Beyond Citadel

About

In Beyond Citadel, a single-player FPS game inspired by 90's classics, play as the "Martyr" on a mission to overthrow the Trumpeters of the Apocalypse who now control humankind. With anime-style 2.5D graphics, explore hand-crafted levels, acquire new skills, and utilize a variety of realistic guns, each with different handling and conditions that decrease with firing. Engage in challenging battles with various opponents, from foot soldiers to armored ones, in both indoor and outdoor settings.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

96%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,626 reviews

gameplay229 positive mentions

optimization9 negative mentions

Beyond Citadel is a significant improvement over its predecessor, offering enhanced gunplay mechanics and a more engaging story.
The game features a unique and satisfying manual reloading system that adds depth to the combat experience.
The art style and atmosphere create a captivating and immersive world, blending dark themes with anime aesthetics.

The game can be excessively gory and sexualized, which may not appeal to all players.
Some players have reported performance issues, including crashes and frame rate drops during intense combat.
The level design can feel repetitive and lacks variety, especially in the later acts.

gameplay
675 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
64%
2%
The gameplay of "Beyond Citadel" has received widespread acclaim for its intricate gun mechanics, including advanced reloading and weapon handling systems that enhance immersion and tension during combat. Players appreciate the balance between tactical and fast-paced gameplay, with a variety of options to customize their experience, making it accessible for both casual and hardcore gamers. While some elements, such as the gore and aesthetic choices, may not appeal to everyone, the overall mechanics and engaging combat have positioned it as a standout title in the boomer shooter genre.
- “The gunplay is tight, the reloading mechanics are fun and allow you to reload however you'd prefer, the enemy designs are fantastic, and the story and lore will take you for a wild trip.”
- “The gameplay has more to offer, the level design is better, and the weapons are more visceral.”
- “The gunplay feels extremely satisfying and all the new movement mechanics feel smooth, making the combat feel very fluid and fun.”
- “I'd hold off on commenting on the gameplay and aesthetics for now as I haven't played the game enough to say anything concrete about them, but right off the bat the look of the game doesn't really blow me away, the guro and fetish elements feel forced and the gameplay is nothing innovative.”
- “Some gameplay features and design decisions need to be reconsidered in the future; especially the somewhat monotonous environments, the degradation of weapons and how they are repaired, and the stamina and hunger status, they are still useless.”
- “The reloading mechanic in this game is so awful I can't recommend it.”
story
413 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
76%
5%
The story of "Beyond Citadel" is described as complex and intriguing, building on its predecessor while introducing new elements and characters. While some players found the narrative convoluted and difficult to follow, many appreciated its dark themes and emotional depth, often likening it to a surreal fever dream with influences from anime and religious symbolism. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a significant improvement over the first game, though it may require players to piece together the plot through exploration and dialogue.
- “The main plot is a complete fever dream that certainly builds on the first, while bringing in new elements that I very much enjoyed.”
- “The story is complex and genuinely original, providing an intimate telling of a personal story that is interesting and not at all overbearing.”
- “I love everything about this game: the anime look, the retro game feel, the stunning music, and the sad and deep story.”
- “The plot was weird and felt very much like it was trying to do some Kirkland brand NGE storytelling.”
- “The story is aloof and requires you to piece it together yourself based on flashbacks, text logs, and occasional dialogue with very little explained to you simply.”
- “The story is still rather confusing to me due to not having finished the game yet but it interests me nonetheless.”
graphics
267 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
72%
1%
The graphics of "Beyond Citadel" have received mixed reviews, with many praising its unique blend of 90s cyberpunk anime aesthetics and modern shooting designs, resulting in a visually striking experience. While some players appreciate the artistic style and improved visuals over its predecessor, others find the graphic violence and sexualized content excessive and off-putting. Overall, the game is noted for its engaging art style, immersive atmosphere, and solid gunplay, though it may not appeal to everyone due to its explicit themes.
- “Super cool and unique art style melds insanely well with the immersive gunplay.”
- “A worthy sequel to its predecessor, Beyond Citadel brings the same graphic 80s cyberpunk anime aesthetic and boomer shooter gameplay while improving it in every way.”
- “The atmosphere is great, the art style looks beautiful and something I can appreciate; it's not bright.”
- “I'd hold off on commenting on the gameplay and aesthetics for now as I haven't played the game enough to say anything concrete about them, but right off the bat the look of the game doesn't really blow me away, the guro and fetish elements feel forced and the gameplay is nothing innovative.”
