So you've stumbled across this awesome game and no doubt are wondering what all the fuss is about.
You've come to the right place.
For more information about the game, visit the FAQ page.
What Inspired Me to Create Malefact
I've been a massive fan of the shooter genre that in recent years has been retroactively assigned the label 'boomer shooter' (even if the term makes me feel a bit old, heh). I still remember playing the shareware version of Doom endlessly as a kid, back when all I had was the family's desktop with its 'state-of-the-art' Windows 98 operating system and a whopping 64 MB of RAM (or at least I think it was 64MB. I honestly don't remember, but it was well below 256MB).
Endless hours were spent gunning down demons in pixelated hellscapes. At some point in the early 2000s, I obtained the full version of Doom Collector's Edition, and by the mid-to-late 2000s I was making my own custom levels and mods. I still make them to this day (in fact, we have another site dedicated to that if you want to check it out).
Yet one can only be content making mods for so long.
I often fantasized about making my own game, but never quite had the resources or know-how to do so. That changed in the early-to-mid 2020s. The rise of the UZDoom engine (formerly known as GZDoom) as a feasible engine for boomer shooter-style games, combined with AI coding tools and a bit of luck (for the first time in my life, I had the money to fund the damn thing) made the idea of actually creating something like Malefact seem possible.
I saw the window of opportunity for what it was and took it.
Why Malefact is Different
Seeing as there are probably hundreds of boomer shooter games out there by now, you'd be right to ask what makes our game different, let alone worth playing. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few reasons.
Let's start with what will probably be the single biggest selling point for most people: it's free.
Malefact is a pure passion project where the only objective is to satisfy my lifelong goal of making the most awesome fucking game ever. There's no price tag, no microtransactions, and no paid DLC. It is and always will be 100% free for anyone to play.
Secondly, Malefact defies genre conventions regarding player movement and pacing. While the typical boomer shooter has you sprint through levels at superhuman speeds, Malefact takes it slow, giving you time to soak in the game's terrifying ambience. Levels are dimly lit, claustrophobic, and frightening, taking full advantage of dynamic lighting and other effects to create an impressive atmosphere. The game is closer to Doom 3 than the original, albeit with far higher monster counts and guns that don't suck.
Thirdly, the game handles certain mechanics such as health and power-ups differently from most games. With the notable exception of a single item that instantly fills the player's health, there are no health pickups. Instead, the game uses a progressive 'health on kill' system where slaying enemies is the only way to obtain health. More HP is granted when the player's health is low and less when it is higher. Besides fitting the game thematically, this also reduces player frustration; if there is something to kill, you can regain health.
Power-ups are likewise replaced by the 'Books of Destruction', which are essentially spell books that activate various effects. There are four in total, each containing three spells that can unleash devastating attacks, grant temporary powers to the player, and so on. This provides far greater control and strategic opportunity than simply walking over a power-up and having it activate instantly.
A Legacy of True Evil
Lastly, the game's protagonist. Art is often a reflection of the creator's emotions and lived experiences, and Malefact is no different.
Most boomer shooters tend to follow a similar archetype for the player character: the cocky action hero spitting out one-liners, the edgy anti-hero, and occasionally something bordering on a villain, albeit one with sympathetic or relatable qualities.
In Malefact: Evil Unchained, you're playing as an undead serial killer and mass murderer who was locked away in the deepest hell pit because the Devil is literally afraid of you.
The game's moods and themes are extremely grimdark. You're not even an anti-hero. You're a monster. The walking personification of pure evil and sadism.
You don't want to save the world. You want to end it.
Hell first, then humanity, then the heavens, and then... whoever or whatever else is stupid enough to still exist.
No hero's journey. No redemption. No turning good at the last moment. Just pure hatred and sadistic carnage to end all living things as brutally as possible.
I'm a massive nihilist, if that wasn't obvious.