HROT

About HROT

HROT was made by the solo developer Spytihněv and released on Steam on 16 May 2023, for Windows. It is written in a custom engine in Pascal that imitates 1990s software rendering, with unfiltered textures, polygon jitter and a brown retro palette. It is also sold DRM-free on GOG, and Steam has a demo.

After an unspecified disaster in 1986, you start in a civil defence shelter deep under a Prague Metro station. As a proud holder of the military readiness badge, you put on a non-functioning gas mask, load your vz. 52 pistol and set out to protect your socialist homeland from strange intruders.

The game is split into three episodes. The first keeps to grim Soviet-era places: tenement blocks, rain-swept squares, metro stations and sewers. The second, The Degustation, heads into the countryside, with Kašperk Castle and its flooded cellars, the Dobrosov Fortress bunker and Granny's Valley, where a statue stalks you round her farm while you hunt for keys. The third, The Gastroscopy, turns surreal and goofy.

The fighting is classic 1990s shooting. PC Gamer lists a pistol you can dual-wield, single and double-barrelled shotguns, a submachine gun, a crossbow and a hand cannon that works as a rocket launcher; the store page adds a secret experimental Soviet battery-powered weapon and, when ammunition runs out, a hammer and sickle. Ammunition is tight enough that you learn to save shotgun shells. Levels are full of Eastern Bloc details you can play with, from light bulbs you can shoot out to toilets you can flush, and the humour gets crude.

Critics liked it: PC Gamer gave it 87, it holds a Metascore of 86 and an OpenCritic average of 83, and Steam players rate it Overwhelmingly Positive. Its Steam page says it is not suitable for youth under the age of 30, by decision of the committee. It suits players who like old-school shooters with a bleak, grimy horror mood and a dark sense of humour.

How to play HROT

1. Buy it on Steam or GOG and run it on Windows, or try the demo on Steam first.
2. Play with keyboard and mouse, or with a controller; it has full controller support.
3. Fight through each handcrafted level with the weapons you find, and look for keys to open the way on.
4. Use the hammer and sickle in close combat when ammunition runs low.

Tips

• Save your shotgun shells for the tougher enemies; ammunition is tight and the experimental Soviet weapons have little of it.
• Explore off the main path; the levels hide secrets and many small details you can interact with.
• In Granny's Valley, keep moving while you search for keys; the statue stalks you round the farm.

Questions