This Doom-powered, nautical shooter boldly asks 'what if Spongebob was on Adult Swim in 2006'

Captain Wayne posing reloading his shotgun arm with open ocean and tropical island visible in background
(Image credit: Ciaran Games)

People are doing so many cool things in Doom modding these days, it takes a lot to stand out. First spotted by Alpha Beta Gamer, Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation does so with aplomb, boasting a grungy "smart people doing dumb guy," Duke Nukem-y sense of humor and the colorful, nautical fun of Spongebob Squarepants⁠—just with like, swears and stuff.

The presentation and graphics really is where Captain Wayne knocks it out of the park⁠—character sprites have a perfect '90s animation look in a similar vein to Pizza Tower, and the whole thing's awash in this groovy, Tequila Sunrise color palette. Seriously, I love the environments both here in the free demo and hinted at in screenshots of later levels on Steam, it's like "Florida retirement village nautical-themed steakhouse" crossed with "'80s lounge glam."

Cheap nautical gags abound, with some of my favorites including a women's restroom labeled "No Man's Head," and omnipresent ads for "Melville Whale Oil." The soundtrack's mostly a very fitting heavy metal joint that propels the action along, but I was really tickled by the proggy organ lines developer Ciaran Games threw in⁠—more of that, please. The whole thing's just got this very cheeky, madcap sensibility, and it extends to the gameplay as well.

Your weapons are classic boomer shooter staples but they all feel great (I mean, it's built on Doom) and have a fun Captain Wayne twist. Most of them are presented as different "modes" for the good skipper's robot arm, with the lone exception being a fully classico big ass pirate cannon as your rocket launcher. My favorite is easily the humble melee though, here augmented with a sick instagib charge up function like the broadsword in Dusk. An instakill windup melee power attack is possibly one of the most slept-on things you can just chuck in a shooter to make it instantly more fun, and it never got old winding one up to go all "Pow! Right in the kisser."

The demo's lone level does a great job balancing twisty, switchback level design with "this feels like a real place," and there were some real standout encounters. My favorite is a classic boomer shooter arena swarm set in and around a hotel pool, complete with enemies taking pot shots at you from the water as you zoom around poolside. Captain Wayne is fun as hell, and I'm now eagerly awaiting the full game. For now, you can wishlist it on Steam and check out its free demo for yourself over on itch.io

Associate Editor

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

Read more
The titluar Cyberlich of Cyberlich surrounded by a smoky cloud and with a saintly halo behind his head
I felt goodwill and hope for the future seeing Cybrlich and the Death Cult of Labor, an FPS that's 60% HUD and looks like an Adult Swim cartoon where you smoke 'deepweed' to restore your health and blow clouds that spell out 'doink' and 'loud'
Shotgun Cop Man, who looks like an angry thumb, holding a shotgun and a pistol
In Shotgun Cop Man you are a man who looks like a thumb and has gone to Hell to arrest Satan
Skin Deep official key art, featuring Nina Pasadena clutching a pistol like an action hero in a movie poster style collage image with sci-fi trappings around her
Immersive sci-fi FPS Skin Deep feels like Prey by way of Looney Tunes
A woman holding a gun in a sci-fi setting
'It's like Die Hard but with more comedy': Immersive FPS Skin Deep has talking cats, banana traps, and enemies you can disable by making them sneeze
A monster made of glowing skulls has a brinrevolver aimed at it in Abyssus.
Wield a brinerevolver as a brinehunter in Abyssus, the briniest ‘brinepunk’ shooter this side of the Mariana Trench
Official Doom Guy art superimposed over Vault 666 Fallout-themed background.
Fallout-themed Doom mod Vault 666 has multiple endings, an OP Dogmeat companion, and a Ron Perlman-impersonating narrator so good, I was worried it was AI-generated at first
Latest in FPS
Atomfall hidden cache locations - Blue fungus ravine
All Atomfall endings and how to get each one
A female druidic figure clutches a heart riven with thorns in Hunt: Showdown
'We want to increase the cost of silence': Hunt: Showdown 1896's latest update brings a new event, a massive list of bugfixes and a tougher challenge for stealthy players
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Ogryn
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide adds a psychic horde murderzone mode and makes Ogryns even smashier
Starfield's companion robot giving a thumbs-up
Former Bethesda dev who quit Starfield to go solo says it's 'much less stressful as an indie' without daily meetings or 'office politics': it's 'very refreshing to just care about the game'
A crew of prospectors in Wildgate, featuring a robot, a rabbit man, and a small aquatic creature in a combination mech/aquarium.
Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime's new company is putting Sea of Thieves-style shenanigans in space with a new crew-based shooter
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Latest in News
A witch riding a broom sails past a Fish and Chips shop.
Cozy gamers rejoice: Witchbrook finally has a release window, and yes, you can fly around on a broom with your friends
starcraft 2 face
StarCraft fans taunted by the announcement of a new StarCraft... board game
kingdom come: deliverance 2 henry looks confused
'Medieval Batman' completes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 pacifist playthrough with zero kills and 535 knockouts
SUQIAN, CHINA - OCTOBER 6, 2024 - Illustration Tencent's plan to buy Ubisoft, Suqian, Jiangsu province, China, October 6, 2024. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Ubisoft and Tencent are forming a new company that will take control of its most successful franchises: Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six
The Huntress holding a bloody spear.
The biggest update since Path of Exile 2's early access launch is coming next week, bringing a new class and a bunch of endgame changes
Key art for the Ranger class in Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile 2 director isn't worried about ARPG competition, in part thanks to seasons: 'So long as people are willing to come back and play our game for a month four times a year, then I'm good'