Prodeus is a first-person shooter with a focus on fast-paced combat, a pseudo-retro aesthetic, and lots of gory explosions. Prodeus can be summed up very quickly as a game that seeks to find a perfect balance between influences of classic Doom games and modern Doom. It isn’t shy about these influences either, as they are reflected in everything from enemy design to the color pallet of item pickups. This is both a strength and weakness, as Prodeus nails precisely what it sets out to do, and thus brings little new to the table.

The level design of Prodeus is inspired heavily by early first-person shooters of the ‘90s. Levels are somewhat non-linear, requiring the player to explore to find keys and switches, then return to access previously locked off areas. Level design feels very accurate to its inspiration and plays very well. Each level contains plenty of secrets off the beaten path and a surprising amount of visual variety despite a limited selection of assets. Finding secrets also benefits your progression as additional weapons and upgrade points are scattered about. Levels can be replayed from an almost Super Mario World-esque overworld map, encouraging replays to find everything.

While I generally try to avoid making my reviews too much about comparing one game to another, Prodeus’s greatest weakness is how subservient it is to the Doom franchise. Everything from weapons to enemy types is almost identical. The infected gun wielding marine, the fire ball hurling imp, the large charging demons, the floating Cacodemon: they’re all here, and they’re essentially all that is here. Rarely will you see anything that doesn’t have a direct counterpart in the Doom franchise. But here’s the thing: it also plays very well. Yes, it is an unapologetic Doom clone, but it is a very good unapologetic Doom clone.

The technical side of things is where most of Prodeus’s originality comes in. Modern rendering techniques and materials are combined excellently with low fidelity models and texture work to create something that looks perfectly retro and perfectly modern at the same time. Enemies use real time 3D models to generate lighting accurate 2D sprites in real time. It all looks absolutely incredible. The Switch on the whole delivers a playable level of performance. Resolution obviously isn’t an issue as the game renders at an intentionally low resolution by design, but frame rate can struggle at times. I didn’t find it debilitating, but it was certainly noticeable.

If you want a very artistically and technically accomplished Doom clone, Prodeus absolutely delivers. Support for fan-made levels can potentially expand your experience somewhat but the option to create your own is missing from this version. Performance on Switch isn’t flawless but it is still very playable and looks great the whole time. While it struggles to find its own identity along the way, and comes off more as an elaborate mod or a fan game than a title of its own, Prodeus does still stand as an solid though unoriginal shooter.