History VideoGame / HROT

** Phase 1 is [[spoiler:a TrickBoss fight against Igor, a robot mech that is invincible to all attacks the player can throw at it... besides trying to [[Film/{{Robocop}}walk down a flight of stairs]]]].

** The final level's TrickBoss, Igor is a bipedal mech that's ImmuneToBullets [[spoiler: but becomes helpless if he tries to walk downstairs, much like [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]].]] The fight after that one happens in a Stadium, like in the final level of ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D's'' third episode.

* TrickBoss: [[spoiler:The seeming final boss turns out to be a tribute to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], in that it looks intimidating and is seemingly ImmuneToBullets but is defeated by being unable to walk downstairs. Then the ''real'' multi-phase final boss appears.]]

Players take the role of a civil defense volunteer who emerges from a bunker underneath the city to find the country has been taken over by an army of strange men (and even stranger creatures) in gas masks and protective gear. Fulfil your patriotic duty to the State and blast the invaders with your Soviet-era weaponry.

!!HROT provides examples of:

* EatTheDog: The starting room of "[=E3M5=]: Incinerator" features a grill over a burning fire. If the player completed the previous level accompanied by one or more of the Prague Ratters, the grill will be populated by small spits of roasted meat that the player can eat for health, the number of which corresponds with the number of Ratters the player rescued prior. [[spoiler: [[BaitAndSwitch Averted]] by the end of "[=E3M8=]: Epilogue"; opening the door to the level's exit button reveals all the Ratters you've rescued to be alive & well.

* FissionMailed: The "Mission Complete" screen for [[spoiler:"[=E3M1=]]: War with the Newts"] adds a question mark to the end of its title, since it ends with [[spoiler:the player failing to prevent a nuclear missile from launching & detonating above the city they just fought through.]]

* JumpScare: Episode 2 has few such moments, most notably [[spoiler: when picking up that one key in The Granny's Valley]].

* PreciousPuppy: "[=E3M4=]: George of Podiebrad" features the Prague Ratters: Doberman pups that the player can rescue from cages found in the level. [[spoiler: their presence proves indispensable when the player finds themselves stripped of their weapons upon entering the catacombs, killing the rats infesting the area]]. The player can find three Ratters in [=E3M4=][[spoiler: , with a fourth found in "[=E3MS=]: Rathaus]].

*** The level begins with the player in a cell, having just lured in & murdered a guard to facilitate their escape. *** Outside of the player's cell, one of the other cells has a sign next to it which reads "Blazkowicz". Another sign near the cell block entrance reads "Achtung!".

* AirVentPassageway: At some points in the game, the protagonist enters air vents to get to places.

* MonsterCloset: There are a few places where walls lower to reveal small rooms with enemies hiding inside them.

* LeanAndMean: The shotgun-toting Hazmat Suits [[note]]Called "Likvidators" in older versions[[/note]], have inhumanly long, spindly limbs. They're also quite fast & can kill you in only a few shots.

* NintendoHard: The game's overall combat difficulty is about on par with most 90's era shooters, however, health, armour, & ammo are noticeably harder to find than games like ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' or ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', which can add significantly to the overall difficulty. Rather than the harder Build Engine games such as ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' or ''[[VideoGame/ShadowWarrior1997 Shadow Warrior]]'', finding secrets for extra health and ammo is almost essential for smooth progress.

* RealIsBrown: Almost everything is some shade of brown, as the game is heavily inspired by the first ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' game & set in Soviet-era Czechoslovakia.

''HROT'' (which means "spike" in Czech) is a retro-inspired FirstPersonShooter heavily inspired by [[Videogame/QuakeI the original Quake]] (with a healthy dose of ''VideoGame/ChasmTheRift''), set in Soviet-era Prague. The game runs on a custom homebuilt engine made specifically for it & is developed & published by Spytihněv (a single-man operation) & was released on Steam via the Early Access program in January of 2021. The game came out of Early Access & saw its full release on May 16th, 2023.

Players take the role of a civil defence volunteer who emerges from a bunker underneath the city to find the country has been taken over by an army of strange men (and even stranger creatures) in gas masks & protective gear. Fulfil your patriotic duty to the State & blast the invaders with your Soviet-era weaponry.

