Supplice

Humanity’s expansion into the wider universe turns a terraforming mission into a fight against the biomechanical horrors it has unleashed. Supplice pairs a retro-styled science-fiction setting with fast first-person combat, varied weapons and a growing episodic campaign that remains in Early Access.

Supplice starts from an ambitious human project: humanity has outgrown its home and sends teams to prepare distant worlds for colonisation. The player character is an engineer assigned to that terraforming work, not a soldier sent to wage a conventional war. The mission changes when the team encounters the biomechanical horrors unleashed during the terraforming work. What should have been preparation for settlement becomes a fight to survive and save the wider world. The setup gives the action a clear science-fiction foundation: exploration and development have reached places where the environment and its technology can no longer be treated as safe. Supplice keeps the details of that premise within a deliberately pulpy frame, matching its mid-nineties shooter inspiration and vivid pixel-art presentation.

The setting reaches across distant worlds rather than staying in a single facility or settlement. Supplice presents humanity as an expanding civilisation, and the episode structure carries that journey into increasingly dangerous environments. Later episodes visit the frozen wastes and a factory moon, with the latter built around molten metal, heavy machinery and the danger of limited oxygen outside. An Episode 5 map moves into a skeletal palace on Io, where a living engine consumes the moon and its landscape includes lava hazards and hostile hordes. These settings give each episode its own visual and environmental identity while keeping the central conflict focused on facing the consequences of the alien forces and technology encountered during the expedition.

Supplice remains in Early Access, and its available campaign is an evolving work rather than a finished six-episode story. The initial release contained Episode 1: five substantial maps culminating in a boss encounter. The announced scope plans six episodes, each expected to contain five maps plus additional secret levels, and said the story delivery would expand as episodes arrived. Episode 4 is a released five-map chapter, while Episode 5 maps are still being added in stages. That distinction matters to the story: the premise is in place, but the available chapters and narrative coverage do not represent the planned complete experience. New material can change the available scope as development continues.

Combat follows the fast, direct rhythm of a classic first-person shooter. The player moves through enemy-filled spaces, searches for a route forward and switches among weapons to handle threats at different ranges. Supplice frames its arsenal through the protagonist’s engineering background: industrial tools such as drills sit beside flamethrowers, conventional guns and experimental weapons. Some weapons also have alternate modes that change how a tool works. A minigun can be set up as a stationary sentry, while a flamethrower can release flammable gas that the player then ignites. These options make weapon choice about more than selecting a damage type; they let the player change the shape of a fight, whether by establishing a firing position or turning an area into a hazard for approaching enemies.

Enemies combine mechanical and biological features, matching the game’s biomechanical and mecha-mutant theme. Large enemies and brutal encounters punctuate the campaign, with new episodes adding more enemy types and bosses. Episode 4 introduced several named threats and a new boss; Episode 5 brings dense hordes and environmental dangers alongside new weapons and equipment. This steady addition of threats gives the campaign room to increase pressure through new combinations instead of relying on one repeated opponent. Large weapons, quick movement and awareness of the surrounding space are all part of the intended response. The presentation keeps violence stylised through detailed pixel art rather than realistic imagery, while the game itself identifies gore and gun violence as part of its science-fiction horror content.

Exploration is part of progression through each map. The Doom-mod heritage is reflected in secret routes, hidden bonus levels and an emphasis on learning how an environment connects. The six-episode plan includes secret levels beyond its core maps, and later chapter additions have expanded the level-selection hub. Newer chapters also add survival tools that respond directly to environmental threats: a Lava Suit is designed for traversing extreme heat, and healing pools provide recovery in the Feasting Engine area. The game can also let players choose whether inventory and upgrades carry between episodes or reset on each level. That option changes how a run is paced and how resources are managed, making the campaign structure itself part of the play style.

Supplice retains the community-made spirit of the Doom modding scene through support for user-created maps. That gives players a way to extend the experience beyond its authored campaign, build on the tools and aesthetic that inspired the project, and share new spaces to explore. The episodic format also lends itself to revisiting earlier areas as new weapons and threats arrive in later chapters. For players drawn to classic shooters, the blend of compact levels, secrets and community contributions offers room to explore at their own pace. The campaign’s expanding reach across alien worlds provides its larger frame, while each map stays focused on navigation, combat and finding a way through.