The Citadel (2020 video game)

The Citadel
Developer(s)	doekuramori
Publisher(s)	Top Hat Studios
Engine	Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	Windows August 5, 2020
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player

The Citadel is a 2020 first-person shooter game under the sub-class of boomer shooters developed by doekuramori and was published by Top Hat Studios. It and its sequel Beyond Citadel are doekuramori's first works.

The Citadel is set in a dystopian future which doekuramori says is heavily influenced by the manga BLAME and the comic series Metabarons. He also references several other influences from other mediums such as the dystopian science fiction novel The Time Machine by H. G. Wells for parts of the premise and video games such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Marathon. He also cited influences from Downwell and Project Warlock. The game's aesthetic has a dark cyberpunk atmosphere, and in-game deaths of both the player and enemies are very brutal in detail. doekuromori mentions that the visual aspect of the game took queues from Ghost in the Shell and H. R. Giger.

Gameplay

Classic and modern

The Citadel features elements of gameplay from classic first-person shooter games of the early 90's by having the player search for key cards, explore hand-crafted maps and encountered strategically placed enemies. While its heavy influences from Wolfenstein 3D are apparent, it introduces many modern-day FPS mechanics including leaning, jumping, double jumping, and sliding.

Health management

The player has three bars to pay attention to on their HUD: from left to right, the red "blood" bar, the blue "oxygen" bar and the green "hunger" bar. Taking damage decreases the blood bar; when it reaches zero, the player dies. The blood bar is replenished by using blood packs. The oxygen bar represents stamina, which is used up by performing melee attacks (either the axe or the kick,) running or jumping. A power-up later on will allow the player to enter Bullet time when the oxygen bar as full, slowing down time. Oxygen is replace by 02 canisters. The hunger bar will slowly decrease, bringing down the top value of both the blood and oxygen bar. The hunger bar can be replenished with the FOOD item, which upon consuming will greatly increase all three bars.

Weapons and gunplay

Gunplay is a unique characteristic of The Citadel's gameplay, with optional jamming and weapon deterioration (this has a toggle in the options menu.) For some weapons, the player also must push the reload key for each individual munition. All weapons are also projectile-based; none are hit-scan, and bullets have falloff after a certain distance. The game's weapons features mostly ballistic weapons with futuristic enhancements such as laser energy or an attached flamethrower. As far as aesthetics within gameplay, IGN Japan notes The Citadel's 90s FPS style with anime gore as a calling card for the game.

Minor platforming

Some maps feature higher verticality, requiring the player to properly time jumps and running speed. After the ability to vault ledges is acquired, this becomes vital to getting to certain parts of the maps or finding secrets.

Dialog

Though some characters can be interacted with for short dialog, most of the story is not explained in detail within the game, an intentional choice by doekuramori to avoid breaking the pace.

Plot

The player takes the role of The Martyr, a silent female protagonist awakened to release (destroy) seven angels and destroy the sleeping god, who has caused said angels and most of the remaining populace to lose their minds, rendering them aggressive and destructive. The world is set in a dystopian future in which the world has stopped turning, causing one side of the earth to become extremely hot and the other side freezing. This has caused a massive loss of human life, and the remains of humanity have augmented themselves with cybernetics to prolong their lives as they live in the permanent lines of dusk. The majority of the enemies the Martyr encounters during the course of the game are humans who have lost their minds to the dreams of the sleeping god. Her journey takes her across seven different acts throughout the titular citadel, each with an angel to defeat at the end.

Reception

The Citadel was met with a positive reception and a "Very Positive" overall 93% score of Steam, with the majority of users praising its gameplay and unique artstyle.

When speaking of The Citadel's sequel, Beyond Citadel, PC Gamer wrote that both games " feel like someone coming at a familiar genre with a truly fresh perspective. With similar understanding of the fundamentals (the developer has cited Bungie's classic Marathon series as a key influence), but with clear mechanical obsessions and roots in extreme, transgressive anime art."

Sequel

On January 3 2025, The Citadel's sequel, Beyond Citadel, was released beating its predecessor in Steam reviews with an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating at 96%, and PC Gamer's Dominic Tarason writes that "Beyond Citadel is a meaty (in every sense) game I greatly enjoyed."