* AWinnerIsYou: Clearing each of the game's episodes nets you [[spoiler: a meal recipe]]; [[spoiler: Beef Stroganoff]] for clearing Kiss Me Gustav, [[spoiler: Cauliflower brain]] for Degustation & [[spoiler: Eggs in Aspic]] for The Gastroscopy.

* AnimateInanimateObject: A few of the bosses are inanimate objects that somehow come to life & attack you, including a statue of a gorilla in a playground, a bulldozer, & a charlie horse in a gym.

* NintendoHard: The game's overall combat difficulty is about on par with most 90's era shooters, however, health, armour, & ammo are noticeably harder to find than games like ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' or ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', which can add significantly to the overall difficulty. Rather than the harder Build Engine games such as ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' or ''[[VideoGame/ShadowWarrior1997 Shadow Warrior]]'', finding secrets for extra health & ammo is almost essential for smooth progress.

* QuickMelee: You can perform a kick. In addition to knocking back enemies & interacting with the environment [[ParryingBullets you can also kick grenades back at the enemies that threw them at you]].

* TrickBoss: [[spoiler:The seeming final boss turns out to be a tribute to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], in that it looks intimidating & is seeming ImmuneToBullets but is defeated by being unable to walk downstairs. Then the ''real'' multi-phase final boss appears.]]

''HROT'' (which means "spike" in Czech) is a retro-inspired FirstPersonShooter heavily inspired by [[Videogame/QuakeI the original Quake]] (with a healthy dose of ''VideoGame/ChasmTheRift''), set in Soviet-era Prague. The game runs on a custom homebuilt engine made specifically for it and is developed and published by Spytihněv (a single-man operation) and was released on Steam via the Early Access program in January of 2021. The game came out of Early Access and saw its full release on May 16th, 2023.

Players take the role of a civil defence volunteer who emerges from a bunker underneath the city to find the country has been taken over by an army of strange men (and even stranger creatures) in gas masks and protective gear. Fulfil your patriotic duty to the State and blast the invaders with your Soviet-era weaponry.

* AllJustADream: "[=E3M2=]: Hospital" opens with the strong implication that the previous level was, if not a hallucination, at least a dream; the player awakens in a hospital without any gear and a book next to their bed with the title "War with the Newts", identical to the title of [=E3M1=]. [[spoiler:Then it begins to insinuate that the ''whole game'' up to this point may have been the product of your fevered mind...]]
* AnimateInanimateObject: A few of the bosses are inanimate objects that somehow come to life and attack you, including a statue of a gorilla in a playground, a bulldozer, and a charlie horse in a gym.
* ArtificialBrilliance: Downplayed. As much as the AI wouldn't be quite on par with ''VideoGame/UnrealI'', the enemies do display a higher number of movement abilities compared to the shooters of the style this game emulates. They are able to use ladders to chase you down if you ever think of hitting them from higher ground yourself, some of them can jump, and the earlier versions of the game even had the enemies be able to swim before the later updates gave them SuperDrowningSkills. Their pathfinding can also be on point at times.
* BearsAreBadNews: The July 2021 "Degustation" update adds a new level, Tocnik (a Czech castle), where towards the end you are attacked by a couple of hostile bears. They are quite tough, requiring several full shotgun blasts to kill. [[spoiler: And then the FinalBoss - not counting the [[Franchise/{{Robocop}} ED-209]] inspired [[MechaMook Igor]] - starts off ''riding a bear'', with his next phase having him get off the bear and fight you on foot, while his former mount continues to chase you.]]

** As of the 0.3.5 update, the Hussite Handgun has now replaced the rocket launcher, becoming much more common and utilizing standard explosive ammo drops while still being a muzzle-loading relic from the 1400s. The old Hussite Handgun was replaced with the Hussite Crossbow.
* CameBackWrong: The FinalBoss of Episode 1 is [[spoiler: "Gottwald" - the former President of Communist Czechoslovakia, Klement Gottwald, back from the dead and with the lower half of his body replaced by spider legs.]]
* CastFromHitPoints: The LightningGun doesn't do this as it charges from its own ammo pool, but ''seeking out additional ammunition for it'' is; the most reliable method of obtaining ammo is if the player [[ViolationOfCommonSense shocks themselves]] with electrical closets or electrified rails, which have the effect of giving some electrical ammo at the cost of one's health. Partially averted in that ammo can also be obtained from more traditional car battery pickups.

