Best Modern Boomer Shooter Games That Look Old-School

The boomer shooter era began, ultimately, around two big games in the 90s: Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. Even though those games look dated now, they are iconic and still fun to play, just like it is fun to go back to arcade games. Some indie and triple-A developers even decided they didn’t want to let the past go, so they made the sub-genre that is now referred to as boomer shooters.

It’s easy to recognize one of these types of games because they look like Doom and other 90s shooters. They have flat maps, pixel art, and often rock music for their soundtracks. There are exceptions to make one game stand out from another, and some of the best games include Prodeus and Ultrakill. What else made the list, and why are these games so great?

Mullet Madjack

Keep The Adrenaline Up

Mullet Madjack has a lot in common with a modern game like Cyberpunk 2077 since it is a cyberpunk game, but it also has some original System Shock DNA in there as well, even though that was more hardcore sci-fi and also an RPG. Regardless of games, what Mullet Madjack draws on the most is 90s anime, and 80s as well, for its aesthetic, as character portraits look like something out of Ghost in the Shell or Bubblegum Crisis.

Regardless of aesthetics, this is a linear roguelike shooter wherein players have to get as far as they can before dying and repeating the process. Guns and abilities are randomized, and each one will make killing easier. The goal is to be as creative with kills as possible, as a shotgun blast combined with a kick into a spinning fan will net more points and thus keep the hero alive longer, who runs on adrenaline. Fun gameplay, great assist options, and killer visuals, Mullet Madjack is a modern classic.

Wizordum

Hectic Hexes

Wizordum definitely borrows a lot from Heretic and Hexen: Beyond Heretic, which were the magic equivalents to Doom in the 90s. What sets Wizordum apart is its bright visuals, which help players get around dungeons more easily, and it highlights the creative designs for weapons and monsters. Everything appears flat with a low pixel design, but the rainbow bright visuals make everything pop.

Players will go from level to level, getting upgrades in between each stage to arm themselves better for the next onslaught of enemies. Players can find magic rings that shoot fire, a rod that blasts ice, or even melee weapons like a mace. Whatever players wield, goblins and other creatures don’t stand a chance in Wizordum, which is a good modern fantasy shooter.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

2.5D Space Marines

The great thing about the Warhammer franchise is its versatility when it comes to making video games, as several developers have all tried their hand at various genres, and many of them are homages to the past. Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is a modern Doom-inspired shooter with flat enemies cruising around semi-linear levels. It’s also bloody disgusting as a pixel game, as these enemy sprites explode with red pixel goo in the most satisfying ways.

Players can find pistols that fire bolts, a chainsaw sword to grind enemies into pulp, a shotgun that loads shells from the top, and more. It is everything a Doom and Warhammer fan could want and more, and players who engage with Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun and love it should know there is a sequel on the way.

Prodeus

Metal Gear

Prodeus is perhaps the most 1:1 clone of Doom, featuring humans who harvested the power of gates leading to the underworld, which resulted in all chaos breaking out. Players will fight demons using futuristic weapons and gear, exploring non-linear levels, and looking for secrets and keys to move on. There is even a world map like Doom, which lets players retry levels if they want.

The future is blurry, with low-resolution models of demons stalking players, but thankfully, the weapons can turn them into bloody expressions of red goo very quickly. There is a four-barreled shotgun, and players can even dual-wield machine guns, and that’s barely touching the tip of the weapons iceberg. Prodeus is probably the best Doom game next to the official Doom reboot from 2016, and it is a blast.

Ultrakill

Just Keep Shooting

Ultrakill borrows a lot from Doom as well, but more so than anything, it embodies the very nature of chaotic shooters from the 90s, and the very attitude era of this decade. It does not care about creating a story or even making a meaningful character to root for. It is concerned with giving players the best modern shooter experience it can, with big weapons, fast movement, and even cooler powers.

Players will be just as happy shooting with a double-barreled machine gun as they will with a pistol that deflects coins into the skulls of enemies. Even though it came out in 2020, Ultrakill is still technically in Early Access. Whether it ever officially launches does not matter because it is already great.

Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War!

I’m Doing My Part

• Developer: Auroch Digital
• Publisher: Dotemu, Game Source Entertainment
• Released: 3/16/26
• Platform: PC

Starship Troopers, as a 90s film, was ahead of its time as a commentary on the war effort, even though it was about fighting space bugs. That said, no one can deny it’s also a fun movie about killing bugs, which lends itself well to a newer game called Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! on Steam. The art style is a mix of polygons and sprites to make it look a bit unreal, but good in its own unique way.

From the big open maps with objectives everywhere to the levels themselves, it’s almost more like Halo: Combat Evolved than Doom, which was a 2001 Xbox game. Still, Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! does evoke the energy of the 90s since it is also channeling its own film, and there are even FMV cutscenes as a throwback to when PC games especially loved using real actors instead of in-game models.

Ion Fury

Dukess Nukem

Ion Fury is a throwback from a company that used to make big boomer shooters in the 90s and beyond: 3D Realms. They made Duke Nukem and Shadow Warrior, just to name a few, and Ion Fury is definitely a spiritual successor made in the old-school style that came out in 2019. The gameplay design is similar as players are thrown into a chaotic situation with terrorists blowing up the city.

Players have free rein to explore in semi-open levels, looking for power-ups like armor and ammo for their myriad of guns, from revolvers to shotguns to machine guns that light terrorists on fire. Ion Fury doesn’t add anything new to the formula 3D Realms has been working with since the 90s, besides the female lead, but as a throwback, that’s okay.

Fashion Police Squad

Put Some Clothes On

Fashion Police Squad has the most in common with weirder shooters of the 90s, like PO'ed, which was about a chef fighting anthropomorphic food. In this game, a fashionable city is getting filled with kids who won’t pull up their pants, businessmen in saggy suits, and more, and the Fashion Police cannot deal with these fashion faux pas. Players will get armed with various fashion-forward guns to blast enemies with, which will brighten up their day.

A sewing gun could fix a suit, while a belt whip could pull up some pants. It’s great to have a fast-paced and colorful shooter like this that is still fun to play while also being a non-bloody option for kids. In this way, Fashion Police Squad also has some Super 3D Noah's Ark DNA in it as well, which was a Doom clone for the SNES originally about Noah putting his animals to sleep on his Ark.