Killing Time (GOG)

A cursed 1930s estate becomes the hunting ground for a first-person horror shooter that mixes B-movie camp with unusually deliberate exploration. You play former Egyptology student Tess Conway, sent to the isolated mansion of wealthy occultist Dr. Hargrove after his experiment with an ancient Egyptian water clock goes catastrophically wrong. The result is a mansion warped by time, packed with undead guests, supernatural creatures, and the lingering evidence of a disastrous party. Its tone is gleefully macabre rather than truly oppressive, balancing grisly combat with sarcastic humor and period charm.

Progress means navigating the sprawling house, gardens, crypts, towers, and strange temporal pockets while hunting for keys, switches, artifacts, and clues. Firearms handle the immediate problem of mummies, zombies, and other monsters, but surviving also requires careful ammunition use, attention to environmental details, and a willingness to backtrack through newly opened routes. The maze-like layout makes it closer to an adventure-infused shooter than a simple corridor blast-a-thon, with vertical spaces, outdoor zones, staircases, and a full look-up-and-down view that feels ambitious for its era. Seven digitized ghostly characters appear throughout the estate, recounting pieces of the mansion’s bloody history and quietly pointing toward solutions.

What stands out is its strange hybrid of early FPS action, haunted-house puzzle design, and live-action video performances. Killing Time has the scrappy, experimental personality of 1990s shooters, where confusing architecture and occasional old-school roughness are part of the experience rather than flaws the game tries to hide. Continuous movement between most areas helps the mansion feel like one connected, cursed place, while the included soundtrack suits its jazzy, sinister atmosphere. Fans of Doom-era first-person games who want more exploration and story than pure arena combat will find plenty to enjoy, though modern players should come prepared for vintage controls, opaque puzzles, and a demanding sense of direction.