* CreepyCemetery: [=E2M3=] takes place in Velhartice Cemetery, now populated by gas-masked mutants and the undead.

* DistractedByTheSexy: A rare case of the game interface getting distracted. In "[=E2M6=]: Dobrosov Castle", the player will come across crudely scrawled graffiti of a naked lady. Upon clearing the level, one of the end-of-level camera shots is a totally still close-up of the graffiti centred directly on her exposed chest.
* EliteMooks: The Skapucí ("Hooded") appear similar to the regular Smaskou, except they wear black hooded trenchcoats instead of brown uniforms and fire their vz. 58 rifles in bursts rather than single-shot. They can also TeleportSpam around you and take somewhat more damage to bring down.

* ExcusePlot: In keeping with games of the 90s, there's no real explanation as to why any of this is happening or what's going on. From the context, you can determine that your character is slamming [=AZ-5=] buttons to prevent nuclear explosions ([[spoiler: as shown at the end of [=E3M1=] where your character fails to reach the button in time and a nuclear missile gets launched]]), and the ending may imply that [[spoiler: all this is happening because a time-travelling Vladimir Putin ate one of the gears from the Prague Orlaj (astronomical clock tower), which according to local legend would lead to the nation's doom unless a hero born on New Year's night shows up to save it.]]
* ExplodingBarrels: Shooting barrels make them explode, damaging everything nearby.

** The Kejdovec ("Slurry") is FatBastard in riot gear wielding a riot club and a grenade-launching pistol, behaving similarly to the Ogres from ''Quake''.

* FissionMailed: The "Mission Complete" screen for [[spoiler:"[=E3M1=]]: War with the Newts"] adds a question mark to the end of its title, since it ends with [[spoiler:the player failing to prevent a nuclear missile from launching and detonating above the city they just fought through.]]

* GasMaskMooks: Every single humanoid enemy wears either a gas mask or a protective hazmat suit. Even the HellishHorse enemies wear masks.

* HellishHorse: Šemík the Horse & Gimps; large, aggressive horses that dart around the arena at full gallop. The former wear gas masks & can leap high into the air, while the latter wear bondage masks & are ridden by a Headsman, who will engage the player on foot if his steed falls. Both are tough, fast, unpredictable, extremely creepy, and use hit-and-run tactics that can often catch the player by surprise.
* {{Homage}}: Is a Soviet-era Czech-themed one to ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', with some additional influences from ''VideoGame/ChasmTheRift'' (such as progressing by shooting fans to access air vents and shooting electrical boxes to open doors).
* HyperactiveMetabolism: The game's main healing items consist of various Czech & Soviet-era foodstuffs; Liver Dumplings (2 HP), Tasty Canned Poultry (5 HP)[[note]]Previously labelled "Canned Blood and Fat" (an old Soviet-era Czech product meant as a soup base) in older versions[[/note]], Kifli (10 HP), Semi-Skimmed Milk (19 HP), Medkits (31 HP) and a hamper of "Soup, Main Course, Cake" (50 HP).

* LeanAndMean: The shotgun-toting Hazmat Suits [[note]]Called "Likvidators" in older versions[[/note]], have inhumanly long, spindly limbs. They're also quite fast and can kill you in only a few shots.
* MookMaker: [=E3M1=] has a few Spawn tanks that continuously bring out more Newts until these are destroyed.

* NintendoHard: The game's overall combat difficulty is about on par with most 90's era shooters, however, health, armor, and ammo are noticeably harder to find than games like ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' or ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', which can add significantly to the overall difficulty. Rather than the harder Build Engine games such as ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' or ''[[VideoGame/ShadowWarrior1997 Shadow Warrior]]'', finding secrets for extra health and ammo is almost essential for smooth progress.
* PlayingPossum: One of the pain animations of the Hazmat suit enemies has them get seemingly knocked down for a little while, only to later get themselves up again.

* PreciousPuppy: "[=E3M4=]: George of Podiebrad" features the Prague Ratters: Doberman pups that the player can rescue from cages found in the level. [[spoiler: their presence proves indispensable when the player finds themselves stripped of their weapons upon entering the catacombs, killing the rats infesting the area]].
* QuickMelee: You can perform a kick. In addition to enemies and environment [[ParryingBullets you can also kick off Kejdovecs' grenades]].
* RealIsBrown: Almost everything is some shade of brown, as the game is heavily inspired by the first ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' game and set in Soviet-era Eastern Europe.
* SentryGun: Occasionally an autonomous gun is mounted on ceilings.

