Note: One of the screenshots comes from a build before the formal early access release. While some content was changed after that build, there are reasonable concerns the developer may not be willing to fully disclose certain content when pressed on it, and thus have highlighted this in the interests of desiring integrity.


GZDoom is a source port of the original Doom engine code for playing the Doom series in the modern day. It's so well featured it's been used to make standalone games as it effectively can serve as a game engine unto itself. Selaco is an attempt to prove just how versatile GZDoom is for this purpose, but the results, while impressive for an early access title, are quite mixed.

Selaco's developers are fans of first-person shooters who have admitted to being heavily inspired by games like F.E.A.R, Half-Life, and other shooters with complex sci-fi worlds with changing circumstances and rather dynamic AI. To that end, Selaco is a post-apocalyptic (in the aliens conquer Earth sense) first-person shooter.

The story is that aliens are assaulting one of the last independent human strongholds after the invasion known as Selaco. Protagonist Dawn was receiving medical treatment and was in recovery as the aliens invaded Selaco, and her goal is simple: survive. Only one of three planned episodes was released as of the time of this writing. Given its in early access, the developers did this to gather feedback for further polish to the other two planned episodes and fixing imperfections in their game concept.

The game follows the standard loop of gameplay that first-person shooting is known for. Starting practically defenseless or close to it, the player must acquire weapons, fend off foes, solve puzzles, and advance stage by stage (in a world of connected areas that can be revisited) to acquire the means to survive and overcome the enemy threat, usually by shooting it.

Graphically, the game art leans pretty hard into the neon sci-fi aesthetic, to the point of excess at times. While the engine works pretty hard to divorce itself from its Doom origins and resembles more modern-style games, it still utilizes a lot of pixelated art and is clearly still using (albeit high-quality) sprites instead of full 3d models. By contrast, the level design is far more involved than the simplistic design Doom favored, and this is a mixed bag. While various areas are lavishly detailed and give the convincing impression of a sci-fi world, the sheer business and denseness of the maps tend to hide objectives and make exploration tedious. The game designers also tend to go overboard on out-of-the-way map design, forcing lots of backtracking and hitting the use key on a lot of scenery items. While it is not unusual for a Doom-style game to find some secrets in this manner, even some actual objectives to move forward are maddeningly hard to find on occasion. The smoke and lighting effects are impressive but tend to be distracting and overwhelming. There are points when these effects get so intense combat is near impossible and the constant flash of neon lighting is a bit hard on the eyes after awhile.

There is a heavy use of scripting for dynamically changing environments and making the world feel as if it changes according to the in-game action. On the flip side, the game does have some enemy spawn that falls into the bad habit of monster closet jump scares and enemies being in areas they could not have feasibly entered just for the "keep the player on their toes" factor. Conversely, there are some clever shoutouts and references to other shooters and some fun interactive elements that add some color and life to the neon-soaked Selaco world.

The sound and music are definitely futuristic, ranging from ambient tracks to pulse-pounding techno synth depending on the situation. While protagonist Dawn is mostly silent, the alien soldiers have a wide range of voice acting and are rather fleshed out for an enemy force. They will make tactical orders, react with emotion when a buddy is taken out, and as you progress, they react appropriately.

Selaco can be controlled either by the keyboard and mouse or by any manner of Steam-supported game controller. Being based on the GZDoom engine, there is full support for button remapping and the game provides helpful tutorials for the basic controls where needed. My only complaint is some of the controls seem overly sensitive to input and there is a bit of "drift" when moving that makes exact movements a bit difficult.

Selaco is mostly stable, but has issues loading existing saves with mods and requires they be loaded on a new save to avoid crashes. The requirements are rather high for a Doom engine-based game, and I had my laptop get pretty hot on high settings. It runs on Windows and is rated Playable on the Steam Deck and Linux. There are reliable reports of occasional crashes due to game instability for some players, which the developers have acknowledged.

A few other minor items worthy of note. The game has a weapon upgrade system that feels stingy with materials to upgrade at times and some upgrades feel rather dubious in terms of value, so this subsystem definitely needs some polish. The difficulty curve on the harder modes tends toward the maddening and even the easier difficulty levels can be rather hard, given this game was aimed less at all players and more at veterans of the FPS genre.

Morally, this is going to have some issues.

Violence is pretty gory. There are copious displays of blood and gore, as you would expect of a game based on Doom engine code. While your own actions take place in self-defense only, the aliens can be clearly heard executing others in cold blood regardless of their level of resistance in some areas.

Language is pretty earthy. You will hear practically every profane swear, and the aliens are pretty proficient in Earth profanity, including frequent use of the f-bomb. Sexuality is mostly muted save for a clear display of the transgender flag in at least one area (while it may not be present as the game is updated, it was present in earlier builds). It's worth noting this is something the dev lied about when asked in other fora, claiming they had no intention of making any real-world commentary on anything. The actual story is generally free of this otherwise, but it's clear via the aforementioned they still tried to shove in sexual content regardless.

This is a pretty grounded sci-fi game, so no occult or supernatural content. Morally and ethically, your protagonist Dawn is clearly just trying to defend herself against alien invaders who have absolute contempt for the idea of giving any quarter or refraining from cold-blooded murder even of those unable to resist.

Based on the early access period, my recommendation comes with some reservations. The level design is quite obtuse, the weapon upgrade system needs heavy work, and requirements can be quite high for a game based on Doom engine code. Morally, the intense violence and the deceitful inclusion of transgender material at one point despite developer commentary claiming otherwise is regrettable. Otherwise, it's somewhat competent if still flawed, so you may wish to skip this or wait until it gets a lot more polished.