Hard Reset Redux

This is a great game. Not much of a story or lore, but it's there if you're curious, and even more, it's done tastefully using the aesthetics of the comic. Good music, nice gameplay. The game it's a nice FPS, with good level design, good sound design and visuals. Not open world, but still very playable. The graphics look quite good even on my potato Intel UHD 620 integrated GPU. I recommend the game; it's great entertainment for the money.

Interesting, but somewhat unpolished, take on classic shooter formula. Here are my thoughs after 2 playthroughs on Normal (second playthrough with New Game +). Your arsenal consists of two weapons, each weapon with five modes, each mode with primary and secondary fire (although some of secondaries are just scopes). You start with only single mode primary fire on both weapons and use nanites (which are picked from enviroment/secrets and rewarded for killing some enemies) to buy others. You also get sword after few levels but it's mostly useless. From this setup first problems with design start to emerge. Because weapon progression is entirely up the player it is possible to invest in wrong modes (because they are not created equally) and make game harded than it is suppose to be (which is exacly what happen to me in my first playthrough). On top of that because of how arsenal is structured you have to have literal flowchart in your head in order to quickly get to mode you want (this got progressivelly easier as I played, but even in 2nd playthrough I still occasionally made mistakes). Enemies are also somewhat mixed bag. Enemies have very tight hitboxes, which often result in situation which are hilarious in hindsight (shotgun missing half of its pellets at point blank due to one of most common enemy types having narrow torso) but annoying in game. It's especially bad with missiles and grenades which can often graze enemy and not detonate. Enemies have weakpoints. Some do. Maybe. Sometimes enemies will die faster. Sometimes they will get partially dismembered. Barely any feedback so its impossible to get consistent results. Player character has unlimited sprint and dash. This can make some encounters easy. Game is less focused on straight up shooting enemies and more on crowd control and enviromental kills. Once you actually learn it it starts to become fun but early on it's really slog as you fight against weapon flowchart and habits from other FPS games.

Hard Reset isn't bad, but it's not perfect. Enemies are bullet sponges and the story is lackluster. It's also a good thing they didn't call it "Hard Reset Remastered" and insted went with "Hard Reset Redux" because calling this game a remaster is misleading. It doesn't look much better, but it certainly performs way better. Some people are calling it a visual downgrade, which I disagree with. That's a bit hyperbolic, to put it lightly. I tried playing the game on Xbox One initially, but it runs like garbage. No joke, 1080p low settings will give equal if not better performance with Intel HD graphics. Drop the resolution to 1600x900 and you'll DEFINITELY get a significantly better average framerate than Xbox One. The addition of a dash mechanic makes the game easier (it's up to you whether that is a plus or minus) and the Shadow Warrior-esque katana is really fun when used to chop up the new cyborg zombie enemy. The enemies are bullet sponges, but whatever. It starts to get really epic, with large a scale battle, then it just sort of ends abruptly. Not a bad game, definitely worth it if it's on sale.

The atmosphere its really well achieved, a good selection of weapons and upgrades.

Missing some features of today's FPS games like crouching, leaning left/right. But combat is super smooth and tactical with enemies with different combat styles. Really enjoying it!