This game came out after Doom, which, for a game running on the Wolfenstein 3D engine, might as well have been a death sentence. Unfortunate, too, since Corridor 7 has a couple features Doom didn't even have at launch or in the 90s, such as multiplayer-only deathmatch maps and, get this, an autosave feature! Quite the QoL feature/innovations for what's often simply labeled as shovelware not worth giving a second look. So how about we give it that second look, eh? We're more than far enough removed from Doom's or C7's releases for both's tech to be considered dated, f*ck it.
Starting off, Corridor 7's got great atmosphere, trekking thru seemingly retro-future office environments with wall textures that have moving artwork. Keeps things visually stimulating compared to the dull graphics of many other raycast FPS games. It might also occasionally jumpscare you, which I think is indicative of Capstone's attempt at creating a more horror-centric atmosphere. Even the floor and ceiling are gradients which fade from purple and white into pitch black, which is presumably supposed to emulate a feeling of darkness as you plunge further into the facility. Between the adlib floppy disk soundtrack and the CD music, I recommend playing with the former only because the latter will sometimes just... not play, depending on if you're paused when music stops, at least I think? Regardless, there's no redbook audio, so no looping. That might be the issue. ANYWAYS...
It's also got a map feature, unlike Wolfenstein 3D, and you can see it in full on Lieutenant difficulty, unlike Blake Stone: Planet Strike. So there's that. It's got arguably the largest arsenal of any of the games running on the Wolf3D engine, only rivaled by ROTT... but hey, at least C7 doesn't have a carry limit, unlike that game. It even has multiple ammo types, a feature exclusive to this game, at least in this engine, it seems. Operation Body Count might be an exception to that, but... don't play that game. It's also got only 40 levels max compared to Wolfenstein 3D's or Blake Stone's 60, at least, only 40 mandatory ones. And it's only 40 if you're playing the CD version. The floppy disk version only has 30. Much more tolerable length. Still, I recommend playing it piecemeal.
Level design is underrated in Corridor 7, if still very much a product of its time. It's very mazey, but in every level, if you wall-hump the very edges of the map for some time, you'll eventually access the perimeter surrounding the level, gaining access to secrets, extra powerups, so on. The consistency of this is appreciated, as it gives you something to look for in every level. They even change it all up in the last 10 levels, giving you mostly only ammo for your alien weapons, which freshens up the final levels significantly since things can get a tad stale once you obtain the tri-barrel power blaster earlier in the game, especially when combined with the abundance of bullet ammo for human weapons you get throughout the rest of the game. The tri-barrel is super strong and just doesn't chew through much ammo compared to the alien weapons, so the balancing shift once you go through the portal to the aliens' turf is a must. Also, on a side note, the lack of any height variation in games of this sort make the inclusion of this game's proximity mines absolutely glorious. Feels good to plant one only for the bulkiest enemies who chew through your health/armor to get one-shot by its explosion while trying to pursue you through any of the titular corridors. Be careful not to trap yourself somewhere with one of your own mines when no alien is after you, though, as your mines will one-hit kill you as well.
Having spent significant time with the game, if you've got the proper control setup and a bit of patience, I think I can safely recommend C7. Especially if you have a special affinity for simple raycast first-person shooters. It's just over the price of a fast food meal, I'd reckon that's plenty bang for your buck.
