As part of a new “FPS Fridays” series on Twitch, legendary shooter designer John Romero streamed New Blood’s 2018 hit, Dusk, one of the first and most influential indie “boomer shooters” in the genre’s recent revitalization. The short of it? Romero seems to have had a blast.
The Doom dev easily slipped into the rhythms of strafing, juking, and hunting for secrets. Though he insisted he wasn’t shooting for 100% completion, his clear rate put my average on a first run to shame—I need to bone up on my secret-hunting.
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Romero had special praise for Szymanski’s sound design, as well as the foreboding soundtrack by composer Andrew Hulshult. Romero was also enamored with the attention to detail and many cheeky physics objects in Dusk, shoving anything that would fit into the first level’s universal garbage disposal of a toilet, and carrying the game’s lethal joke soap for long stretches of gameplay.
At the end of the stream, Romero gave a glowing review of Dusk, which owes so much to his own work: “This game was super-cool, love it,” said Romero. “The ambience is amazing, the design is super-fun, lots of secrets, tons of classic design in here, really nice. If you don’t have Dusk, you should get it.
“New Blood, son, you did a good job. I approve of your vocation. You chose well.”
The folks at New Blood were understandably pretty chuffed, with composer Hulshult and lead designer Szymanski sharing clips of the stream, studio head Dave Oshry highlighting Romero’s use of the “BIG FUCKIN SOAP,” and the official New Blood account replying to a clip of Romero’s praise with an enthusiastic “THANKS DAD.”
Romero’s FPS Fridays will continue on his Twitch channel, with his choice of game depending on viewer votes. Previously, he revisited the killer Doom WAD MyHouse after first checking it out in 2023. Romero Games’ most recent release was the excellent, hardcore WAD Sigil 2, which can be played for free alongside its 2019 predecessor with a copy of Doom, and both are even accessible from the main menu in Nightdive’s recent remaster.
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