COMPOUND is a rogue-lite VR shooter from indie developer NotDead Games that looks to bring back some of the classic feel of early FPSs like Doom (1993) and Wolfenstein 3d (1992). After a lengthy wait, the game finally launched today on Steam Early Access.
Indie dev Bevan McKechnie first showed off the concept for Compound back in October 2016, combining a decidedly retro FPS look to some not-so-retro mechanics such as ragdoll physics and a trusty hand-held gun and map.
Supporting Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Compound first started out as a project hosted on Itch.io where NotDead hosted a playable demo, which is consequently still available for anyone looking to dive in.
The game, the studio says on its Steam page, is a “randomized, rogue-lite, free-roaming shooter for Virtual Reality veterans.” The goal is to fight through the world’s enemies and eventually reach “the heart of The Corporation and take back what belongs to everyone.”
The current early access version, which sells for $20, contains six maps across three map types, a headquarters/training range, four weapons, five enemy types, and three difficulty settings. The game also boasts free locomotion, teleportation, and snap-turning for users with a 180-degree sensor setup.
Sole developer Bevan McKechnie says each map is “procedurally generated to provide a different experience with each play-though, and consecutive loops become progressively harder, providing quite a considerable amount of re-playability already.”
Because it’s a one-person studio, McKechnie has set up a community Trello board so players can keep an eye on what bugs and features will be addressed next.