Wizordum has all the trappings of an early 90s first-person shooter, expertly looking and playing the part well. But Emberheart Games has gone the extra mile to incorporate modern flair, creating more than just homage.
Wizordum is a standout entry in the renaissance of what has become colloquially known as boomer shooters.
But 30 years ago we would have called them first-person shooters. Or arena shooters. Or, perhaps, just an action game. Look, I’m not a boomer. And honestly, I kind of hate the slang “boomer” being applied to anything not preceded by an “okay.” Still, it’s a catchy phrase.
Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM are towering ancestors that fundamentally altered the landscape of PC gaming in the early 1990s. Even today, it’s easy to chase the high of running around a walled garden fighting demons and soldiers and any manner of evil foe, blasting them away with a powerful arsenal. As gaming has become more complex over the decades, it’s impossible to deny the thrill of pointing and clicking to blast the bad guy into paste.
Wizordum posits a question that has been asked many times before. What if instead of guns, we used spells? And it’s a question that has been answered before in numerous games, likely in the last 30 years… not that I recall any such title in my relatively extensive memory banks.
After an extensive period in Early Access and a full release on PC, Wizordum is finally coming to consoles. At Digital Chumps, we’re massive fans of what Wizordum has offered over its existence. Will covered the game in 2023 as it started its life in Early Access. He followed up in 2024, as more content was added, further enhancing the experience.
In May, Nathan reviewed the PC version of Wizordum, awarding it the glowing score of 9 out of 10. And if I’m being honest, I have to agree with his assessment. For a complete breakdown of what Wizordum has to offer, I absolutely recommend reading both Will and Nathan’s thoughts.
As a guy who’s had a controller in his hand since about 1989, I’d like to think that I’m relatively well-versed in a number of games and how the medium has evolved over the years. But a lot of my early days with gaming were done on console, not PC. Goldeneye 007 was my seminal FPS experience, making me acclimated to the feel of a shooter on a controller.
Much of what I’m going to say about Wizordum is in regards to the experience of playing it on PlayStation 5. I know that the topic of FPS games on consoles has long been debated. Can a controller ever hope to replicate the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard? Unlocked frames! Custom maps! There are certain things PC players enjoy that us console-centric players must accept are the exception, not the standard.
I’ll admit that many of these high-octane shooters with rapid movement that got their start on PC do have an adjustment period on console. Turbo Overkill recently comes to mind. A game meant to embrace unrelenting speed and plentiful enemies, all set in the style of the type of games Wizordum hearkens back to.
There was a definite adjustment period when acclimating myself to Wizordum on the DualSense. I’ve always appreciated the locomotion that boomer shooters provide, almost as if the player characters is gliding on the buttery surface of the world to dodge projectiles and line up shots. It took me a bit of tuning to find the FOV slider position and camera sensitivity that made me most comfortable to play.
Starting the game as the cleric class, I would overshoot enemies when trying to bash them with my mace and miss when tossing balls of fire. My depth perception was challenged when I thought I had to get closer than normal to actually connect a shot with the melee weapon. And the same applied for being hit by an enemy with their own physical blows.
The type of combat Wizordum offers is a thrilling blend of creative enemy patterns and a sense of budding skill. While the game has multiple difficulty levels and plenty of leaderboard tracking to show your mettle, normal runs to grow alongside the player. Like any good shooter, your stock of weapons and spells start out relatively basic, allowing the player to get a sense of the world and how things work. Enemy units are also standard, providing a sense of timing and what their patterns are like.
As Wizordum ramps up, bosses are introduced, and a more robust toolkit is introduced, the game truly feels like it is cracked open. As the player progresses, they use gold acquired throughout the journey to invest in upgrading weapons that add special abilities and more damage to them. But the arsenal of abilities developer Emberheart Games throws at players allows for a number of approaches to any combat scenario while providing a tangible sense of power creep.
Visually, Wizordum is an incredible piece of throwback entertainment as the visual language seeps with 90s pixel art. The fantasy world has all the expected enemies and locales and while it may not be wholly unique to the genre, it’s packed with creativity and style. It’s blatantly obvious what the visuals are inspired by, having 2D models rotate along with the player. Chunky but expressive sprites with defined lines have character and personality rather than looking basic.
Another retro-coded touch will also be found in the maps. Sprawling and packed with secrets, players shouldn’t expect a level that is over and done in a few minutes. My first several minutes in Wizordum were spent aimlessly wandering around the opening level trying to find a kind of North Star of progression. I went into a building just because I could and found myself wandering hallways with multiple locked doors and switches. Knowing that this is inspired from a time where hidden rooms were gobbled up with glee, I almost got overwhelmed.
Outside of the initial adjustment period of playing Wizordum on console, I had few complaints. This is every bit the incredible retro-inspired FPS that players would want from the burgeoning wave of boomer shooters that have been arriving in the past several years. It runs incredibly, looks great, but has the flair needed to keep up with the pace that players have come to expect from the genre.
Wizordum has all the trappings of an early 90s first-person shooter, expertly looking and playing the part well. But Emberheart Games has gone the extra mile to incorporate modern flair, creating more than just homage.
