

Shop this game
The Citadel
We may earn a commission from purchases through these links.
Search US stores by format. Check the title and edition before buying.
The Citadel: 0/10 wokeness. Pure retro FPS bliss with brutal anime gore, biblical sci-fi vibes, and zero politics or DEI—just uncensored violence and survival.
The Citadel is a pure, unadulterated homage to classic retro FPS games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Marathon, crafted by solo Japanese developer doekuramori with no trace of progressive ideological influence.
The storytelling revolves around brutal action in a dark sci-fi citadel, featuring a faceless 'Martyr' protagonist battling mechanized enemies, false angels, and a sleeping god in a biomechanical apocalypse setting inspired by H.R. Giger, Ghost in the Shell, and biblical motifs of faith and devotion—entirely traditional narrative tropes focused on violence and survival without any social justice overlays.
Character designs are anime-style sprites emphasizing ultra-violence through gibbing, with no race-swapping, gender ideology, LGBTQ+ representation, pronouns, or diversity mandates; enemies include cultists and battlesisters in a lore-consistent manner. No developer or publisher statements promote activism, DEI, or inclusion; instead, doekuramori explicitly rejects fetish accusations and defends the game's violent aesthetic as authentic retro shooter DNA.
The sole controversy stemmed from Western harassment labeling the anime-gore art as 'guro' fetishism, which the dev firmly denied, opting to preserve uncensored violence. Reception is overwhelmingly positive (93% on Steam), with praise for gameplay, weapons, and atmosphere, and zero backlash over woke elements—critic and user scores align without gaps, confirming its appeal as straightforward entertainment free from contemporary political messaging.
Methodology: Each score synthesizes audience discourse, critic and aggregator reception, and press coverage — weighed against the work itself, not any single source.
See how this title scores across all 5 woke subcategories with detailed explanations.
Unlock with ProFrom $3/month · 3-day trial for $1
A curated roundup of newly scored movies, shows, and games, with the context behind the scores. Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Privacy policyWe've run a full content analysis on The Citadel and scored it 0/10 on the woke scale. Read our detailed breakdown above to see exactly what we found.
Our analysis checks for themes like identity politics, race-swapping, gender ideology, environmental activism, anti-religious messaging, and other progressive agenda elements. The score breakdown above shows which specific categories were flagged and how heavily they factor into The Citadel's overall score.
Wokeometer focuses on ideological content rather than traditional ratings (violence, language, etc.). For a full picture, combine our woke analysis with the official content rating to decide if it's right for your family.
We evaluate media across multiple ideological categories on a 0–10 scale. Scores of 0–3 mean story-first, 4–6 have moderate elements, and 7–10 flag heavily agenda-driven content. Learn more about our methodology →
No reviews yet
Be the first to share what you thought of The Citadel.