Review: Total Chaos

Whole Chaos, developed by Set off Completely satisfied Interactive, was initially a complete conversion mod for DOOM 2 again in 2018. The mod was so well-received that it truly obtained a Cacoaward, which is handed out throughout an annual award ceremony printed on the Doomworld web site, recognizing user-created modifications to the well-known franchise. As you may see, followers of the modding neighborhood completely cherished it.

That is clear as day, as a result of now, the builders identified for Turbo Overkill have taken the mod into their very own palms to create a fully-fledged recreation out of it. Set off Completely satisfied Interactive even went as far to get Akira Yamaoka concerned for the soundtrack, a legendary composer identified for his work on the Silent Hill franchise. With the stellar basis of the unique mod, and a well-liked title like Akira Yamaoka for its music, it is certain to be unimaginable. Proper?

After taking part in by Whole Chaos, I would not use the phrase “unimaginable” to explain the general expertise. Nevertheless, Whole Chaos does a number of stuff proper for a survival horror recreation, particularly in relation to its fight, stock administration, and the story’s hidden meanings. Nonetheless, there are a couple of gripes I’ve with the sport that stop it from reaching absolutely the excellence that it might have.

So, what makes Whole Chaos nice, and what’s it missing that forestalls it from reaching its full potential? Or, ought to I say, what’s the recreation doing an excessive amount of of that hinders the general expertise? We’ve the solutions to those burning questions on this assessment, so sit again, and let’s get into it.

A Man Descending Into Insanity

Whole Chaos follows a protagonist whose ship has crashed and washed up on a mysterious island known as Fort Oasis, a as soon as thriving land that’s now crammed with decay and terrifying monstrosities. With nowhere left to go, the one out there possibility is to hearken to an unknown man’s voice on a radio, who pushes you additional into the island to discover a manner out.

Nevertheless, the additional you delve into Fort Oasis and the longer you keep there, the deeper you descend into the depths of hell, and actuality begins to really feel increasingly diluted. In different phrases, because the title of the sport suggests, you begin to expertise complete chaos.

That’s the primary premise of Whole Chaos, however there’s far more to it than a very messed-up island. The plot is dripping with metaphor and has a hidden that means at its core, as Fort Oasis is a illustration of the primary protagonists’ psychological state.

As gamers progress additional onto the island, and issues grow to be extra horrific and uncomfortable, what is absolutely being witnessed is the thoughts of a person who’s descending into insanity and starting to lose himself because of madness. You’re not attempting to “get off the island” as the sport suggests, however as a substitute, you’re actually attempting to avoid wasting the primary character from a psychotic break.

In some methods, Whole Chaos reminds me of Silent Hill 2‘s storytelling and the way it makes use of metaphors to push the plot additional. Every thing you come throughout in Whole Chaos is an emblem of what’s happening in the primary protagonist’s thoughts, much like how every little thing James Sunderland encountered in SH2 represents his spouse’s illness and the emotions he had towards her.

In Whole Chaos, as you start to gather letters and hearken to tape recordings, you quickly notice that the primary protagonist is definitely named Tyler, a retired coastguard who has been identified with most cancers and PTSD.

As soon as this realization is met, the sport turns into a complete lot higher for it, because it does an amazing job at tackling such matters. It provides a complete new degree of urgency, as now you’re not simply preventing fictional demons on a abandoned island, however as a substitute, you might be preventing roadblocks in Tyler’s thoughts that he has been fighting internally.

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Whole Chaos does an amazing job at making the participant suppose they’re taking part in one factor, simply to flip it on its head and reveal there’s a a lot larger image at play. I completely cherished that about Whole Chaos, as I’m a sucker for video games that sort out delicate matters and categorical them in distinctive methods with out flat-out telling me the reply. Similar to Silent Hill 2, Whole Chaos is a recreation that asks you to take a step again and suppose, search for hidden meanings, and join the dots.

Hidden meanings are even emphasised by the sport’s atmospheric ranges and sound. Whereas some ranges look too an identical, and do not have many differentiating components, they’re continually dripped in dread and sorrow, an ideal illustration of Tyler’s thoughts. Add on the very good audio design, blended with a stellar soundtrack that’s designed to place you on edge, and also you genuinely really feel as in the event you’re by no means secure. Once more, it is a good illustration of Tyler, who’s clearly not secure from himself.

Methodical Fight of Give and Take

Whole Chaos focuses on melee and gun fight, placing a big emphasis on the dodge button and exchanging assaults with the enemy. There’s an ordinary or charged assault, the place the latter does extra injury, and every swing must be fastidiously timed to keep away from taking injury. Swinging your weapon on the fallacious time might lead to getting hit, which is detrimental, as all enemy assaults drain your well being bar by a substantial quantity.

Outdoors of dodging, Whole Chaos additionally options a block and parry system. Each actions are completed with the identical button, however sure weapons have a block, and others will enable for parry. Since dodging requires a very good chunk of stamina, each block and parry are extremely vital as they can be utilized to get you out of a troublesome scenario whenever you’re backed right into a nook. It feels nice to completely time a parry and watch the enemy get shocked earlier than you rush in for a closing blow. This sort of addictive fight is on the core of Whole Chaos, and it constantly feels satisfying.

For nearly three chapters, gamers will purely be specializing in melee fight, as there aren’t any different choices till the tip of the third chapter (apart from a Harpoon that’s fairly ineffective). After buying the primary fundamental gun on the finish of Chapter Three, the gameplay takes a flip, as now you can play a extra offensive strategy and defeat waves of enemies from a distance. The gunplay feels good right here, nevertheless it’s nothing to actually write residence about. It will get the job completed and is serviceable, however don’t anticipate industry-leading gunplay.

