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Boomer shooters are still in a renaissance in 2025, but something is missing from most of them. While they have the formula down, there’s a certain nostalgia to how some of these games looked in the 1990s, such as Outlaws or even Chex Quest. From the get-go, GRUEL captures that look and transforms your modern gaming PC into a DOSBOX for its roguelike battles against devastating monsters of all kinds as you try your best to make your way to the next store room. Now with a demo for Steam Next Fest 2025, let’s see how this FPS pans out!

GRUEL takes some of the mechanics of titles like Immortal Redneck, Tower of Guns, and Ziggurat, incorporating the regular roguelike routing of clearing a handful of rooms before reaching a trader where you can spend some hard-earned cash on new guns, upgrades, and more. The game has a brutal difficulty, where you can only last for a few hits until your run is over. Luckily, enemies drop a decent amount of coins and health, but you only have a few seconds to pick them up, which encourages a lot of quick-witted movement not just to avoid projectiles, but to secure your earnings.

Considering my flimsy run made it to spot number 200 on the global leaderboards, it’s looking like GRUEL is currently in hidden gem status ahead of its projected Q1 2025 release date. It’s a nostalgic kick in the pants to look at as much as it is a strong challenge for weathered FPS titans. While it looks like developer Mick Sengers/Cheesebaron is newer to game development, it’s one heck of a strong start with GRUEL. It’s worth picking up this demo during the Steam Next Fest 2025 if you’re into first-person shooters, particularly of the boomer shooter variety and the difficulty/personality that comes with it.

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