Dread Templar is a 2023 boomer shooter developed by T19 Games and published by Fulqrum Publishing. While it's a bit reductive I'll start off calling this a Quake clone. It has a number of parts which make it more than a Quake clone but I think first and foremost it wants to be a Quake clone. Every screen shot is trying to express this. It's all Play Station one and two level graphics with lots of gun metal grey, stone brown, toxic waste green, blood red, and paranormal corruption purple. Maze like corridors filled with demons, mutants, and zombies and various floating ammo types across a dozen weapons, health packs and armor form its levels. Where it isn't Quake it's not trying to be original. The melee option is twin katana which can be connected together to form a throwing spear. The one fairly original weapon is an electric trip mine launcher which stun locks enemies in range and is great for crowd control. When feeling very overwhelmed one can activate the slow motion mode. All of this makes for a pretty typical FPS experience.
Where it almost distinguishes itself is collectable upgrade slots for weapons and other features. Upgrades include faster fire rate, more damage, more ammo on a per weapon basis and general upgrades for maximum health, dash cool down, damage reduction, length of slow motion, and more. Upgrades come in gold and silver varieties which is a mostly cosmetic distinction and all upgrade slots must be unlocked by spending blood stone. This brings me to my one major issue with the game. It loves its numbered secrets. This is par for boomer shooters but this game takes it bad places. On the very first level there is a secret that requires the player to stand in front of the grave stone for ten seconds to open a door elsewhere in the level for a blood stone. As far as I can tell there is nothing to indicate this. I slogged through this game without any guides and managed to beat it but you do need the upgrades and it does not make them easy to find. This can be a feature or a bug depending on your degree of masochism. Fixation on truly obscure secrets aside I have to say that this is perhaps the most average game I've ever played. It is competent in basically every area that matters to a FPS without standing out in any of them. If you find yourself craving that late nineties to early two thousands edgy hyper violence and don't mind (or even crave) some jank you could certainly do worse. Find it here on Steam.