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Have you ever wanted to check out a game simply because you thought the box art looked cool? That’s not often the case for me but Chasm: The Rift is one of those games. If memory serves, it was a review of it that even brought it to my attention. This was years ago but well after the game was in its prime. So I looked up the game, saw the box art and thought it looked really cool. I did eventually play the game and remember giving up fairly quickly. I think I got lost or stuck and just wasn’t in the mood to figure it out. I kind of forgot it about it until one day I saw the remaster pop up on Steam with that cool art and I jumped on it.
Developed by Action Forms and published by Megamedia, Chasm: The Rift was released for DOS in 1997. A remastered or enhanced version was released for PC in 2022 and Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2023. For this review, I played the remaster for PC. The original game did come with a multiplayer component which is absent in the remaster so this review will only focus on the single player. The remaster released on Steam and GOG come with the original DOS game along with the Level Editor as an included bonus. It also comes with extra levels which my research tells are from an official add-on released way back when.
The story puts the player in the shoes of a commando who is sent on missions to repel the alien species known as the Timestrikers who have invaded Earth through multiple time rifts across the planet. That’s the gist of it. You are briefed by NPCs before starting certain levels and these briefings are voice acted. The story plays out in what I’ll call “episodes”, each consisting of multiple levels and each episode is set in a different location. Like many shooters of its time, the plot does take a backseat to the gameplay but I do like the set up and the different atmospheres and tones each episode conveys. It should be noted that Chasm shouldn’t take you very long to beat. If you know where to go, you can probably beat it in under five hours. Also, there’s only three extra levels so the add-on shouldn’t take you very long to beat, either.
I think Chasm is adorable. I’m going to state up front that it’s not really an amazing game but it does have a unique charm. The game’s Steam and GOG pages are examples of marketing at its finest. Terms like “ground-breaking” and “innovative” are thrown around and apparently Chasm is the “first Eastern European boomer shooter ever made.” Although, I don’t know why they used the term “boomer shooter”. I’ve been under the impression that term is used to describe modern shooters designed to look and play like shooters from the 90s. Chasm is a 90s game. Anyway, a few things to know before getting into the nitty gritty. Chasm is a first-person shooter, a corridor shooter, and it released after Quake.
Chasm is a run and gun first-person shooter from the 90s. If you’ve played other games from the time, much of what’s here will be familiar. You run around the levels shooting enemies, hunting for keys, and finding the buttons and switches to progress. Each episode does introduce some new foes which is cool even if some do feel like reskins or variants of others. Each episode ends with a boss and one aspect of the game I feel is kind of neat is that each boss isn’t simply dropped by unloading your weapons into them. You must do something specific or solve a puzzle, so to speak, to defeat them.
The gunplay is okay. I felt it was kind of stale in the beginning but as I progressed, it kind of grew on me. Chasm features a pretty cool arsenal but the action does get repetitive and can even feel dull at times mainly because of how the game is designed. One of the advertised features is dismemberment. You can blow off enemy limbs and heads and even turn foes into gibs which actually is quite satisfying. You can shoot off a foe’s arms and watch them run around which I thought was somewhat humorous. Although, if you’re outnumbered, dismembering certain foes can be a good strategy if you want to call it that. You can blow off what I’ll call their weapon arm rendering them unable to shoot at you, allowing you to focus on other foes if necessary.
In my opinion, Chasm’s biggest problem is that it’s too cramped and you can’t jump very high. It’s very much a corridor shooter. The level design feels more like Wolfenstein 3D than Quake or even Doom. A lot of hallways and narrow passageways that often lead to small boxed areas with more corridors branching off of them. Like other shooters of the time, it is possible to get lost or stuck, unsure of where to go or what to do, probably because you missed a path or switch. The level design really holds the game back. The design does get repetitive and has a negative affect on encounters and the only thing that could make it worse would be a lack of visual variety. As I mentioned earlier, each episode takes you to a different location so despite all the levels feeling very similar in terms of design, at least the scenery changes every five levels.
