Hard Reset Redux Review – Old School FPS Fun

Hard Reset Redux_20160606115942

Old school FPS games seem to be on the rise and developer Flying Wild Hog hopes you’ll like their remastered version of Hard Reset Redux. Read our review to find out if we did.

Back when first person shooter video games were just starting out, titles like Quake, Doom and Wolfenstein ruled the roost. No team-based action here as it was just you and your guns versus whatever the developer chose to throw at you. You start at point A and have to figure out how to get to point B, all the while blasting anything that moves. The stories were generally just tossed in with little to no real meat to them and almost always hard to follow. This sums up Hard Reset Redux to a T.

Hard Reset Redux_20160606121940

Hard Reset follows the story of our man-with-a-gun Major Fletcher, an Army Combat Veteran and soldier of the CLN, as he blasts his way through the city of Bezoar. The story is told through comic-book like cut scenes that can be skipped once a level loads in the background. We sat through them all trying to figure out exactly what was going on, but we found it hard to follow with vague plots and a vague storyline. Something about an overbearing artificial intelligence that is dead-set on taking over the world and only our Major Fletcher could stop it.

While the story was lackluster and lacking depth, the gameplay for Hard Reset is where the game really takes off. There isn’t much to choose from as far as weapons as you’ll only have to guns and a sword, but those two guns can be upgraded and turned into a bunch of different weapons. This is accomplished with add-ons that can be bought using in-game currency that you’ll earn through destruction and exploration. One of your guns is an old school bullet based weapon while the other is a futuristic energy based weapon. Grenade launchers can be purchased for both, and the energy weapon has a cool stasis grenade that will freeze bad guys in their tracks.

Hard Reset Redux_20160606121424

There are only a few types of bad guys to blast, and while that is a little disappointing, the variety is still pretty good considering. There are little guys that will roll up on you and blow up, little guys that are just a nuisance as they jump and attack you, and little guys that have propellers on their heads that can attack from above you. These little guys can be a pain to shoot, but that plasma sword you’re carrying will slice them apart in no time. As you get farther into the game, the bad guys get bigger and are harder to take down.

You’ll find that upgrading your weapons, and knowing which weapon works best against the bad guys, will help lead you to success. Keep an eye out for exploding items lying around as well, as these are key to taking down the really big bad guys. There are also electrical objects that can be used to your advantage that emit damaging electrical sparks to any bad guys near them. Also be on the lookout for walls that are cracked as they are probably goodies hidden behind them.

Hard Reset Redux_20160607171445

As you progress through the game you encounter several boss battles that, at first, seem daunting, but once you figure out that all you have to do is shoot the highlighted area, turn into a simple battle of dodge-duck-and-shoot. These bosses are huge and massive and what could have been an epic, long remembered boss battle turned into a simple and repetitive point and shoot battle that was forgettable. There was definitely a missed importunity here to create something that was epic and memorable, but they really missed the point of a boss battle.

The difficulty choices for the game range from easy to suicidal. We recommend playing on Normal as it’s a pretty good balance of difficulty and available checkpoints. We would not suggest playing on Insane mode unless you are truly sadistic and just love dying in a video game. It’s called Insane mode because you would have to be insane to try and beat it on that difficulty. Well, maybe not insane, but you will have to be more patient and technical in your game play as the bad guys are exponentially harder to kill and checkpoints are few and far between.

Hard Reset Redux_20160607123752

The graphics for the game on the PS4 are top notch with a decent frame rate. there were a few stutters along the way but mainly when there was a lot going on at one time. The game looked really polished and didn’t look like it was created for another platform. The audio for the game is also great with fast paced tunes that mt\atch the gameplay when there are bad guys to be blasted. The music stopping once you killed the last bad guy in a given encounter is always a nice touch as it tells you if you missed someone or not. If the music hasn’t stopped, then you better keep looking around for another bad guy.

Hard Reset Redux isn’t the longest game around, as the campaign can be completed on Normal in a few hours for someone just blasting through (longer for those completionists that are looking for anything and everything) but there’s still a lot of fun to be had for only US$19.99. While co-op or multiplayer would have been cool, the game is still some old-school fun.

7

Louis Edwards

Learn More →