Boomer Shooters have officially become a recognized genre on Steam, marking a significant recognition for a style of first-person shooter games. This category pays homage to the classic FPS games from the 1990s, like Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein, which basically helped birth the genre (and spawned an entire generation of skeptical rebellious teenagers who insisted on playing the “satanic” shooters that adults so very much loved to hate.) In recent years, this has included modern indie titles like Turbo Overkill, HROT, and Dust.
Characterized by their fast-paced action, nostalgic pixelated or voxelated art, and labyrinthine levels, Boomer Shooters are best known for the intense if adrenaline-filled experience that they offer.
Interestingly, the term “boomer shooter” emerged as a bit of an inside joke within the development team of the game, Dusk. Andrew Hulshult, a composer for several games in this genre, including the aforementioned title, as well as Amid Evil and Prodeus, noted that they used the term to describe the original Doom game that came out all the way in the early 90s. Eventually, the term became its own thing as the internet embraced it for its humor. It has since grown to encompass a whole genre of shooters, now officially recognized on Steam.
The popularity of boomer shooters on Steam is evident, with a total of 64 games currently falling into this category. It includes classics like Star Wars: Dark Forces, which is getting a remaster in February, alongside newer titles like Warhammer 40K: Boltgun.
These games bring a sense of nostalgia, reviving the feel and gameplay of late 1990s FPS classics. Notably, the boomer shooter genre isn’t just about the action; they often hark back to a simpler time in gaming, when gameplay was straightforward, yet challenging, and graphics were less sophisticated but charming in their own right.
Interestingly, the term “boomer shooter” doesn’t necessarily relate to the Baby Boomer generation. Instead, it highlights a trend in the FPS genre that looks back fondly to the late 1990s. This resurgence appeals to nostalgia and offers, in a way, a counterpoint to the trend towards realism seen in modern FPS games spearheaded by Call of Duty, and, before its downfall, Battlefield.
Indie developers are leading this charge, ensuring that the essence of these classic games doesn’t fade into obscurity. Although the most recent pair of DOOM games as well as several Wolfenstein titles are anything but indie.
Nevertheless, the rise of boomer shooters indicates a broadening appeal among audiences for a faster-paced and more fantastical FPS experience. Even the mainstream shooters like Apex Legends, Overwatch 2, and The Finals, which aren’t strictly boomer shooters due to their higher production values, have gained popularity, suggesting that there’s still a significant appetite for this style of game among modern audiences.
As the newly-minted genre grows, we might see larger studios taking inspiration from this trend, just as Hades, Dead Cells, and Returnal, among others, did with rougelikes.
With Microsoft and Bethesda re-releasing classics like Doom and Quake, it’s clear that there’s recognition of the interest in these types of games at the highest levels of the industry.
While roguelikes and battle royales continue to dominate the discussions in gaming circles, the distinctly memorable named boomer shooters are poised to become the next big thing.
