A.W.O.L. is a Freeware 2022 military-themed First-Person Shooter by a small mod team, Shotspark Studios, made on the Build Engine (of Duke Nukem 3D fame) from the 1990's, specifically a modernized version of the Build Engine based on the "EDuke32" source port which allows for modern hardware acceleration and modern controls while retaining the original 2D pixel sprite graphics. Similar to Ion Fury, the game leverages modern hardware to create levels and scripting that are more complex than what the Build Engine was originally capable of in the 1990's, particularly a squad of 3 A.I. teammates who accompany you through most of the game.
Originally conceived as a passion project by a small Build Engine mod team in the early 2000's, the game was in development for almost two decades before finally being released for free on Steam in September 2022.
Players take the role of Dwayne Allen, a burnt out ex-special forces soldier, who is roped into a mission to locate his missing commanding officer, Lt. Jim "Duke" Ryan, alongside his 3 former squadmates.
A.W.O.L. provides examples of:
- A.I. Breaker: Once the enemy A.I. starts firing, they won't stop until they empty their mag and need to reload. It's pretty simple to exploit this by hiding behind something until they run out of bullets, then pop out and blow them away while they're reloading.
- Artificial Brilliance: One of the major features of A.W.O.L. is your squad of 3 teammates who accompany you through most of the game, an extremely impressive feat for a Build Engine game. That said...
- Artificial Stupidity:
- Your squad aren't the brightest A.I. teammates and feel more like the friendly A.I. from early 2000's games like Daikatana or Star Trek: Elite Force (or even the granddaddy of A.I. teammates in an FPS, Last Rites) rather than more modern shooters. The game compensates for this by giving them very high health and Regenerating Health when outside of combat.
- The enemy A.I. is pretty simple too; despite the game toting advanced modern A.I. in its feature description, in practice the enemies act mostly like enemies from 1990's Build Engine games.
- Back Stab: You can stealth kill unaware enemies by using the "use" key on them from behind.
- The Conspiracy: Turns out Duke stumbled upon a Military Industrial Complex conspiracy to sell performance enhancing drugs using South American cartels as a middleman, all to fund the development of a dangerously unstable super drug for use by U.S. troops.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Dwayne's first mission as a squad leader ended up with his entire squad dead, because he ignored intel that suggested the enemy terrorists had acquired vulkan turrets to defend their camp. This resulted in him leaving the military and being consumed by guilt.
- Elite Mooks: Some enemies have enhanced health, allowing them to take more bullets to put down. They're usually distinguished by features such as night-vision goggles or a drill sergeants' uniform.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Counting Dwayne himself, your squad consists of two men and two women.
- Health Potion: You can carry up to 3 health kits, which you can use to restore lost health.
- Hitbox Dissonance: Your hitbox seems to be larger than your field of view, it's pretty common to be shot when you're at a corner even though it seems the wall is completely between you and the enemy.
- Hyperspace Arsenal: You can carry a fairly big arsenal for a modern military shooter; you've got a knife, a sidearm (a pistol or submachine gun), two primary weapons (a M4 carbine, AK-47, shotgun, or rocket launcher), plus grenades.
- Mêlée à Trois: In the Dubai level, you're in the middle of a war between the city's security forces and a terrorist group attacking the city. While the security forces are initially neutral to you, it's very easy to shoot and kill one of them by accident, which permanently turns them against you, leading to a 3-way fight between you and the two factions.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: The game has a nightmare sequence which is a clear Shout-Out to the ones from the first Max Payne. In this sequence the game suddenly shifts from a First-Person Shooter to first-person platforming.
- Ranged Emergency Weapon: You start the game with a pistol as a sidearm, which is quickly outclassed by the shotgun and assault rifle you'll quickly find. You can eventually replace the pistol with a full-auto MP5 submachine gun, which is a good compliment to the assault rifle since they use different ammo pools.
- Retraux: Similar to Ion Fury, the game was made in the Build Engine from the 1990's and released in 2022. While mostly playing like a Build Engine game, it does have some modern features such as aim-down-sights on guns and the ability to throw grenades.
- Tactical Shooter: The game is described as a "mil-spec FPS" rather than a tactical shooter, but the game states that the higher difficulty levels are meant to provide an experience similar to tactical shooters, with unforgiving enemies encouraging more tactical gameplay. That said, the game still generally plays like a Build Engine First-Person Shooter, with health and armor pickups, enemies requiring several bullet hits to kill, etc. However, the movement speed is a bit slower than most games from the 90's, and is more akin to the more "realistic" movement of games from the early to mid 2000's.
- Vehicular Assault: The Final Boss is a helicopter gunship armed with a mounted turret gun. It's a full 3D model rather than a 2D sprite. While you can damage it with bullets, it's much more effective to fight it with a rocket launcher.