- “The rendering of the character graphics tends to blur and smudge, or pixelate in Beyond Citadel, even when you're close enough that you should see clearer details.”
- “Graphics-wise, levels are easily much worse than those in Doom 2, which isn't a big ask.”
music
164 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
60%
6%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its atmospheric blend of melancholic piano and electronic sounds that enhance the gameplay experience, while others criticize it for being underwhelming or mismatched with the chaotic action. Many players express a desire for a more memorable soundtrack, noting that some tracks feel repetitive or out of place amidst the game's intense moments. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the atmosphere for some, it leaves others wanting more variety and impact.
- “The soundtrack is a banger and the gun mechanics are chef's kiss.”
- “This game is unsettlingly strange; to be honest, I wasn't expecting much, but the hauntingly beautiful music really pulled me in.”
- “The world feels bleak and desolate; the contrast between the tense gameplay and the subdued, melancholic music creates a very unique mood that I really love.”
- “Main con is music is pretty underwhelming so I ended up just playing Doom and Quake over it.”
- “Also, what the hell happened with the soundtrack? Easily half the tracks in the game are silly calming songs while you have absolute chaos unfolding in front of you. The first game had those eerie ambient synth tracks balancing with the more action-packed ones; Beyond Citadel has like 5 banging tracks and the rest are sleep-inducing hits.”
- “It has this very simplistic color palette, but I feel like it really helps create that dreadful empty/apocalyptic atmosphere, so it sucks that the music often pulls me out of it because there is something so visceral about the general worldbuilding and vibes this franchise goes for.”
atmosphere
63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
59%
5%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its melancholic and oppressive qualities, enhanced by a unique blend of classical and electronic music that immerses players in its world. Reviewers highlight the striking art style and character design, which contribute to a sense of dread and chaos, although some note inconsistencies in visual execution. Overall, the atmosphere is described as a compelling mix of tension, narrative depth, and engaging gameplay, making it a standout feature of the experience.
- “Musically, it mixes a classical piano sound with combat areas usually having a more electronic sound, generally very atmosphere-focused.”
- “The weapon mechanics make this game shine and give it so much atmosphere, creating a very immersive experience.”
- “The atmosphere is great; the art style looks beautiful, and I appreciate that it's not overly bright.”
- “The atmosphere is pretty abysmal because it doesn't really even try that hard with lighting, geometry, or interesting textures, which is disappointing because the art for characters is pretty good.”
- “It has this very simplistic color palette but I feel like it really helps create that dreadful empty/apocalyptic atmosphere, so it sucks that the music often pulls me out of it because there is something so visceral about the general worldbuilding and vibes this franchise goes for.”
- “Yet while Beyond Citadel successfully hammers home its oppressive atmosphere and frantic combat, it’s not without a few cracks in the armor that can hamper the overall experience.”
optimization
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
71%
18%
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including low frame rates and poor GPU utilization, particularly on larger maps and certain hardware configurations. While some users noted improvements in graphics and overall performance compared to its predecessor, others highlighted persistent technical hiccups and a lack of polish that detracts from the experience. Overall, the game is seen as having potential but suffers from notable optimization shortcomings.
- “The game features improved art and environments, expanded resource management mechanics, a stronger focus on the narrative and worldbuilding, and significantly better performance.”
- “Beyond Citadel definitely optimized its graphics so it can run more smoothly and consistently, even on my PC.”
- “Very well optimized game.”
- “It runs like absolute ass, I have no idea what could possibly be wrong with this game's optimization, but it refuses to utilize more than half of my GPU while pulling 40 frames in an empty room.”
- “The optimization is terrible on some levels.”
- “The horrible optimization is likely one of my biggest issues with it.”
emotional
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its impactful lore and character relationships, evoking strong feelings of grief and moral conflict, particularly during pivotal choices. Players report a unique blend of empathy for enemies, especially given their cute designs, which adds emotional weight to the combat experience. Overall, the game successfully elicits a range of emotions, from sadness to introspection, making it a memorable experience.
- “The lore is very expanded and cool; I nearly shed a tear at the ending where I had to choose between erasing my friends or keeping them in that funny machine resurrected.”
- “Came for the gunplay and cute girls, and the game made me cry.”
- “Finishing this game made me feel a lot of grief.”
character development
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
39%
17%
