Products You May Like
If Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has taught us anything, it’s that the medium of video games is a great, and possibly superior, way of telling new tales in very established franchises. However, this isn’t a new phenomenon despite a long list of very poor attempts littering the release schedules of yesteryear.
Back in 2002, a video game adaptation of John Carpenter’s iconic sci-fi horror film, The Thing, was released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. What made it particularly appealing was the fact that it was set directly after the end of the film, which left some unanswered questions. Questions that the game would indeed go some way to answering (no spoilers here).
Anyhow, fast forward 22 years and those folks at Nightdive Studios have brought the critically acclaimed and commercially successful game to a new audience, with The Thing: Remastered.
The most obvious changes here lie within the visual overhaul, and it looks pretty damn good. It follows the modern remaster blueprint, which these days includes upscaling the graphics up to a 4K resolution at 120fps. The characters have had their own glow up too, boasting improved models, textures and animations. Advanced 3D rendering also allows for superior lighting and atmospheric effects, to more closely realise the tone of the original film.
However, despite all the improvements The Thing: Remastered retains its original style, and I reckon you could still roughly guess when it came out. As I say, it fits the recent remaster pattern of being given a good polish, but leaving the foundations largely untouched which strikes a good balance. In fact, this is the perfect way to pay tribute to the 2002 classic.
The Thing: Remastered makes good use of camera angles, especially as you are running down corridors or interacting with bust up junction boxes. You’ll often see a creature scuttling along in the corner of your screen, which brings the chills as well as plenty of jump scares which bring the thrills. I never quite got used to the amount of exploding walls from which all sorts of horrors would pour out.
I remember the Antarctica based Outpost #31 being an impressively desolate setting even in the original game, which the remaster does a great job of recreating. The outdoor segments have a true sense of scale, with low visibility and a cold meter limiting your time outside. However, there is more to discover when you explore and push further into the freezing darkness. The cinematic feel of The Thing: Remastered carries right through until the final battle, although sadly it feels somewhat anticlimactic.
Ennio Morricone’s iconic score is employed effectively in The Thing: Remastered, but importantly not overused. It punctuates moments of horror, and builds the tension effectively. However, being honest, this is more the case in the early segments of the game. The Thing: Remastered morphs into more of an action adventure game than a true horror the longer you play, as after the initial opening hour or so you’ll be packing plenty of weapons at any given time. Think Resident Evil 4 Vs Resident Evil and you’ll get an idea of the difference.
Pistols, shotguns, grenade launchers and more can be found in the battle against The Thing, and these will dispatch the little tinkers with relative ease. However, for bigger enemies such as the walkers, once you have emptied a few rounds into them you’ll need to set them ablaze with your trusty flamethrower to finish them off. You’ll do well to remember that fire is your best friend in The Thing: Remastered. Happily, accessing weapons and equipment through weapon wheels feels much more user friendly than before and allows you to react to the situation quickly and effectively.
The genius in the design of The Thing as an enemy is its ability to perfectly copy the form of its victim. This gives the film real tension, as the poor soul is often unaware they are actually carrying the parasite, as are the rest of the crew. The Thing: Remastered missed a trick here however.
In the original there was a mechanic that was arguably ahead of its time, whereby you could perform blood tests to see if your companions were actually The Thing in disguise. NPCs would turn without notice, sprouting tentacles and extra limbs before setting out to attack you. As well as this, your team would also get more and more fearful as the situation deteriorated to the point where they would start acting unstable. You could then give them a shot of adrenaline, or take them away from a particularly grisly scene to claim them down. However, neither has any sort of fundamental impact on the game due to a lack of proper integration.
Sadly, despite some tinkering in this area, The Thing: Remastered still feels like a missed opportunity as the experience is largely the same as before. Those who are infected become a minor inconvenience rather than a source of true tension. There was a sequel that was reportedly aiming to fully integrate a “dynamic infection” system that would result in “burst-outs”, but sadly the developers went into receivership shortly after it was announced and the game was never pursued. Maybe one day.
Another element of The Thing which felt set it apart was the squad system. Returning feeling largely untouched from the original, this allows you to direct your allies, give them weapons and ammo to build trust, and make use of their specialist trade. However, the only integral skills you’ll need to progress are that of the engineer, who is the only one who can repair junction boxes are essential to your progression.
Overall, the game design holds up well to this day and as a result The Thing: Remastered is a brilliant third person shooter adventure. There’s a healthy mix of indoor and outdoor environments, with some basic puzzle elements and plenty of enemies to fight. However, there is the odd occasion where the game shows its age. One part sees you opening a door for a companion, needing to time it exactly for when he is approaching the door as you watch on CCTV. However, the window is brief and if you miss it, he will return to you and there is no other option but to reload the game. It’s a small niggle, but highlights this is a remaster that only goes skin deep.
This being a re-release, there are a few extra goodies thrown in here too. If you head to the vault you’ll find concept art, storyboards and more. You can even watch the original trailer to bring all the nostalgia flooding back from more than 20 years ago, which presents an irresistible opportunity to dive back into such an iconic universe.
The Thing: Remastered gives a classic game a welcome facelift, and the thrill ride stands up well today, even if some of the original ideas feel a bit underdeveloped by today’s standards.
The Thing: Remastered – A Must-Play for Horror Fans on PC and Console? – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-thing-remastered-a-must-play-for-horror-fans-on-pc-and-console/
The Thing gets Remastered for PC and console – https://www.thexboxhub.com/the-thing-gets-remastered-for-pc-and-console/
Buy The Thing: Remastered on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/The-Thing-Remastered/9N2NP4245DXV