It’s been a few years since the first chapter debuted, but Cultic: Chapter Two is finally here to complete the game’s story. Despite the fact that it’s supposed to be the second half of the same game and not a sequel, it often doesn’t quite feel like that. Realistically speaking, this second chapter just has a couple more levels than the first (and you can really say it has just one more since the interlude added to chapter one is a whole level too,) but this is a much more substantial chunk of game, for better or worse (but mostly better.) The result is even better levels with improved theming that fans of the first chapter will really appreciate.
Cultic: Chapter Two picks up shortly after the interlude ends. At the end of the first chapter, the detective went through a portal which took him into the police station morgue, the location of the interlude. Right away he’s out of the morgue and on his feet, right back in the police station. This time, he’ll explore nine full levels and what amounts to three boss levels, but this chapter alone is as long as (if not longer,) than most full-length boomer shooters, depending on how much you explore.
It’s clear from the get-go that Cultic‘s developer (who did most of the development himself, alongside a single other level designer,) has grown in leaps and bounds in terms of level design skill. The first chapter’s levels are pretty good but can feel samey (oh, look, a dilapidated building, oh, look, a forest with a starry night sky, oh, look, another mine.) This chapter has much more specific locations in mind, however. You’ve got locations such as a shopping mall, a compound in a swamp, a train, an Old West town (which is sadly not a full level,) and even a Renaissance Fair. Due to this, each level feels like its telling its own story, which was a really great choice.
While many levels in the first chapter take about 20 minutes, all of the ones here are mostly about twice as long, if not more. A few of them actually took over an hour even! These levels are typically massive and dense with places to see. They’re mostly impeccably designed, although I do feel that some of them are too big (this is mostly the Ren Fair, though.) The art direction is once again completely on-point and progression in each level does tend to centre around an objective. Of course, the game doesn’t tell you these objectives outright and you’ll need to stumble upon them, such as there being a spot with glowing openings for explosives that you’re meant to find.
Discovering all of these isn’t usually all that difficult, although one of the four charges that needs to be found in the swamp level was a bit hard to locate. Due to all of this, Cultic: Chapter Two has some really rich exploration that rivals the best of the genre. There was a single section in the game that I couldn’t figure out quite how I was supposed to get past, but I found a way to cheese past this (although it’s possible that tanking damage was the intended way to do it all along.) All-in-all, I’d probably say this chapter alone takes about ten hours to get through, making it nearly double the size of the first one, even though they cost the same amount of money.
Another surprising fact is that some of the levels have sections that lean into full-on horror with hardly any enemies to fight, which makes for a very nice change of pace. The combat in Cultic: Chapter Two can be overwhelming too, so these were a welcome respite in addition to actually managing to be pretty scary in spots. This chapter is significantly harder than the first one, I thought. Even more so because the dev buffed multiple enemies to make them even more threatening. The chainsaw enemies can now throw a hook at you to drag you near them, which is the last thing you want an enemy that can kill you in two seconds to do.
But the larger levels and buffed enemies are a bit of a trade-off, as the game can get straight-up exhausting here. Cultic: Chapter Two loves to lock you in small areas with multiple powerful enemies, which massively got on my nerves at times. Of course, the enemies here are still stupidly accurate and this is one of the game’s enduring issues. If I can’t hit an enemy across the map with a pistol or shotgun, the enemies shouldn’t be able to either, but I still routinely found myself getting sniped by pistol and shotgun cultists. The enemy placement is also aggravating here and there, as you’ll continually get shot by enemies you can’t know are there without trial and error. You can even get shot the split-second you enter an area.
The armoured shotgun enemies are also way, way too tanky, as I felt like it took forever to take them down much of the time. Combine that with how quickly they melt you and you have a recipe for frustration. As this is the final chapter of the game, you do fight a legit final boss at the end, but I honestly kind of hated it. The final boss has a regenerating shield that you have to remove each time you want to actually do damage and I really despise boss battles like that, as it just makes the enemy feel padded. Of course, there’s a specific type of attack that works best against his armour, but this took some trial and error.
Cultic: Chapter Two is undoubtedly even better than the first chapter, even though it still does that thing that bars you from saving during bosses and certain sections, and it does retain and even double down on some of chapter one’s design issues. If you’re a fan of boomer shooters and if you’ve got high expectations due to the first chapter, I find it likely that you’ll very much enjoy this.
Cultic: Chapter Two: Featuring larger, more interesting levels than the first chapter and some scary horror sections, Cultic: Chapter Two is even better than its predecessor. – Andrew Farrell
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