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Nevertheless, gamers will nonetheless spend a very good chunk of their time with melee fight, as the sport has minimal ammo all through its setting. Understanding when to make use of bullets in opposition to commonplace enemies, or whether or not you need to save a full clip for the more durable encounters, is the secret and requires cautious consideration.

I felt satisfaction in having the ability to take down an elite enemy with my ammo as a result of I made a decision to reserve it earlier in my playthrough. There’s no higher feeling than coming in touch with a difficult enemy, simply to gun it down because of being sensible with my ammo consumption.

Total, the fight in Whole Chaos is nice, and followers of survival horror and DOOM will really feel proper at residence in its total really feel. The exchanging of assaults by melee and gunning down teams of enemies creates exhilarating and tense encounters that may actually get the guts pumping. Nevertheless, it is vital to say that fight encounters with teams of enemies sometimes trigger large body fee dips on the PlayStation 5, resulting in me taking injury once I should not have. These points are obvious, however not sufficient to spoil the general expertise.

Sources Can Be Too Arduous to Come By

Regardless that Whole Chaos initially was a mod for DOOM 2, the gameplay is totally totally different and focuses extra on survival and crafting mechanics. As a substitute of discovering powerups and fixed ammo mendacity round like Doom video games, you’ll be scavenging for meals, med kits, wood poles for weapons, bandages, and extra.

Every merchandise is important and may also help you keep alive longer, one thing that’s surprisingly tough in Whole Chaos. Surviving is a job, not due to the enemies, however due to the standing results that your character is continually experiencing.

Gamers have to handle a plethora of status effects and debuffs comparable to Bleed, Starvation, Stock Weight, Stamina Discount, Drowning, and extra. On high of all that, there’s additionally a weapon sturdiness system, that means you continually should control their state, or else you can find yourself in a battle with no strategy to defend your self. This occurred to me extra occasions than I’d wish to admit, and whereas I’m wonderful with the concept of a sturdiness system, it’s particularly irritating in Whole Chaos, because it might result in you having to reload an previous save to rethink your strategy.

That’s not the one factor irritating in Whole Chaos’ core gameplay, both, because the administration of standing results appears like a chore. The reason being as a result of the sport merely doesn’t give sufficient provides, particularly within the early recreation, to remain on high of every little thing. There shall be occasions whenever you merely can not treatment Bleed, an impact that slowly drains your well being over time, because of the lack of supplies within the setting. Sure, you may craft bandages to treatment Bleed, however the supplies wanted for mentioned objects are uncommon in and of themselves.

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The identical factor could be mentioned for Starvation, which reduces the stamina restoration fee, requiring the participant to eat meals. It’s comprehensible to make assets scarce because of the “survival” nature of the sport, however it will have benefited the complete expertise if it have been extra forgiving on this discipline. Because it’s not, don’t be stunned to should return to older save recordsdata. And in the event you don’t create extra saves, nicely, then good luck at having an opportunity at making it to the subsequent chapter if you end up low on well being in opposition to a boss.

What makes Whole Chaos much more difficult is the truth that some objects which can be used to treatment standing results have unfavourable debuffs connected to them. For instance, you can eat meals that cures starvation, however reduces your well being. Or you should utilize an merchandise to replenish well being, at the price of turning into hungrier. It’s a trade-off that the sport forces you to decide to, which is okay, nevertheless it highlights even additional the shortage of assets discovered within the setting, as you are continually inflicting debuffs on your self that want therapeutic with extra assets.

Nevertheless, there’s some nice satisfaction available in Whole Chaos’ survival mechanics, and that revolves round its inventory management. Understanding when to make use of objects to eat, when to treatment bleeding, and when to repair a weapon entails a tactical strategy that could be a staple of the survival-horror style. The basics of the gameplay are improbable, nevertheless it simply goes to excessive lengths that trigger extra frustration than it ought to have. I believe the builders at Set off Completely satisfied Interactive ought to add problem choices or sliders to the sport that enhance the quantity of assets.

Closing Ideas:

Whole Chaos is an thrilling survival-horror recreation that follows a person descending into insanity inside his personal thoughts. The story and fight are the standouts right here, as each are participating sufficient to maintain the participant on the sting of their seats, pushing them additional into the depths of the sport’s world to be taught extra concerning the protagonist and take down deadlier foes. Discovering the lore of Fort Oasis, the sport’s fundamental location, and the way its hidden meanings hook up with the primary character’s psychological state and illness shares a robust resemblance to Silent Hill 2, and it is fascinating to uncover. The most important unfavourable is the sport’s core survival mechanics and the way it typically feels too punishing due to its lack of assets, to the purpose that some gamers is perhaps pressured to return to an earlier save relying on their scenario. The acute lengths it takes to make the participant really feel hopeless could also be an excessive amount of for the informal participant, so it is undoubtedly not a recreation that could possibly be really helpful to everybody.

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Launched

November 20, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Alcohol Reference, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language

Developer(s)

Set off Completely satisfied Interactive

Writer(s)

Apogee Leisure

Variety of Gamers

Single-player

Execs & Cons

• Nice location crammed with lore
• A narrative crammed with hidden meanings
• Addictive melee and gun fight
• Every chapter options new terrifying encounters
• Sound design is great
• Music is intense

• Can typically really feel like there’s not sufficient assets
• Stuttering points on the PlayStation 5
• Ranges design and colours can look too related from each other
• First three chapters can really feel like a slog
• Managing standing results can typically really feel like a chore, as a substitute of being satisfying