i see so many people call this a Quake-like when the only similarities this game has to Quake are the swathes of brown textures and some of the enemy roster, most notably an obvious spin-off of Quake's ogre. This is at its core, a Chasm-like with Duke Nukem 3D in the mix. and being a Chasm-like means it's more like Wolf3D than Quake. wait i gotta add that its also atmospheric like Quake so i guess its equal parts Quake and Wolf3D. Chasm was originally supposed to be a competitor to Quake but when playing it, it feels more like a more 3D Wolfenstein3D with an Eastern European flavor. so HROT is essentially all of that. A game that has the maze-like levels of castle Wolfenstein with Quake's violence and despair with Eastern European culture plastering it in Duke Nukem 3D's playful interactivity. HROT is a passion project. its a love letter to its inspirations and the developer's homeland's history and culture. even ignoring that, it's a fun time. gunplay is decent with the low fidelity presentation but lackluster sound design, but the enemy encounters are what make the combat fun. especially in episode 2 and some of episode 3, the game gets creative with its imposed limitations to make some fights memorable. the boss fights are the most notable of these encounters, usually being the highlight of an episode with not just their arenas and build-up but also by their uniqueness. the other memorable part of the game is the dense atmosphere in its simple presentation. the ambient soundtrack underscores the dreadful world painted in sick browns, nauseous greens, and pale offwhites. its mundane and haunting, full of otherworldly horrors and boring miscellanea like canned meat. horror contrasted by absurdity while all being equally normalized to its grounded setting. pairing the passion with this atmosphere is what pushes me into the "yea this is my shit, i love it too much" camp. i can set aside most of its shortcomings just because of the sheer passion put into this. a fun trip of love to surpass its labyrinthine sewers, currently one of my favorites of the year.