Selaco is first-person shooter game released in its early access  phase on May 31st, 2024. It is built on the GZDoom engine, which was originally meant to be a port for Doom, Doom 2, Hexen, and other Doom-Engine games. Despite this, the developers have played with the artstyle and engine limitations to make the game feel truly very beautiful, to the point where it doesn't remotely feel like Doom.

I won't pretend that I've finished the game. My first warning for you is that it is pretty brutal. I was playing on the normal difficulty, and frequently get my shit kicked in. However, I will say that very, very few of the deaths I experience feel "unfair". Indeed, I usually end up smiling after one, because I had run straight into a room without even looking left or right and got turned into Swiss Cheese.

It's got a very strong sci-fi theme going, with an offworld city named Selaco being the locale of interest. Enemy forces are invading, and it seems like you are among the last people alive as you fight your way though hospitals, gift shops, and maintenence tunnels.

Enemies actually call out to each other when they've been hit, or when they decide to try and make a push against you, which makes you feel so fucking vulnerable. They'll even call out and alert the others if you start to give ground & retreat. Their arsenal is equally as punishing as yours, and only upgrades throughout the game, eventually culminating in juggernauts hunting you down, or engineers placing down sentry turrets.

Don't think you're off the hook just yet, though. There are still secrets in this game, as well as a codex you can look through to find codes to doors and gain access to powerful weapons. A good example of this is a fully automatic nailgun that was scrapped, but intended to be used for riot control. All the weapons you get- and some of the enemies, like the crawler mines, have at least a tiny blurb of text giving you some background info on their neccessity, development, adoption and even hints on use cases or countering strategies. 

It's also made by a relatively small team- and, as such, if you're in the know there's plenty of nice little nods and refrences to the communities they're a part of. From LGBT representation and the very intentional use of unisex bathrooms throughout Selaco, to the cute little :3 faces on all the vents, to the Cacodemon graffitti in the sewers and the vaccuum bots that let you pet them, this game oozes atmosphere, bleeds charm, and breathes badassery.

My main qualm is that its saves are relatively few and far between. Make sure you make plenty of hardsaves, folks. I personally just spam my keyboard and use the thumbnail as the trick.

 

It even comes with a fucking level editor. Ain't that some shit?

 

Get it today.

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