouse controlling them instead of the camera and the latter inverts the camera's horizontal controls. F12 can also be used to pause the game, although personally I preferred to go to the actual menu for pausing gameplay for breaks. Overall, Last Rites is certainly a dated game, and I would not be surprised if my review of it did little to sway the general opinion of such an old title from the 90's, however I did find some good enjoyment from it as an alternative to the iconic Doom duo from the older days as well, albeit perhaps this game not reaching it's full potential like that revered franchise did. TLDR Version: • Good gameplay for it's time that offers a variety of firearms that all function differently and are useful for different combat situations (+) • An interesting world that has some intrigue to the overall story as it develops at the beginning of each level through a summary description (+) • Various monsters that escalate as you enter more dangerous missions that demand more skilled gunplay and careful tactics to ensure one's survival (+) • Adjustable difficulties and other settings outside of standard audio/visual changes that were quite advanced for it's time (+) • A decent title for those looking for something similar to Doom without outright being based on it, as the two share many similar gameplay and story traits (+) • Although one level of this game is designed quite well, a great majority leave something to be desired and two in particular early on are quite bad and dull to play through (-) • Some of the game's methods of progression can prove to be quite frustrating when a lack of general direction leaves players having to roam the map multiple times to find a hidden switch/level without a guide (-) • Dated graphics and gameplay mechanics will put off more modern gamers, although it is to be expected as a product of it's time in the DOS days (-) • No rebindable keys for function key commands and nothing to direct the player's attention towards it via the in-game controls (-)

A pretty underrated game. For what it's worth, the competition at the time was pretty hard to go up against. But looking back, it is easy to find enjoyment with Last Rites. I'm going to split this into three brief sections: comments, criticisms/complaints, tips. I played this way back when I was still wearing jorts and had frosted tips in my hair, but coming back to it felt great and I hope that you can find some enjoyment out of it as well. Comments -- What works for Last Rites is the great sprite work, music and having squad memebers as an unique gimmick. Although the troopers being useful can be debatable, I can't say I mind a few idiots taking shots or killing hoards of rats for me. Seriously the gun sprites, enemy sprites, and overall sound direction for Last Rites makes it enjoyable. Being able to save at any time makes it a game you can play for a short session and come back to. Head to the discussion forums to see how to get the most out of the game, Piko and some of the more technical experienced people have been pretty helpful and Piko has fixed some of the release issues. Good on them, seriously. Criticisms & Complaints -- Last Rites didn't wow anybody back in the day when it was released, which can still be seen as to why today. Some of the levels are a flat out slog, with large open areas, fustrating enemies (it always has to be a small hitbox enemy to ruin your day, in this case its rats) and if you're not used to being dragged by both legs through the express lane to the ending of the game, you might find yourself getting lost in the urban levels! Don't ever get hit by any gunfire, unless you want to see your frames drop to -10 (I'm sure theres a way to fix this, but my dosbox experience is at a minimum. It'll kill you so hard and quick and fustrate you! Poor dosbox, I've always hated you. But considering I don't see any brave souls working on a source port (or if the sourcecode is even out there for this game), it'll have to do. Just requires tinkering and knowing what to look for in order to get the most out of it, something I've never had the patience to do without any guides or people telling me what to do. That's on me though, so I don't hold it against Last Rites or Piko. Piko is also seen trying to make the process a little less painful. While I really like the idea of having squadmates, their usefulness is probably closer to the disappointing side of the scale. They tend to fun infront of you (though they'll take no damage from your gunfire I observed), their large sprite darting too and fro in font of you might bother some. Rats. I hate the rats. Just run down a hallway with your pistol and keep going if you see them. Thats my advice. Tips -- See that radar bottom left? That orange blip is the objective. Press spacebar to activate a switch usually. It'll help you get around the level a little easier. Don't get hit by gunfire - for it hurts you (an obvious) and it also kills your frames. This might be fixed but as of this writing it is beyond me. Strafing while moving forward is faster then just moving forward. Make sure you rebound your arrow keys to WASD or whatever you're comfortable with for a more modern feel with KB+M. Shotgun is great against turrets. Save the UZI for big globs of baddies. See those little red pixels on the streets while you're walking around? Chances are those are ammo boxes. The game rewards those who like to explore every crevice. You'll find ammo and weapons this way quite easily. So long as you like going for walks. The pistol's range is surprisngly great. If you can tolerate hearing the pistol fire over and over, the infinite ammo and long reach will make thining the heard out and destroying turrets from afar really easy. Use the shotgun in close combat instances, the spread is quite atrocious. This ain't no single barrel shotgun from Doom where it can act as a long range rifle, so to speak. Overall for the price and rather underappreciated history of Last Rites, for anyone who really enjoys older FPS, this is a no brainer to have. Whereas dosbox can be bothersome to work with, Last Rites is a compotent shooter that can kill some time for those looking to experience older titles and missed this one. It's no "doom killer" or a strong contender for best FPS of all time, but it is definitely worth your weekend and a single playthrough. Good job Piko. More titles in the future I hope.