Forgive Me Father 2 review: A terrific Lovecraftian nightmare that never lets up
While we’re on the subject of forgiveness, I’ll admit the first game in this series passed me by. In fact, I wasn’t even aware of this series until this particular game fell into my lap and, as a fan of boomer shooters, I felt compelled to give it a try without touching the original game. From what I can grasp, this isn’t too much trouble, the games are relatively similar.
Both releases focus on a protagonist stuck in a violent world inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s Eldritch nightmares and have you wielding a preposterous number of absurd guns to thwart the madness rife in the world.
While I’d love to sit here and wax lyrical about the story and the overall tone of the game, it’s hard to do so when it’s a little thin on the ground. Besides playing as a priest who seems to be the only sane person left in a world gone mad - literally, everyone you meet is possessed in some way by an Eldritch horror - beyond that I didn’t much care for the plot.
There are letters strewn about the place that give some background to the situation and offer some glimpses into the past of our protagonist, however, it pales when compared to the all-out action situated at the core of the game.
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Let’s be clear, this is an old-school boomer shooter, think DOOM and Quake in their heyday and, I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect Forgive Me Father 2 to impress me as much as it did. The levels are wonderfully linear, with enough detail to have you searching in every corner for secrets. The visual design of each level is impressive because everything has character dragged from the inspired mind of Lovecraft.
It helps that the game is presented ina comic book style with big, bold colours and broad black outlines. And the juxtaposition of the 2D weapon in our hero’s hands, along with the enemies, in a 3D world creates a weird brainmelting sensation of displacement. Which is perfect for a game that splices so well the every day environments of churches, docks, and graveyards, with this hellscape of Eldritch lore.
There’s a simplicity to the whole game, one that showcases the visual designs, the sound creation, plus the gun mechanics, in a way that puts them centre stage. This could go horribly wrong, what if the developers create a gun that doesn’t wow when it’s so vital to the whole project? Thankfully, they never put a foot wrong.
Every decal in the scenery is wonderful to look at and I often found myself stopping after the action to roam around the areas on the look out for secrets, but also to admire the tentacles that creep along statues, or the imagery of Cthulu permeating so many surfaces. Even the bizarre paintings that adorn the walls have some Lovecraft thrown in to skew the scene.
Then there’s the sound design, with bone-crunching impacts, gutteral squeals and screams, and everything is tinged with a level of dread - I wish I knew how they did it. It felt like every sound effect was crafted to chill my blood.
This finally brings me to the headliner of the show, the weapons. You know the developer understands the feeling of the guns when even the most basic weapon feels great to use. The starting shotgun feels like it could put a hole through the moon, and the sound it makes is sublime.
Then you start to earn tokens to unlock more weapons. Handguns based on horrors of the deep sea that spit rapid-fire bullets shaped like the spines of a pufferfish, assault rifles with tentacles that wrap around the hero’s arm. Or there’s the simple double-barrel shotgun that feels like it has been pulled straight out of DOOM.
Each weapon and I say weapon rather than gun because there are weird exotic weapons, is a joy to use, even if it’s not viable for the scenario you find yourself in. One weapon, the Obelisk, is created from slabs of rock that fires projectiles like a rail gun and while it makes a great first impression, it’s not suited for the run-and-gun tactics you’ll employ in each level.
Although tactics quickly go out the window in many situations as practically every encounter is a wild free-for-all where swarms of monsters, and monstrous humans, will slavishly pursue you and more often than not I switched through all my weapons blasting every bullet, shell, and object possible in order to stay alive.
When that failed or needed a helping hand, I could use the trusty Dark Tome which would bestow certain effects on our hero to make surviving a little easier. Earning points throughout campaign levels allows you to buy new effects for the Dark Tome back in the mental asylum which acts as a hub.
These effects range from passive abilities like saving ammo on missed shots, to regaining health in short bursts or tanking more damage. Some are passive, while others have to be activated using the Tome, and you can only equip a mix of three at any time, making the choice difficult but it allows for extra depth and freedom of play.
The chaotic nature of Forgive Me Father 2 is both engaging and thrilling. From the opening mission it feels like a rollercoaster coming off the tracks and the bizarre edge of horror that lingers throughout only heightens the experience, making for an incredibly unique shooter that doesn’t exist anywhere else in gaming.
There are some times where the chaos becomes a little too much and the enemy spawning rate feels overwhelming, making the game feel a tad unfair. Plus, some of the weapons were, for me, unlocked, used once, and never touched again, usually for being too esoteric rather than useful.
However, these quibbles eventually bled into the background as the cacophony of gunfire, guts and gore took over, delivering a blistering action game that stands out visually. Forgive Me Father 2 is an unforgettable assault on the senses that’s a must for horror fans who want bombastic action throughout.
Pros: Thrilling gunplay, outstanding visual design, peak audio, delightfully bonkers
Cons: Difficulty balancing, missable story
For fans of: DOOM, Quake, Lovecraft
8/10: Excellent
Forgive Me Father 2 is available now for PC (version tested). A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.