Character development in the game is highlighted by unique and visually striking character designs, particularly the protagonist, Martyr, which align with an anime aesthetic and incorporate elements of ero-guro and cybernetic themes. While some designs may be considered fetishistic or overly sexualized, they contribute to the game's atmosphere without overshadowing the narrative. Overall, the character designs are praised for their creativity and interesting concepts, appealing to fans of niche genres.
- “Also love the character design and the entire atmosphere of the game.”
- “Story is just kinda what it is but the character designs and the way they built the mystery and revealing of the world was pretty good.”
- “The story is just kind of what it is, but the character designs and the way they built the mystery and revealing of the world was pretty good.”
- “The fleeting glimpses of erotic or revealing character designs—especially for the player’s avatar, the martyr—align with the anime aesthetic but never overshadow the action or narrative.”
- “Avoid if you don't like gore or overly sexual character designs though.”
humor
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in "Beyond Citadel" is highlighted by its quirky bugs, such as dancing corpses and spinning objects, which enhance the overall experience rather than detract from it. Players appreciate the game's comedic elements, including the absurdity of choices and the fun mechanics like slam firing a shotgun, contributing to a lighthearted and entertaining atmosphere. Overall, the game successfully blends humor with engaging gameplay and lore.
- “The pacing is good, no disruptive bugs (only bugs I've run into have been quite funny and added to the experience, corpses dancing/gliding and objects spinning).”
- “So you can do some funny stuff like slam firing a shotgun or fanning the revolver.”
- “The lore is very expanded and cool, I nearly shed a tear on the ending where I had to choose between erasing my friends or keeping them in that funny machine resurrected.”
replayability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
56%
33%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the inclusion of secret difficulty modes, hidden levels, and collectible items that enhance replay value, others find it lacking and feel that the game is too short to warrant multiple playthroughs. Many reviewers suggest that the addition of modding support or a map maker could significantly boost replayability by allowing for custom content. Overall, opinions vary, with some considering it a great game with substantial replay potential, while others see limited reasons to replay it.
- “Overall, it's just a great game with a lot of replayability.”
- “Due to the lack of serious replayability, personally I don't really see a strong point in replaying it again.”
- “Note: needs workshop/modding support or in-game map maker for near endless replayability; there are underutilized mechanics and vehicles that could be used for custom levels too.”
- “The game is noticeably short, but it compensates with replayability through secret difficulty modes, hidden levels, and customization sliders for weapon jamming, enemy aggression, and more.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly in later levels where the expanded environments and certain mechanics, like active reloading and maintenance, detract from the experience. While early indoor combat is praised, the later acts often feel drawn out and repetitive, leading some to skip sections entirely. Overall, the enjoyment diminishes as the game progresses, with a few standout missions being notably less engaging.
- “New guns were good, but the new mechanics of active reloading and maintenance really made the game tedious and were turned off after the first act.”
- “The indoor fights in the early levels are where this game shines, but once the later levels start opening up a lot more, it starts to get tedious.”
- “Once I had a gun with a grappling hook, I just skipped everything because combat felt tedious and areas were just too big when progressing.”
monetization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game introduces unexpected features like leaning and aiming down sights (ADS), which enhance gameplay variety in a boomer shooter context. However, players have noted some issues with the ADS mechanics, particularly regarding the responsiveness of the controls and the need to toggle between actions, which can disrupt the flow of gameplay. Overall, while the monetization adds depth, it also presents some usability challenges.
- “The leaning and ads is unexpected in a boomer shooter but just makes more ways to play the game.”
- “There's a slight problem when doing ads and shooting; for example, the gun usually won't ads even though I'm holding right mouse button for like 0.8 seconds after cocking.”
- “However, the game does allow a toggle to enable the ads trigger to double as a cock button; though this requires exiting ads to cock if you fired while aiming, whereas having a completely separate cock button allows cycling the bolt without leaving ads.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, stability in the game is mixed; while some players experienced bugs and crashes in the later levels, others reported a stable experience without any significant issues. Troubleshooting was necessary for some, indicating that performance may vary depending on individual setups.
- “The further I got into the game, it became a bit more buggy, with the game seemingly crashing here and there. It may have just been an issue on my PC, but there was also some slowdown in the later stages.”
- “It's a bit buggy toward the final levels, which detracted from the overall experience.”
- “Game was stable enough; I didn't encounter any glitches or crashes the entire time I've played.”