** Phase 2 introduces [[spoiler:the true final boss - the Supreme Commander-in-Chief[[note]]who seems to be either UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin (who admittedly would have been alive in 1986) or a Czech politician like Gustáv Husák dressed like Putin[[/note]], who comes out riding a bear and wielding a rocket launcher]].

** Phase 5 finally has [[spoiler:the [=SCiC=] mount a pterodactyl and fights you from it, with regular enemies spawning indefinitely until you beat him]].

* ShmuckBait: At one point in "[=E2M1=]: Točník Castle", the player finds a painting of a ghostly woman saying "Trust others, but be wary of whom you trust." [[spoiler:If they turn their back on the painting, the White Lady emerges from it and starts throwing fireballs at them.]]
* ShortRangeShotgun: The Soviet Shotgun has a very wide shot spread, being ineffective past about 15 feet or so. Like its ''Quake'' and ''Doom'' inspiration, the Brno Super Shotgun has an even wider spread and shorter range, only really being effective at point-blank range (but it absolutely ''destroys'' anything at that range).
* ShoutOut: To the famous Soviet cartoon ''Animation/NuPogodi'' and the Elektronika ''UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch'' clone based on the show, which is a GameWithinAGame in [=E1M3=].
** The player exits levels by hitting a BigRedButton, much like how Duke would in ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D''. However, Duke would set off a nuclear warhead to leave an area, where the player hits a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scram SCRAM switch]] as denoted by the Cyrillic "AZ-5" label, preventing just such a detonation. [[spoiler:Well, except for [=E3M1=].]]
** Update 0.5 gave the player a quick melee button, which, true to its roots as a throwback to 90s shooters, is a kick that's a dead ringer for [[VideoGame/DukeNukem3D Duke's Mighty Boot]]. With a bit of [[VideoGame/Postal2 The Postal Dude's Quick Kick]] for flavor.

** "[=E3M1=]: War With the Newts" is one too, well, ''Literature/WarWithTheNewts''.
** "[=E3M1=]: War With the Newts" begins exactly the same as ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', with the player in a cell having just lured in and murdered a guard to facilitate their escape. Outside, you can find a skeleton whose nametag proclaims him to be B.J. Blazkowicz.
** The TrickBoss in the final level is ImmuneToBullets, [[spoiler: but becomes helpless if he tries to walk downstairs, since he's a Shout Out to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]].]] The fight after that one happens in a Stadium, like in the final level of ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D's'' third episode.
* SuperDrowningSkills: Any non-Bečva enemies who fall into water deeper than their heads will die after several seconds. This is an [[AntiFrustrationFeatures Anti Frustration Feature]] added because previously enemies that fell into swimmable water could shoot at the player. In contrast, the player was restricted in their ability to shoot back due to the water.
* SuspiciouslyCrackedWall: If there are dark cracks on the wall, you can blow it up to reveal secrets.
* TankGoodness: A Soviet tank appears as a boss at the end of [=E2M4=]. [[AttackItsWeakPoint The player has to aim at its turret to deal any reasonable damage]].
* TranslationConvention: All signs and posters are in Czech. Using the interact key on them will give you English subtitles.
* TrickBoss: [[spoiler:The seeming final boss turns out to be a tribute to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], in that it looks intimidating and is seeming ImmuneToBullets but is defeated by being unable to walk downstairs. Then the ''real'' multi-phase final boss appears.]]

** The Newts are only encountered at the level they are introduced in, "War With the Newts". [[spoiler: Given the level in question is implied to be [[AllJustADream a fever dream]], their absence from that point in the campaign forward makes sense]].
* UnorthodoxReload: Picking up a second pistol changes the reload animation to doing nothing but flipping the guns by tossing them in the air.
* WakingUpElsewhere: "War of the Newts" ends with [[spoiler:the player at ground zero of an accidental nuclear launch.]] The next mission begins with them falling out of bed in the titular "Hospital".

