Line #30 VideoGame/HROT


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capsule_616x353_95.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Taking GasMaskMooks to another level.]]
3
4	''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.
5
6	The story is set in Czechoslovakia following a major industrial disaster in 1986 (though the incident goes unnamed within the game, its rather obvious from the date and context clues that it is the UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} disaster). The player 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.
7	----
8	!!Those tropes were dark and terrifying and so is the game:
9	* AirVentPassageway: At many points in the game, the protagonist enters air vents to get to places. There could be many crawlable vents per level.
10	* 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 and [[spoiler:Eggs in Aspic]] for The Gastroscopy.
11	* AllJustADream: "[=E3M2=]: Hospital" opens with the strong implication that the previous level, [=E3M1=]: "War with the Newts", was either a hallucination or dream; the player awakens in a hospital without any gear & 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...]]
12	* 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.
13	* ArmorAsHitPoints: The player can acquire a variety of Czech/Soviet-themed armour pickups; 1 & 5 Koruna coins (10 & 20 AP respectively), Gold (10 AP)[[note]]Exclusive to "[=E3M1=]: War with the Newts"[[/note]], Medals (30 AP), Wifebeaters (50 AP) & Clean Briefs (60 AP).
14	* 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 can use ladders to chase you down if you ever think of hitting them from the high ground yourself, some of them can jump, & 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.
15	* BagOfSpilling: In a similar vein of classic shooters around the era of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', each episode has the player start out with a sickle and pistol, and the game has an optional "blank slate" mode that enforces this onto every single level, much like Intruder mode in ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}''.
16	** Regardless of the blank slate setting, [[spoiler:[=E3M2=]:Hospital starts has the player start out ''[[NoGearLevel completely stripped out of their weapons except for their kick]]'' - having just awoken in a hospital after a dream - and they have to either slip or fight through a Pathologic to get their pistol, and unlock a gate leading to a sickle through a room with an Infested Rider. [=E3M4=]:George of Podiebrad also has the player lose all of their weapons after they fall onto the catacombs, though they eventually get their lost weapons back.]]
17	* BearsAreBadNews: "[=E2M1=]: Točník Castle" has the player attacked by a couple of hostile bears towards the end of the level. They are quite tough, requiring several full shotgun blasts to kill. [[spoiler:The FinalBoss, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, starts off ''riding a bear'', with his next phase having dismount the bear & fight you on foot, while his former mount continues to chase you.]]
18	* BigCreepyCrawlies: The dog-sized Skull Spider enemies, which appear in "[=E1M6=]: Vysehrad Castle", "[=E1M7=]: Underground Stream" & "[=E2M3=]: Velhartice". [=E1M7=] also features an Overgrown Skull Spider as that level's final boss.
19	* BigRedButton: Used as switches in a few places, but a special one under glass labelled "AZ-5" is the level exit point on most maps.
20	* 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.
21	** As of the 0.3.5 update, the Hussite Handgun has now replaced the rocket launcher, becoming much more common & 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.
22	* CameBackWrong: The FinalBoss of Episode 1 is [[spoiler:"Gottwald" - the former President of Communist Czechoslovakia, Klement Gottwald, back from the dead & with the lower half of his body replaced by spider legs.]]
23	* CastFromHitPoints: The LightningGun & [[{{BFG}} Ball Lightning Launcher]] both consume Electricity as ammo, which the player can be most reliably obtained by [[ViolationOfCommonSense shocking themselves]] by opening electrical closets or standing on electrified rails, sacrificing some health for the additional ammo. Partially averted in that electricity can also be obtained from more traditional car battery pickups.
24	* CouldntFindAPen: The warning "Do Not Enter The Tower" is scrawled in blood, with a freshly drained Smaskou nearby, just before the end of the Mausoleum level. Naturally, the tower is where you need to go.
25	* CrateExpectations: Wooden crates with diagonal boards appear in the very first level.
26	* CreepyCemetery: [=E2M3=] takes place in Velhartice Cemetery, now populated by gas-masked mutants & the undead.
27	* 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.
28	* DemBones: The Walking Corpses - hostile skeletons appear in "[=E2M3=]: Velhartice". They behave similarly to the zombies from ''Quake'', throwing rocks at the player & walking with a painfully slow gait.
29	* DenserAndWackier: Despite its depressingly bleak aesthetic, the game gets progressively sillier as it goes on. From episode one where you have to inexplicably fight [[AnimateInanimateObject living objects as minibosses]], to episode two in which you face off against [[KillerRabbit killer chickens]] and a waddling statue, to episode three where you fight mansized newts and {{Mooks}} riding bumper cars as dance club music plays. And that is saying ''nothing'' to the sheer absurdity of each episode's FinalBoss.
30	* 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 still close-up of the graffiti centred directly on her exposed chest.