If the levels were opened up more, or in other words, if the level design wasn’t so cramped all the time, I think Chasm would have been a much better game. The design makes the whole experience feel very trial and error. The game just doesn’t give you enough room to maneuver so the typical dance of running, gunning, and circle strafing associated with games like this is often not possible here because you constantly feel boxed in. Being outnumbered can be a serious problem even with plenty of ammo and health. Enemies often lie in wait behind doors and just like other games of its kind, there are ambushes and monster closets and these can be very frustrating because you simply don’t have enough room to move around and avoid attacks, especially if you’re surrounded or outnumbered. It’s possible to turn a corner, open a door, or enter an area and immediately get blown away. Sometimes you’ll acquire a key or interact with a switch and it results in enemies spawning around you and do keep in mind splash damage is a thing so using weapons like the Grenader or Mega Destroyer in close proximity can result in your death.
Chasm comes with three difficulty levels and also gives you the option to configure a custom difficulty. I played through the game on Normal and can honestly say it’s not super challenging. Don’t get me wrong, the trial and error can be annoying and I definitely died on more than one occasion, but I would say the challenge ramps up nicely as you progress and I do like most of the enemies. Each episode not only takes you to different locations but I believe also different time periods. You’ll shoot your way through tech base themed levels, Egyptian levels, levels set in 11th Century A.D., and I’m not sure where the final episode is set but it feels more sci-fi horror than the other episodes. At least in my opinion. The locations do come with some unique foes and I guess they’re all supposed to be Timestrikers or maybe some are just under the influence of them. Because in addition to what I’ll call the Timestriker aliens, you’ll also engage vikings, zombies, skeletons, werehogs, lionmen, and jokers among others. It’s a pretty cool cast as far as I’m concerned. Fun fact, joker is the foe in the box art I’m so enamored with.
The original Chasm was not a true 3D game. I’ve seen it described as 2.5D and a game that falls technologically in between Doom and Quake. I guess that’s all accurate but I actually do like presentation. As I said earlier, I feel this game has a unique charm and I think the presentation is part of the reason why. As far as remasters or enhanced versions go, I think this remaster looks pretty damn good. I like the visual variety of the episodes and enemy designs and feel both the environments and enemies are well detailed. I also liked the weather and visual effects. I like the sparks that appear when shots make contact with structures or surfaces. On the audio side, enemies make all kinds of noises which is fine and weapons sound okay but I was disappointed at the lack of memorable music. Much of soundtrack seems to be filled with ambient and moody tunes but nothing that really jams. On the technical side, the game ran great and I encountered no major issues.
I’ve seen Chasm jokingly described as “poor man’s Quake”. From what I read, apparently the game was meant to compete with Quake. Well it’s nowhere near as good but it does have a charm. There’s just something about it. And I say its adorable because I feel like the developers tried but just clearly couldn’t hit the mark. It’s like Chasm is trying to be one of the cool kids but everyone knows its not happening. But the thing is, despite its issues, I do enjoy it. I like the alien invasion premise, the different locations, the enemy designs, and I think the arsenal is cool. I also found the game to be quite atmospheric. It’s definitely got its own thing going on and it’s just a shame every level feels so cramped. The level design really limits the game’s potential in my opinion. It’s repetitive and makes for some frustrating situations and encounters. I really feel that if the levels were designed to give you more room to maneuver, it would have made a world of difference. It may still not have reached Quake status but it would have definitely been a better game.
I would only recommend Chasm: The Rift if you can get it on sale. It’s not a horrible game but there’s nothing really amazing about it. It’s a charming sci-fi shooter with some cool stuff but most of what it does has been done better in other games including its contemporaries. If you are interested in checking it out, I do think the remaster is the way to go. It’s designed to run on modern systems and comes with cool enhancements and in my experience it runs well, and the Steam and GOG releases come with the original DOS game so you can even check out the original if you so desire.