''HROT'' (which means "spike" in Czech) is a retro-inspired FirstPersonShooter heavily inspired by [[Videogame/QuakeI the original Quake]], set in Soviet-era Prague. The game runs on a custom homebuilt engine made specifically for it and is developed and published by Spytihněv (a single-man operation) and was released on Steam via the Early Access program in January of 2021. The game came out of Early Access and saw its full release on May 16th, 2023.

* AWinnerIsYou: In the Early Access build of the game, clearing Kiss Me Gustav rewards the player with [[spoiler:a beef stroganoff recipe.]] Completing the Degustation shows [[spoiler: a cauliflower brain recipe]]. Completing the Epilogue of The Gastroscopy shows [[spoiler: a recipe for Eggs in Aspic]].
* AllJustADream: [=E3M2=] opens with the strong implication that the previous level was, if not a hallucination, at least a dream as the player awakens in a hospital without any gear and a book next to their bed with the same name as [=E3M1=]. [[spoiler:Then it begins to insinuate that the ''whole game'' up to this point may have been the product of your fevered mind...]]

* BigCreepyCrawlies: Dog-sized spiders appear as an enemy in a catacombs-like area in one of the 1st episode's last levels. The boss of the said level is the spiders' big mamma.

** As of the 0.3.5 update, the Hussite Handgun has now replaced the rocket launcher, becoming much more common and utilizing standard explosive ammo drops while still being a muzzle-loading relic from the 1400s. The old Hussite Handgun was replaced with a crossbow.
* CameBackWrong: The FinalBoss of episode 1 is [[spoiler: the former President of Communist Czechoslovakia, Klement Gottwald, back from the dead and with the lower half of his body replaced by spider legs.]]
* CastFromHitPoints: The LightningGun on its own doesn't do this as it charges from its own ammo pool, but ''seeking out additional ammunition for it'' is. Rather than the typical ammo pickups, the player is expected to [[ViolationOfCommonSense shock oneself]] with electrical closets or electrified rails, which have the effect of giving some electrical ammo at the cost of one's health.

* DeadlyDoctor: Appropriately, the signature foes of [=E3M2=], "Hospital", are the Pathologists; burly medical personnel staffing the place. Up close, they'll try to stab you with a syringe or will fling buzzsaw blades from a distance.
* DemBones: Hostile skeletons appear in the cemetery level, the 3rd level of the 2nd episode. They throw rocks at you and behave similarly to the zombies from ''Quake'', although they can be permanently killed with any weapon and not just explosives.
* DistractedByTheSexy: A rare case of the game interface getting distracted. In [=E2M6=] Dobrosov Castle, the player will come across crudely scrawled graffiti of a naked lady. Upon clearing the level, one of the end-of-level camera shots is a totally still close-up of the graffiti centred directly on her exposed chest.
* EliteMooks: The Skapuci ("Hooded") appear similar to the regular soldier-type enemies, except they wear black hooded trenchcoats instead of brown uniforms, and fire their vz. 58 rifles in bursts rather than single-shot, can TeleportSpam around you, and take somewhat more damage to bring down.
* EvilCripple: An enemy that appears in the 2nd episode is a legless gas mask man in a wheelchair who fires a rapid volley of projectiles at you. He's got above-average health and his barrage of projectiles can kill you extremely quickly.

* {{Expy}}: Quite a few of the enemies are directly inspired by monsters from ''Quake''. The Kejdovec ("Slurry") is a FatBastard in riot gear wielding a riot club and a grenade-launching pistol, behaving similarly to the Ogres from ''Quake''. A large floating head that spits glowing darts at you is very similar to the Scrags. And the FinalBoss of Episode 1, [[spoiler: former President Klement Gottwald with the lower half of his body replaced by spider legs]], looks and attacks very similar to the Vores.
** The Crossbow, added to replace the Hussite Handgun as the [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece novelty ancient weapon]], is a dead ringer for the Crossbow from ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}'', right down to firing glowing green bolts.
* FissionMailed: The "Mission Complete" screen for [[spoiler:[=E3M1=]]] adds a question mark to the end of its title, since it ends with [[spoiler:the player failing to prevent a nuclear missile from launching and detonating above the city they just fought through.]]
* FlyingFace: The Konfident enemies are floating heads that fire blinding projectiles. [[spoiler:The boss of Episode 2 is the disembodied, giant head of president Gustav Husák]].
* GasMaskMooks: Every single humanoid enemy wears either a gas mask or a protective hazmat suit. Even the HellishHorse enemies wear gas masks.
* GunsAkimbo: The pistol can be duel-wielded if you find a second one.
* HellishHorse: One particularly tough enemy type, the Semik, is a large and aggressive horse wearing a gas mask that uses hit-and-run tactics. They're tough, fast, unpredictable, extremely creepy, and can often catch you by surprise.

