Prodeus (Switch) Review: Bring A Mop – SlashGear

A story does technically exist in “Prodeus,” and it’s even less bare-bones than a 90s-era shooter from id Software. You’re a space marine of a sort, aliens, dimensional rifts, go forth and shoot anything that moves. That’s about it.

Okay to be fair there is some story to be gleaned from the descriptions you’ll see on the level-select map, and you’ll occasionally find computer terminals with brief messages left on them, but this isn’t a game you play for the lore. You play it because you want to shoot aliens, zombies, (maybe even alien zombies?) in the face.

In my own experience, the most compelling force that drove me through each level was, simply, the enjoyment of getting through the level itself. I wanted to see what happened next, but only as it pertained to what weapons I might find or what challenges I might have to deal with. Like sightseeing, but with stacks of ammo and buckets of gore. Actually more like swimming pools of gore. Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Dispatching an enemy doesn’t simply create a pixelated corpse on the ground — it leaves a history of mayhem behind. You are, quite literally, painting the walls red (or other colors, depending on the creature). Most enemies can have limbs shot off, lose their noggins, or just straight-up explode like a beach ball filled with vital fluids. It’s completely ridiculous in the best way possible. So violent and squelchy that it’s basically a cartoon, and just as fun as it sounds. And actually kind of helpful as a way to tell if you’ve already been in a given area.