Developer Byte Barrel had big ambitions for its latest retro-style FPS Forgive My Father, hoping to find a winning formula between H.P.’s cosmic horror genre. Lovecraft and chaotic FPS genres that demand thrilling moment-to-moment thrills. With comic book-style visuals, a guitar-centric soundtrack that punctuates every diabolical sound and gunshot, and a responsive and thoroughly satisfying shootout, Forgive My Father is indeed a game that’s sure to please more than just longtime FPS Lovers, and will also please gamers who cannot resist such a wonderful marriage of ideas.
The game begins with a narrative sequence that looks like it could have jumped out of a graphic novel. The premise is simple : A cousin sends an ominous message for help as his hometown has been plagued by mysterious, dark environments – unintelligible voices ringing in people’s ears, dark, ghouls roaming the streets at night The figure of – he can only trust one person and one person alone. From then on, Forgive My Dad wastes absolutely no time, showing the player a pistol, some knowledge of the surroundings, and knocking on the office door straight away.
The moment the door opens, a ghoul — one of the many enemy types players will have to eliminate — rushes in, and the player is drawn into the game’s remarkable sound design. Whether it’s footsteps, gunshots, weather effects, or damn moans and howls, everything in “Forgive My Father” sounds scary in the best possible way. Players will travel through brightly lit office corridors, eerie forests, graveyards and crypts, and many other diverse locations. There aren’t 25 tedious levels in the game, and while the environments are impressive, the enemies are even better designed.
Anyone familiar with Cthulhu or Lovecraft will begin to appreciate the many different enemy types and variations. Ghouls, wretches, murlocs, abominations—everything a cosmic horror fanatic could want is on full, proud display. On top of that, enemies even have certain weaknesses that players can use to their advantage. A common enemy type, the wretch, has some variants where if their head gets blown off and they happen to be carrying an extra head with them, they’ll simply replace their head and keep stumbling forward as if nothing happened Same thing. However, shooting that wretch anywhere else will wipe them out completely without much trouble. There’s now a strategy element where players can experiment with different weapons to see how certain enemies react to them so they can clear an area as quickly as possible before they risk being overwhelmed.
The available skill trees are also something to consider, as anything can be upgraded, from a character’s unique abilities to weapons to increased ammo counts. For example, the knife has two branches upgrade : one that makes it more powerful and one that unlocks the ability to throw the knife at enemies. Choosing one option permanently removes the other, giving players room to modify their playstyle without making it too easy–and Forgive My Father is by no means a walk in the park.
Even the game’s most “forgiving” difficulty level “Very Easy” is challenging; enemies may not hit so hard, but if the player doesn’t develop a strong spatial awareness, they will find themselves instantly dead. Especially in the game’s challenge areas, where players mercifully rack up tons of ammo, health, and armor before everything falls apart, forgive my father for rarely offering a respite from the nonstop, exhilarating action. What could have been a mindless experience, as beautiful and fun as it was, was the best experience in the world.
Secrets are also scattered throughout the levels, and while some of them are just a simple “turn to find the secret” thing, others are well hidden, giving the player an incentive to explore each level, find all the secrets, and take in the gorgeous visuals Effect. There are also story elements that players can collect, but forgive my father for knowing that some players just eagerly jump from room to room without necessarily wanting to sit and watch lengthy cutscenes to keep them from the action. However, for those who prefer a bit of lore and light world-building, the game expands on its handful of cutscenes by dosing in brief notes and images that go beyond the surface meaning of the game’s story, lending its Lovecraftian overtones The necessary space to breathe and thrive. Outside of the game’s opening, players will only receive cutscenes after each boss fight, out of five in total.
In short, the boss battles are breathtaking. Instead of simply circling them to avoid attacks and explosions, boss fights add an extra wrinkle through their unique gimmicks and patterns. Some require light platforms to defeat, while others require the player to weaken the defenses before attacking. It’s during these encounters that the game checks to make sure the player is paying attention–they’re watching their back and using everything in their arsenal, rather than firing blindly and hoping for the best.
Forgive my father not a single weapon was wasted. Ammo drops aren’t necessarily rare, but the game makes sure players never pick up the same type of ammo, which makes using multiple weapons rather than sticking to one a requirement. Also, upgrading the weapons to make them pure Eldritch tools of war would hold Cthulhu himself back, which is very comforting, as is collecting new weapons throughout the game where players get too comfortable with what they have Same.
Of course, forgiving my father wasn’t without its downsides. Minor screen tearing is one of the game’s more prominent technical issues and can persist for quite some time before correcting itself. If too much is on screen at once, the frame rate can drop for a few seconds, especially if players are using their abilities in crowded spaces.
There is also some disconnect between the character’s in-game one-liners and the nature of the overall narrative. When cutscenes do appear, they’re dramatized and solemnly narrated, perfectly in keeping with Lovecraftian aesthetic and tone. On the other hand, the characters, especially the reporter, will offer ham-fisted lines more befitting of Nathan Drake, which may be jarring for players who want to immerse themselves in a proper cosmic horror story.
Overall, however, this is a unique horror first-person shooter. All the nuances and features of the game come together for a H.P. Lovecraft that the author himself would be proud of. With incredible gunplay, tons of secrets waiting to be revealed, gorgeous aesthetics, and memorable boss encounters, its technical issues didn’t quite stop Forgive My Dad for being a die-hard FPS fanatic looking for a fresh new experience should miss s things.
Forgive My Father releases for PC on April 7th. For the purposes of this review, PC code was provided to Game Rant.