Unlike the OG, developed on the Decima Engine, the remake was built on Unreal Engine 5 which boasts games like Black Myth: Wukong and Fortnite. To those of us without perpetual stick drift, this update essentially allows the remake to have enhanced visual effects and smoother animations.
The facial details, fluid character models and new yellow lighting tones only elevate the source material.
Upon loading up the game, returning players will be struck by two glaring differences. Starting with the positives, the graphics! The facial details, fluid character models and new yellow lighting tones only elevate the source material. Our cast look about ready to step off the screen with the detail of the new visuals. The remake also chose to step away from the blue-ish hues for the character’s arrival scenes, setting the ascent of the mountain against a stunning warm dusk.
On a sour note, the soundtrack. No More O’ Death! Reviewers are complaining that the entirely new musical backing doesn’t fit the scenes or the movement the way that the original did. This change came as a surprise to players, who absolutely expected to see Jason Graves back as Composer for the remake.
As far as remakes go, it’s a solidly faithful adaptation.
In terms of new content, there are a few new easter egg endings for dedicated players to uncover. Alongside this, a handful of scenes have been reimagined, but, nothing that alters the plot in a meaningful way. As far as remakes go, it’s a solidly faithful adaptation.
However, with new visuals come new bugs and more lag. Upon release players were underwhelmed by a barrage of frozen cut scenes and glitchy commands. A patch is expected to be released soon, but it’s a shame that these weren’t fixed in time for the launch date.
And then, the Wendigo in the room – that price tag. Sony are asking for a horrifying £59.99 for the new game and have seemingly delisted the cheaper 2015 edition for purchase from PS stores in some regions. Whilst the new graphics are pretty, the old visuals were standing the test of time well enough, and many players do not agree that this remake is worth that much. Especially with the persisting issues with the gameplay, the launch had an overall poor reception.
Of course, the game was only greenlit for a remake in light of the upcoming movie adaptation directed by David Sandberg (Shazam!, Annabel: Creation). We’ll have to wait and see if the interest drummed up by this rerelease is enough to get people watching.
Happy playing, and remember, don’t move…
