Manus Dei
- November 10, 2023
- Lateralis Heavy Industries
- 2h median play time
Get on SteamIn "Manus Dei," once every 100 years, a sacrifice from the Holy Order is chosen to wield the powerful Manus Dei and enter the Gate to fend off fiends. Experience tight shooting mechanics, boost yourself around the map using your weapon for wall jumping and bunny hopping, and see how your high score ranks against others on Steam leaderboards .
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features satisfying gunplay and movement mechanics, allowing players to perform impressive maneuvers while shooting.
- It has a strong atmosphere with a gritty art style and excellent sound design, making the gameplay feel immersive and engaging.
- The leaderboard system adds a competitive element, encouraging players to improve their scores and enjoy replayability.
- The game suffers from optimization issues, leading to significant FPS drops during intense moments with many enemies on screen.
- Gameplay can become repetitive quickly, with limited mechanics and only one level, making it feel shallow over time.
- There are frequent crashes, particularly after boss fights, which detracts from the overall experience.
- gameplay22 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Manus Dei is straightforward, focusing on using a shotgun to defeat waves of enemies in a hellish arena, which some players find satisfying due to its smooth and responsive movement mechanics. While the simplicity allows for enjoyable movement tricks, the repetitive nature and loud shotgun sound can become grating over time. Overall, the game combines solid FPS mechanics with a strong atmosphere, though it lacks the depth found in similar titles.
“What makes Manus Dei's simple gameplay so satisfying for me is the movement: not only is the playable character's movement satisfyingly smooth and responsive, but you can also use your weapon to perform impressive moves. For example, you are able to boost yourself off the ground by jumping and firing at the ground, boost yourself away from enemies or walls, and so on.”
“Manus Dei is very good; it’s got a strong atmosphere and solid FPS mechanics which really impressed me.”
“The sound here is excellent; the weapon is awfully loud but very impactful, making it very satisfying to use. The enemies all have unique sounds that really add to the gameplay.”
“The gameplay of Manus Dei is essentially as simple as it gets: you get a shotgun, before proceeding to jump down into a hellish arena.”
“The gameplay is very simple: you enter an area with a single weapon and kill waves of enemies until you die.”
“The gameplay of Manus Dei is essentially as simple as it gets: you get a shotgun, before proceeding to jump down into a hellish arena.”
- graphics12 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their retro aesthetic and appealing art style, but the optimization is criticized, particularly during intense combat situations where frame rates drop significantly. While the visuals and sound design are considered top-tier, the game's performance issues detract from the overall experience, especially on lower-end systems.
“I especially like the fun movement mechanics, low price and nice art style.”
“The gunplay is smooth and I enjoy the retro aesthetic.”
“Sound design and visuals are S tier.”
“The optimization is bad; whenever there are many enemies and you start shooting at them, the FPS drops significantly. I know I'm playing on a laptop that is the bare minimum, but this is a simple game with simple models, and it consumes a lot of resources for no reason, even at low graphics. I don't know if there is supposed to be music because all I can hear is a hum and maybe some music when I'm shooting in alternative weapon mode, but it is drowned out by the gunshots and splash sounds, which makes me sad because the music in the trailer sounds really good.”
- music10 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with some users expressing a desire for more tracks, as the existing ones are enjoyable. However, the audio experience is hampered by poor optimization, leading to significant sound masking from gunfire and other effects, which diminishes the impact of the music. Overall, while the music has potential, its presence is often overshadowed by gameplay sounds.
“Only wish there was more music and guns.”
“The music in the trailer sounds really good, and I hope it can be better integrated into the gameplay.”
“I don't know if there is supposed to be music because all I can hear is a hum and maybe some music when I'm shooting at the alternative weapon mode, but it is deafened by the gunshots and splash sounds, which makes me sad because the music in the trailer sounds really good.”
“There aren't many music tracks by the sounds of it, but what exists is great. I would love to see more added to the game.”
“I only wish there was more music and guns.”
- atmosphere8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in "Manus Dei" is consistently described as dark, gritty, and foreboding, characterized by a color palette of deep reds and an eerie soundscape that enhances the tension during gameplay. Reviewers appreciate the game's strong atmospheric presence, which complements its solid FPS mechanics and retro art style, creating an immersive and intense experience.
“The atmosphere that Manus Dei provides is quite eerie and foreboding when you're in the arena; a dark droning noise is heard throughout the fight while the gun does the talking.”
“The art is great, gritty and retro with a really good atmosphere that is grungy and dark.”
“The arena itself carries a rather dark atmosphere, with its color palette mostly consisting of a dark, almost black red.”
“The atmosphere that [i] manus dei [/i] provides is quite eerie and foreboding when you're in the arena; a dark droning noise is heard throughout the fight while the gun does the talking.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is inconsistent, with significant FPS drops reported during intense combat, particularly on lower-end systems. While some players find the performance acceptable on a range of PCs, others note that even at low graphics settings, the game consumes excessive resources. Adjusting shadow quality appears to help mitigate some performance issues, but overall, the optimization leaves much to be desired.
“The performance is fine; you should have no trouble running the game on most low to high-end PCs.”
“The optimization is bad. Whenever there are many enemies and you start shooting at them, the FPS drops a lot. I know I'm playing on a laptop that is the bare minimum, but this is a simple game with simple models, and it eats a lot of resources for no reason, even at low graphics. I don't know if there is supposed to be music because all I can hear is a hum and maybe some music when I'm shooting in the alternative weapon mode, but it is drowned out by the gunshots and splash sounds, which makes me sad because the music in the trailer sounds really good.”
“I'm not sure if there's actually a difference between the high and low texture quality settings (couldn't tell, or not 'low' enough), but setting the shadow quality to low really alleviated what felt like performance issues.”
“The optimization is bad. Whenever there are many enemies and you start shooting at them, the FPS drops a lot. I know I'm playing on a laptop that is the bare minimum, but this is a simple game with simple models, and it eats a lot of resources for no reason, even at low graphics. I don't know if there is supposed to be music because all I can hear is a hum and maybe some music when I'm shooting in the alternative weapon mode, but it is drowned out by the gunshots and splash sounds, which makes me sad because the music in the trailer sounds really good.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players criticize the grinding aspect of the game for lacking depth and variety, feeling it oversimplifies mechanics found in similar titles like Devil Daggers. The repetitive nature of shooting, combined with an irritating shotgun sound, leads to a monotonous experience that becomes tiresome after a short period.
“It feels like someone played 10 minutes of Devil Daggers and thought 'yeah, I could make this' while omitting all of the interesting mechanical depth, e.g. shotgun tech, farming, etc. You literally have no reason to not shoot in this game (unlike DD/HD), and the shotgun noise gets unbelievably annoying to the ears past 10 minutes.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by a particularly hilarious opening, which sets a comedic tone for the experience.
“The opening is hilarious!”
