10 More Shameless Video Game Rip-Offs (That Were Actually Great)

After Doom redefined first-person shooters during the 1990s, many games in the genre were referred to as Doomclones. This is unfair, since plenty of FPSs of that era stood on their own merits, including Quake and Duke Nukem.

With that said, Prodeus is totally a Doom clone. Bounding Box's shooter boasts the same structure, style, pixelated art, enemies and weapons as Doom, to the point where the crowdfunded title feels like a spin-off. Rather than trying to dress itself up as something different, Prodeus never shies away from where it drew its inspiration.

However, Prodeus is an absolute triumph, boasting well-designed levels, addictive gameplay, challenging enemies, and creative trial modes. It also offers an easy-to-use level editor, allowing players to devise their own hellish landscapes from scratch.

As hard as it is to believe, Prodeus is superior to Doom in some ways. While getting lost is a regular problem in id Software's iconic IP, Prodeus solves that issue by programming demons to spawn near the next destination. If the player doesn't know where to go, they can follow the enemies like breadcrumbs to reach their goal. (How come Doom never thought of that?)

Also, the creators should be commended for making the 3D characters resemble 2D to maintain the feel of a retro shooter. Even though it would've been dramatically easier to make the 3D enemies look...well... 3D, the developers stuck to their guns. That's proof Prodeus isn't just an imitation, but a passion project.