31	* EliteMooks: The Skapucí ("Hooded") appear similar to the regular Smaskou, except they wear black hooded trenchcoats instead of brown uniforms & fire their vz. 58 rifles in bursts rather than single-shot. They can also TeleportSpam around you & take somewhat more damage to bring down.
32	* EvilCripple: The Infested Riders, introduced in "[=E2M3=]: Velhartice"; legless, gas-masked men in wheelchairs. They possess above-average health & can attack by either leaping at the player or firing a rapid volley of projectiles at them, the latter of which can kill extremely quickly.
33	* 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 & a nuclear missile gets launched]]), & 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.]]
34	* ExplodingBarrels: Shooting metal barrels make them explode, damaging everything nearby.
35	* {{Expy}}: Quite a few of the enemies are directly inspired by monsters from ''Quake''.
36	** The Kejdovec ("Slurry") is FatBastard in riot gear wielding a riot club & a grenade-launching pistol, behaving similarly to the Ogres from ''Quake''.
37	** The Konfident, a large floating head that spits glowing darts at the player, is very similar to the Scrags.
38	** The FinalBoss of Episode 1, [[spoiler:"Gottwald", particularly his new spiderlike legs]], looks very similar to the Vores.
39	** The Hussite Crossbow, added to replace the Hussite Handgun as the [[BreakOutTheMuseumPiece novelty ancient weapon]], is a dead ringer for the Ethereal Crossbow from ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}'', right down to firing glowing green bolts.
40	* FissionMailed: The "Mission Complete" screen for [[spoiler:"[=E3M1=]: War with the Newts"]] adds a question mark to the end of its title, since [[spoiler:it ends with the player failing to prevent a nuclear missile from launching & detonating above the city they just fought through.]]
41	* FlyingFace: The Konfidents are floating heads that fire blinding projectiles. [[spoiler:The boss of Episode 2 is the disembodied, giant head of president Gustav Husák]].
42	* GasMaskMooks: Most of the humanoid enemies encountered in the first episode wear either gas masks or protective hazmat suits. Even the HellishHorse enemies wear masks.
43	* GunsAkimbo: The Pistol can be duel-wielded if a second one is found.
44	* GunTwirling: The player character likes to twirl guns after firing.
45	* 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 shotgun-wielding Headsmen, who will engage the player on foot if their steeds fall. Both are tough, fast, unpredictable, extremely creepy, & use hit-and-run tactics that can often catch the player by surprise.
46	* {{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 & shooting electrical boxes to open doors).
47	* HyperactiveMetabolism: The game's main healing items consist of various Czech & Soviet-era foodstuffs; Liver Dumplings (2 HP), Tasty Canned Poultry (5 HP)[[note]]Labelled "Canned Blood & Fat" (an old Soviet-era Czech product meant as a soup base) in older versions[[/note]], Kifli (10 HP), packets of Semi-Skimmed Milk (15 HP), German Meat Salads (25 HP), Medkits (25 HP) & hampers of "Soup, Main Course, Cake" (50 HP).
48	* JumpScare: Episode 2 has few such moments, most notably [[spoiler:when picking up that one key in [=E2M7=]:The Granny's Valley]].
49	* KingMook: The Overgrown Skull Spider, the boss of "[=E1M7=]: Underground Stream" this is to the Skull Spiders.
50	* 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.
51	* LivingStatue: In [=E2M7=], [[spoiler:the Granny statue comes alive after the aluminum key is picked up.]]
52	* LocomotiveLevel: Episode 2 has a secret level like this, [[spoiler:accessible by going down a tunnel nearby the normal exit unlocked by shooting an electrical panel in the ceiling of the staircase leading to it]]. It is also [[AbsurdlyShortLevel one of the shortest levels in the game]].
53	* LookBothWays: The second arena fight in [=E3M6=]: Bubny takes place within the train station with trains passing by every now and then. The player can use the trains to their advantage but also have to be mindful to not get run over all the same.
54	* MookMaker: [=E3M1=] has Spawns, water tanks that continuously spit out more Newts until they're destroyed.
55	* MonsterCloset: There are a several places where walls lower to reveal small rooms with enemies hiding inside them.
56	* NintendoHard: The game's overall combat difficulty is about on par with most 90's era shooters, however, health, armour, 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.
57	* PlayingPossum: One of the pain animations of the Hazmat Suit enemies has them get seemingly knocked down for a little while, only to quickly stand back up again.
58	* PocketProtector: One of the games' armour pickups are medals, 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.
59	* 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"]].
60	* QuickMelee: You can perform a kick. In addition to knocking back enemies and interacting with the environment [[ParryingBullets you can also kick grenades back at the enemies that threw them at you]].
61	* 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 Czechoslovakia.
62	* RewardingVandalism: Some objects in the environment drop pickups when destroyed.
63	* SentryGun: The ceiling-mounted Turrets.
64	* SequentialBoss: The FinalBoss fight has a whooping 6 phases in total.
65	** 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 [[Franchise/RoboCop walk down a flight of stairs]]]].