* HyperactiveMetabolism: The game's main healing items are canned blood and fat of pork (an old Soviet-era Czech product meant as a soup base) and bags of powdered skim milk. Beginning in Tocnik, the castle level, the player can also find canned chicken breast and liver dumplings.

* KingMook: The 3rd boss of the 1st episode is a giant version of the regular large spider enemies.
* LeanAndMean: Likvidator enemies, those armed with shotguns and wearing biohazard suits, have inhumanly long, spindly limbs. They're also quite fast and can kill you in only a few shots.
* MookMaker: [=E3M1=] has a few Spawn tanks that continously bring out more Newts until these are destroyed.

* PocketProtector: You pick up medals to use as armor, based on an old Eastern European joke about Soviet World War 2 veterans having [[Main/ChestOfMedals so many medals on their chest]] they'd be bulletproof.

* SequentialBoss: The FinalBoss fight has a whooping 6 phases in total. [[spoiler: First, there's a TrickBoss fight against a robot mech that's a ShoutOut to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], then the final boss (who seems to be either UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin (who admittedly would have been alive in 1986) or a Czech politician like Gustáv Husák dressed like Putin) comes out riding a bear and wielding a rocket launcher, then he hops off the bear and fights you on foot while the bear continues to chase you, then he splits into three, then he finally hops aboard a pterodactyl and fights you while regular enemies start spawning in indefinitely until you beat him. You then crawl down his throat to destroy his heart, à la the Time Judge final boss in ''VideoGame/ChasmTheRift'']]
* ShmuckBait: At one point in Tocnik, the player finds a painting of a priest saying "Trust others, but be wary of whom you trust." [[spoiler:Turning your back on the painting causes the priest to emerge and start throwing fireballs at you.]]
* ShortRangeShotgun: The shotgun has a very widespread, being ineffective past about 15 feet or so. Like its ''Quake'' and ''Doom'' inspiration, the super shotgun has an even wider spread and shorter range, only really being effective at point-blank range (but it absolutely ''destroys'' anything at that range).

** The [[spoiler: JumpScare after picking up a certain key]] in [=E2M7=] [[spoiler: may have been inspired by the infamous VanityPlate of the Russian TV Studio VID]].
** [=E3M1=] "War With the Newts" is one too, well, ''Literature/WarWithTheNewts''.
** [=E3M1=] War With the Newts begins exactly the same as ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', with the player in a cell having just lured in and murdered a guard to facilitate their escape. Outside, you can find a skeleton whose nametag proclaims him to be B.J. Blazkowicz.
** The TrickBoss in the final level is ImmuneToBullets, [[spoiler: but becomes helpless if he tries to walk downstairs, since he's a Shout Out to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]].]] The fight after that one happens on a Stadium, like in the final level of ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D's'' third episode.
* SuperDrowningSkills: Any non-fish enemies who fall into water deeper than their heads will die after several seconds. This is an [[AntiFrustrationFeatures Anti Frustration Feature]] added because previously enemies that fell into swimmable water could shoot at the player while the player was restricted in their ability to shoot back due to the water.

* TrickBoss: [[spoiler:The seeming final boss turns out to be a tribute to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], in that it looks intimidating and is seeming ImmuneToBullets but is defeated by being unable to walk down stairs. Then the ''real'' multi-phase final boss appears.]]
* UniqueEnemy: The animated bulldozer enemy only appears once in the first episode, but doesn't have a boss health bar. It also appears in the 3rd level of the 2nd episode, so it seems to be used as a miniboss similar to the horses.
** The Newts are only encountered in the level they are introduced in, "War With the Newts". [[spoiler: Given the level in question is implied to be [[AllJustADream a fever dream]], their abscence later in the campaign makes sense]].

* QuickMelee: You can perform a kick. In addition to enemies and envoriment [[ParryingBullets you can also kick off Kejdovecs' grenades]].

