Retro FPS Beyond Sunset is a precision-crafted cyberpunk potpourri of all the great megawads that came before it
One more great boomer shooter sneaks in before the end of 2023.
The perpetually rain slick streets of Sunset City might be the best environment ever rendered in GZDoom—it's uncluttered, atmospheric, and sexy in that vintage cyberpunk way. The outside areas evoke yellowed paperback memories of Neuromancer's Sprawl, with sparsely decorated interiors that feel right out of Johnny Mnemonic. Moody synths call to mind Vangelis's work on the Blade Runner soundtrack, with somber moments of reprieve after the carnage stops. Beyond Sunset is, more or less, an FPS built out of stuff you've seen before, but arranged with such precision and polish that those familiar tastes feel all new.
What's immediately striking about Beyond Sunset is how every element of the presentation feels precise, considered, and deliberate, a technical triumph given that it runs in a nearly 20 year old open source engine built on the bones of 1993's Doom. This isn't meant to disparage GZDoom—it's just rare to see something of this quality, like discovering an amazing track on Soundcloud and learn it was made on a cracked copy of FruityLoops.
You play as Lucy, a newly unfrozen street samurai in the employ of unseen mafiosa Yuri. The first major area is structured around you performing a hit on a Yakuza boss, but that itself is no easy task, because the bastard has locked his front door. Trading contraband with shifty shopkeeps, taking out minor gang bosses, and hacking a net that looks like the Macintosh Plus Floral Shoppe cover are the means by which you pry open Sunset's city little by little.
I really appreciated the change in context: slicing an arm from a pit boss to open a biometrically sealed door or hacking a terminal to open a security gate isn't that much different than keycard hunting, but it makes Sunset City feel a hell of a lot more alive. What also keeps that energy going is a thumping synth & vaporwave soundtrack by Karl Vincent: crisp hi-hats and snare hits, wispy synths, and punchy bass riffs sound genuine in a way that a lot of other soundtracks chasing that '80s & '90s sound don't. Just listen to Wrath of Apollo's gnarly, A.G. Cook-esque bass synth and try to tell me it doesn't get you going.
Though there's still a fair amount of backtracking (which GZDoom's limited automap doesn't make any easier), I was impressed by the clarity of the level design, and how coherently everything was laid out, especially given both the variety and scope of the scenery in even just the first couple hours. There are penthouse shootouts, a zombie-infested quarantine zone guarded by a private military company, and hacking sequences that teleport you into a CYMK tinged digital garden of greco-roman statues and low poly impressions.
Both the structure and scale of Sunset City harken back to some of the Doom modding scenes' most impressive custom .WADs, namely the larger maps from legendary megawad Alien Vendetta. As someone who has some experience in this little niche, it's hard not to see Beyond Sunset as a victory lap for the GZDoom community.
Beyond Sunset surprised me with its gunplay too—I’ve played a lot of GZDoom total conversions, and Beyond Sunset sidesteps the most common pitfalls (clumsy glory kills mechanics, an overabundance of weapon and enemy variations). The katana-swinging yakuza enforcers that pour in through teleporters do so dozens at a time, perfect fodder for a shotgun with an arc so wide that it genuinely clears rooms. Racking up kills fills up your “power blow” meter, an instakill katana quick draw that returns a decent chunk of health and ammo. That meter filled up a bit too fast for my liking--there were a couple white knuckle shootouts that definitely felt undercut by having ready access to a healing deathblow, but the move is so satisfying to pull off that it's only a small complaint.
Beyond Sunset is a collection of ideas and techniques pioneered by other games, books, and films, but seeing them here, executed with such a high level of polish on such a compressed scale, is uniquely impressive and enjoyable. Those comfortable with playing on Ultraviolence or Nightmare difficulty may find Beyond Sunset's difficulty wanting, but honestly, half the fun is soaking in those rich lo-fi cyberpunk vibes. If that's at all appealing to you, definitely keep an eye on (and consider picking up) Beyond Sunset as it exits early access.