Boomer Shooters are now an official genre on Steam, as classic Doom inspires more and more FPS gems
Jan. 5, 2024Slaying in style
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Steam has added another genre tag to the digital storefront, this time officially recognizing the old-school “boomer shooters,” as games about booming and shooting surge.
The boomer shooter moniker simply refers to retro shooters (Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein) and the waves of modern games, usually indies, built in that style (Dusk, HROT, Turbo Overkill.) They’re sometimes characterized by their nostalgic pixelated/voxelated art, sometimes by their labyrinthine levels, and always known for how furiously you can blast baddies.
Steam’s latest genre tag has given the boomer shooter some newfound validation since, for years, the title has been a little controversial around online forums, mainly because Doom and other 1980s shooters were more likely played by Generation X. But I guess the “OK, boomer” meme makes the term easily understandable. How about Doomer Shooter?
The boomer shooter, erm, boom will certainly expand in the coming years thanks to the storefront’s new tag. You can head over toSteam’s Boomer Shootersection to find all those trigger-happy games that make you feel like you’re ice skating around demons. Among them isone of the best Warhammer gamesever made and the spell-slinging Hexen, a classic thatPhil Spencer wants to see return now that Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard.
For now, check out thebest FPS gamesto get your classic fix.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.
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