* TrickBoss: [[spoiler:The mech in the final battle is ImmuneToBullets. Rather than hammer away at some weak point or use non-bullet weapons, the player is expected to run back to the arena's entrance and down the stairs. In a tribute to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], the mech will trip down the stairs and be left completely open to damage.]]

* TrickBoss: [[spoiler:The mech in the final battle is ImmuneToBullets. Rather than hammer away at some weak point or use non-bullet weapons, the player is expected to run back to the arena's entrance and down the stairs. In a tribute to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], the mech will trip down the stairs and be left completely open to damage.

* Monstercloset: There are a few places where walls lower to reveal small rooms with enemies hiding inside them.

* AWinnerIsYou: In the Early Access build of the game, clearing Kiss Me Gustav rewards the player with [[spoiler:a beef stroganoff recipe.]] Completing the Degustation shows [[spoiler: a cauliflower brain recipe]].

* BearsAreBadNews: The July 2021 "Degustation" update adds a new level, Tocnik (a Czech castle), where towards the end you are attacked by a couple of hostile bears. They are quite tough, requiring several full shotgun blasts to kill.

* QuickMelee: You can perform a kick.

** The TrickBoss in the final level is ImmuneToBullets, [[spoiler: but becomes helpless if he tries to walk downstairs, since he's a Shout Out to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]].]]

* TankGoodness: A Soviet tank appears as a boss at the end of [=E2M4=].

Players take the role of a civil defense volunteer who emerges from a bunker underneath the city to find the country has been taken over by an army of strange men (and even stranger creatures) in gas masks and protective gear. Fulfill your patriotic duty to the State and blast the invaders with your Soviet-era weaponry.

* ArtificialBrilliance: Downplayed. As much as the AI wouldn't be quite on par with ''VideoGame/UnrealI'', the enemies do display higher amount of movement abilities compared to the shooters of the style this game emulates. They are able to use ladders to chase you down if you ever think of hitting them from the higher ground yourself, some of them can jump, and the earlier versions of the game even had the enemies be able to swim before the later updates gave them SuperDrowningSkills. Their pathfinding can also be on point at times.

* BigCreepyCrawlies: Dog-sized spiders appear as an enemy in a catacombs-like area in one of the 1st episode's last levels. The boss of said level is the spiders' big mamma.
* BigRedButton: Used as switches in a few places, but a special one under glass labeled "AZ-5" is the level exit point on most maps.
* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: One of the weapons in your arsenal is a 15th century Hussite gun. It's not quite as strong as the rocket launcher, but does kill most regular enemies in 1 shot, however ammo for it is extremely rare.

* CastFromHitPoints: The LightningGun on its own doesn't do this as it charges from its own ammo pool, but ''seeking out additional ammunition for it'' is. Rather than the typical ammo pickups, the player is expected to [[ViolationOfCommonSense shock oneself]] with electrical closets or electrified rails, which have an effect of giving some electrical ammo at the cost of one's health.

* CreepyCemetery: [=E2M3=] takes place in Velhartice Cemetery, now populated by gas masked mutants and the undead.
* DeadlyDoctor: Appropriately, the signature foes of [=E3M2=], "Hospital", are the Pathologists; burly medical personnel staffing the place. Up close, they'll try to stab you with a syringe, or will fling buzzsaw blades from a distance.
* DemBones: Hostile skeletons appear in the cemetary level, the 3rd level of the 2nd episode. They throw rocks at you and behave similar to the zombies from ''Quake'', although they can be permanently killed with any weapon and not just explosives.
* DistractedByTheSexy: A rare case of the game interface getting distracted. In [=E2M6=] Dobrosov Castle, the player will come across crudely scrawled graffiti of a naked lady. Upon clearing the level, one of the end of level camera shots is a totally still close up of the graffiti centered directly on her exposed chest.
* EliteMooks: The Skapuci ("Hooded") appear similar to the regular soldier-type enemies, except they wear black hooded trenchcoats instead of brown uniforms, fire their vz. 58 rifles in bursts rather than single-shot, can TeleportSpam around you, and take somewhat more damage to bring down.

