PC Critic Reviews

Total Chaos’ remake can be orthodox to a fault, but it’s a polished evolution of a fascinating blend of survival horror and shooter that never lets off the gas.

Fans of tense melee terror - or old-school DOOM games in general - shouldn't hesitate to check out Total Chaos this holiday season.

More than anything, I vibed with Total Chaos' creative dungeon-crawling routine, its secrets and scares, its weird developments and frantic encounters, and I even enjoyed tangling with my overweight inventory. There are settings to untick everything from hunger to weapon durability, but I played through the game on standard and found its systems generous and satisfyingly manageable. In the end, Total Chaos purely nails this sad survival horror sweet spot that I didn’t even realize I was jonesing for.

Total Chaos is a game of extremes for me. I really like its combat and survival elements, but the action of melee and gunplay against the lesser enemies is less enjoyable than I would have hoped. There is also some noticeable jankiness that pulls away from its best elements. However, I was almost always enamored with Total Chaos’ set pieces, environment, and sound. The bigger scares in this game and the build-ups to them are great. It’s not often we see such a thematic change between games like the move from Turbo Overkill to Total Chaos, but I think Trigger Happy Interactive has built something quite fun with this game. It might not always be consistent, but when Total Chaos hits, it hits like a sledgehammer crushing a twisted figment of our warping sanity.

Fort Oasis is a decaying nightmare where reality crumbles and waiting only for you. Come and be pleasantly scared and fight for survival.

Total Chaos is disgusting, bloody, and taxing, but it’s also sympathetic and cathartic. And despite its misgivings and missteps, it is fun, twisting together horrific perversions with tension-filled gameplay in the way every great survival horror game should. Poor voice acting and repetitive gameplay/monster design dampen what makes Total Chaos great. However, its inventive crafting-focused combat and stirring story cement Trigger Happy Interactive’s sophomore release as one that will surely haunt my thoughts long after this playthrough.

Its recipe is a simple one — take rock-solid FPS and survival fundamentals, and flesh them with high-level, imaginatively distinct, and powerful horror. It’s not a subtle experience, but met on its own terms, warts, Wranglers and all, it hits like a sledgehammer in the best possible way. Brace yourself.

Total Chaos is a commendable survival horror experience, praised for its excellent balance of action and resource management, effective sound design, and successful visual revamp as a Doom II mod. However, it falters with imprecise melee combat, occasionally confusing and repetitive level design, and an identity crisis between horror and action, ultimately being too faithful to its mod origins to fully evolve.

Going through Fort Oasis' ruins feels like revisiting a lost 2000's horror game in the best (and sometimes worst) ways. Well-designed maps with clever secrets are offset by a few unbalanced fights. Total Chaos feels overall like a good nostalgic experience, leaving a positive mark in DOOM's extended family tree.