Entity

Want to know what exploration looks like in the worst possible world? Entity will show you without sugarcoating. This platformer action-packed ride from 1994 on DOS will cram exactly as many colors into your brain as fit on a 256-color palette, and builds its mechanics on the simplest possible principle: move, jump, shoot. No apologies as you retreat, just raw gameplay with no frills. You're some explorer in a suit who has to get through several levels packed with alien creatures and obstacles. The graphics took inspiration primarily from Alien-inspired monsters, which was moderately original in the nineties, but it did the job. Goal: get from one end of the level to the other and kill everything in your way. Simplicity that everyone loved. Playing itself is straightforward. Arrows or WASD move you, spacebar launches you upward, Ctrl or some other key blasts enemies. There's no head-jumping here, no Power-Ups hidden in bricks, no easy difficulty. Entity tells you right from the start: you want to play, go count your health and the number of enemies. Learning comes quick and painful. By the end of the second level, you already know what's waiting for you. What made Entity memorable wasn't originality, but relentlessness. In the nineties there were plenty of hit-or-miss games without much conviction, but Entity knew what it wanted. It's not a game for everyone, but for those who want action without the exclamation marks. Time has passed it by, modern platformers are gentler and more educational, but this old thing still holds onto its toughness even today. Today you can play it through DOSBox or an online emulator if you're curious to see what an action game looked like on DOS when developers still didn't have time to be polite. For modern times it's missing Polish and explanations, but that very silence makes it a bit more interesting than it should be.