66	** 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 & wielding a rocket launcher]].
67	** Phase 3 has [[spoiler:the [=SCiC=] dismount his bear & fighting the player on foot, with the bear continuing to chase them]].
68	** Phase 4 sees [[spoiler:the [=SCiC=] split into three clones of himself]].
69	** Phase 5 finally has [[spoiler:the [=SCiC=] mount a pterodactyl & fights you from it, with regular enemies spawning indefinitely until you beat him]].
70	** Ultimately, Phase 6 has [[spoiler:you crawl down the [=SCiC=]'s throat to destroy his heart, à la the Time Judge final boss in ''VideoGame/ChasmTheRift'']].
71	* ShieldBearingMook: "[=E3M4=]: George of Podiebrad" features a [[spoiler:Shield-Bearing ''Mini-Boss'' in the form of The Hussite King]], which comes with a crossbow alongside a shield, using the latter in response of getting attacked.
72	* 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 & starts throwing fireballs at them.]]
73	* SecretLevel: Every episode has a level that can be accessed through obscure means and is not mandatory.
74	* ShortRangeShotgun: The Soviet Shotgun has a very wide shot spread, being ineffective past about 15 feet or so. Like its ''Quake'' & ''Doom'' inspiration, the Brno Super Shotgun has an even wider spread & shorter range, only really being effective at point-blank range (but it absolutely ''destroys'' anything at that range).
75	* ShoutOut: To the famous Soviet cartoon ''Animation/NuPogodi'' & the Elektronika ''Platform/GameAndWatch'' clone based on the show, which is a GameWithinAGame in [=E1M3=].
76	** The player exits levels by hitting a BigRedButton, much like how Duke would in ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D''. However, instead of setting off a nuclear warhead like Duke, the button's Cyrillic "AZ-5" label denotes it as a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scram SCRAM switch]], which prevents just such a detonation. [[spoiler:Well, except for [=E3M1=].]]
77	** True to throwback 90s shooters, the quick melee attack is a kick; a dead ringer for [[VideoGame/DukeNukem3D Duke's Mighty Boot]], with a bit of [[VideoGame/Postal2 The Postal Dude's Quick Kick]] for flavour.
78	** Riding the mining train in "[=E2M2=]: Uranium Mine" earns the achievement "[[VideoGame/HalfLife1 On A Rail]]".
79	** The [[spoiler:JumpScare after picking up a certain key]] in "[=E2M7=]: The Granny's Valley" [[spoiler:may have been inspired by the infamous VanityPlate of the Russian TV Studio VID]].
80	** After defeating Episode 2's final boss in "[=E2M8=]: The Degustation" a small room with a mop opens up next to the room containing the exit button. Hopping on the mop & cleaning the whole arena spotless earns the achievement "VideoGame/{{Viscera Cleanup\|Detail}}".
81	** "[=E3M1=]: War With the Newts" is one too, well, ''Literature/WarWithTheNewts''. The level also features several ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' references:
82	*** The level begins with the player in a cell, having just lured in & murdered a guard to facilitate their escape.
83	*** 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!".
84	*** A spinning top can be found close to the stores, and those familiar with ''Film/{{Inception}}'' can take it as [[spoiler:[[{{Foreshadowing}} a hint towards]] [[AllJustADream the nature of the level]].]]
85	*** A couple of secrets in the level contain piles of gold that the player can collect for 10 armour points apiece.
86	** 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 [[Franchise/RoboCop ED-209]].]] The fight after that one happens in a Stadium, like in the final level of ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D's'' third episode.
87	* StaircaseTumble: The first boss in the E3M7 will tumble when it needs to navigate stairs.
88	* SuperDrowningSkills: Excluding Bečva, all enemies who fall into water deeper than their heads will die immediately. 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.
89	* SuspiciouslyCrackedWall: Much like ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'', certain secrets are hidden behind cracked walls that can be blown open with explosives.
90	* TankGoodness: A Czechoslovakian LT vz.35 MBT is fought as a boss at the end of "[=E2M4=]: Factory Farm". [[AttackItsWeakPoint It can only be damaged by attacking its turret]].
91	* TranslationConvention: All signs & posters are in Czech. Using the interact key on them will give you English subtitles.
92	* TrickBoss: [[spoiler:The seeming final boss turns out to be a tribute to [[Franchise/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.]]
93	* UniqueEnemy: The animated Loader enemies only appear 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.
94	** The Newts are only encountered in the level "[=E3M1=]: 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]].
95	* UnorthodoxReload: Picking up a second pistol changes the reload animation to having the player tossing the guns in the air, flipping them.
96	* VentPhysics: A few ventilators will propel the player upward when standing above them.
97	* WakingUpElsewhere: "[=E3M1=]: War of the Newts" ends with [[spoiler:the player at ground zero of an accidental nuclear launch.]] "[=E3M2=]: Hospital" begins with them falling out of bed in the titular hospital.

Context VideoGame / HROT