E1M1 Magazine Spotlights FPS Culture

A SANCTUARY FOR BOOMER SHOOTERS

Seeing a games media outlet cover another media outlet may be about as non-traditional as it gets in journalism but damn it I like the subject matter a lot and I really appreciate what this group brings to the retro-inspired shooter, colloquially known as “Boomer Shooter” game space. E1M1 Magazine is a collection of articles, interviews, reviews, screenshots, and custom artwork about shooters of the past, present, and future. It can be bought digitally but the physical print is definitely the most appealing part of E1M1. Created by a small team of genre enthusiasts and retro games media veterans that clearly know their stuff, E1M1 has that indie energy that we love to explore and highlight. We were recently given the opportunity to pour through an issue that was kindly mailed to us, so let’s boost up a group of colleagues that we think our readers will also appreciate. 

We were sent issue #7 of E1M1, which prominently features amazing custom artwork for Selaco, a shooter that has so much promise and is surprisingly being made in GZDoom of all engines. The issue is hefty and printed extremely well. Unfortunately, shipping an issue can be expensive for folks like us in the United States but there are digital options available for purchase on their website. Back to the print, this magazine just feels far more substantial than what we’ve been getting in the mail for the past couple of decades. I almost always end up with fingerprints on pages from where the ink reacts to my skin but I haven’t had that issue at all with E1M1 which leads me to believe that this was made with a higher quality process. Of course, I have one issue so this may not be the case for others but I was immediately impressed with how nice this zine looks and feels. 

The page layouts are interesting enough and pack in a ton of games. My Steam wishlist definitely expanded by at least a dozen games after reading this magazine. I wish some of the screenshots were a bit larger to see more details though. All of the custom artwork is perfect for this publication and I would love to have more of these in my collection just for the artwork alone. I would have loved to see more than the three Q&A developer interviews included and more deep dives but the standout content in this issue includes the Early Access Roundup, a retro review of Metroid Prime from Chris Diamond, and the preview of Selaco. Most of the content does seem to fall into similar patterns but the sheer amount of coverage to be found in the genre is extremely fun to read. In summary, it’s a great collection of pieces about a super-specific gaming topic but there are plenty of opportunities for improvement. That said, this group is taking everything FPS into consideration including mods which I absolutely love.

It’s fascinating just how expansive this genre has become in recent years. Games like DOOM Eternal push classic design elements into bold new directions while DUSK stayed within genre tropes to create something distilled. Meanwhile, BPM: Bullets Per Minute spun FPS on its head by adding a musical element. I’ve played so many amazing games already that go far beyond just being a good retro-style shooter and there are many more to come. E1M1 is diving into this niche interest in a way that is commendable and I think their work is deeply important for the genre and community.   

All in all, I think that E1M1 is off to an awesome start and their print magazine is excellent. Of course, this is clearly an indie publication but it is likely only a handful of issues away from standing proudly alongside some of the longest-running magazines in gaming, especially those geared towards specific topics. 

This is certainly something that inspires me to play more shooters and do more in games media. 

Order printed issues of E1M1 or snag a digital copy on their official website. A copy of issue #7 of E1M1 was sent to us for content creation purposes. Featured image courtesy of E1M1, artwork by Atomik Ranger.