* ExcusePlot: In keeping with games of the 90's, there's no real explanation as to why any of this is happening or what's going on. From context, you can determine that your character is slamming [=AZ-5=] buttons to prevent nuclear explosions ([[spoiler: as shown at the end of [=E3M1=] where your character fails to reach the button in time and a nuclear missile gets launched]]), and the ending may imply that [[spoiler: all this is happening because a time-traveling Vladimir Putin ate one of the gears from the Prague Orlaj (astronomical clock tower), which according to local legend would lead to the nation's doom unless a hero born on New Year's night shows up to save it.]]
* {{Expy}}: Quite a few of the enemies are directly inspired by monsters from ''Quake''. The Kejdovec ("Slurry") is a FatBastard in riot gear wielding a riot club and a grenade launching pistol, behaving similarly to the Ogres from ''Quake''. A large floating head that spits glowing darts at you is very similar to the Scrags. And the FinalBoss of Episode 1, [[spoiler: former President Klement Gottwald with the lower half of his body replaced by spider legs]], looks and attacks very similar to the Vores.

* {{Homage}}: Is a Soviet-era Czech themed one to ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', with some additional influences from ''VideoGame/ChasmTheRift'' (such as progressing by shooting fans to access air vents and shooting electrical boxes to open doors).

* NintendoHard: The game's overall combat difficulty is about on par with most 90's era shooters, however health, armor, and ammo are noticeably harder to find than games like ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' or ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', which can add significantly to the overall difficulty. Rather like the harder Build Engine games such as ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' or ''[[VideoGame/ShadowWarrior1997 Shadow Warrior]]'', finding secrets for extra health and ammo is almost essential for smooth progress.
* PlayingPossum: One of the pain animations of the Hazmat suit enemies have them get seemingly knocked down for a little while, only to later get themselves up again.

* SequentialBoss: The FinalBoss fight has a whooping 6 phases in total. [[spoiler: First, there's a TrickBoss fight against a robot mech that's a ShoutOut to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], then the final boss (who seems to be either UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin (who admittedly would have been alive in 1986) or a Czech politician like Gustáv Husák dressed like Putin) comes out riding a bear and wielding a rocket launcher, then he hops off the bear and fights you on foot while the bear continues to chase you, then he splits into three, then he finally hops aboard a pterodactyl and fights you while regular enemies start spawning in indefinitely until you beat him. You then crawl down his throat to destroy his heart, ala the Time Judge final boss in ''VideoGame/ChasmTheRift'']]

* ShortRangeShotgun: The shotgun has a very wide spread, being ineffective past about 15 feet or so. Like it's ''Quake'' and ''Doom'' inspiration, the super shotgun has an even wider spread and shorter range, only really being effective at point blank range (but it absolutely ''destroys'' anything at that range).

** The player exits levels by hitting a BigRedButton, much like how Duke would in ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D''. However, while Duke would set off a nuclear warhead to leave an area, here the player hits a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scram SCRAM switch]] as denoted by the Cyrillic "AZ-5" label, preventing just such a detonation. [[spoiler:Well, except for [=E3M1=].]]

** [=E3M1=] "War With the Newts" is one to, well, ''Literature/WarWithTheNewts''.

** The TrickBoss in the final level is ImmuneToBullets, [[spoiler: but becomes helpless if he tries to walk down stairs, since he's a Shout Out to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]].]]

* SequentialBoss: The FinalBoss fight has a whooping 6 phases in total. [[spoiler: First, there's a TrickBoss fight against a robot mech that's a ShoutOut to [[Film/{{Robocop}} ED-209]], then the final boss (who seems to be either UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin (who admittedly would have been alive in 1986) or a Czech politician like Gustáv Husák dressed like Putin) comes out riding a bear and wielding a shotgun, then he hops off the bear and fights you on foot while the bear continues to chase you, then he splits into three, then he finally hops aboard a pterodactyl and fights you while regular enemies start spawning in indefinitely until you beat him. You then crawl down his throat to destroy his heart, ala the Time Judge final boss in ''VideoGame/ChasmTheRift'']]

* ExcusePlot: In keeping with games of the 90's, there's no real explanation as to why any of this is happening or what's going on. From context, you can determine that your character is slamming [=AZ-5=] buttons to prevent nuclear explosions ([[spoiler: as shown at the end of [=E3M1=] where your character fails to reach the button in time and a nuclear missile gets launched]]), and the ending may imply that [[spoiler: all this is happening because a time-traveling Vladimir Putin ate one of the gears from the Prague Orlaj (astronomical clock tower), which according to local legend would lead to the nation's doom unless a hero born on New Year's shows up to save it.]]