Powerslave

First of i gotta say i always liked Powerslave, its one of those games i saw when i was young that i later tracked down to play and always liked. This is the european PC version and it is the most up-to-date version of the base game. However it is not without faults, strafing is slow (abysmal strafing speed in it's first release. ) The checkpoint system is also not something i been a fan of. I recommend playing it with PowerslaveGDX. Myself i played it using the PoweslaveGDX sourceport (a derivative of a Duke3d sourceport) which has a game menu just like Duke 3D with manual and quick saving at any time, a god send that made the game so much better! i also used a AI-enchanced sprite pack, i had a total blast. Powerslave is the best Under-dog game made with the Build engine by far. If Blood, Shadow Warrior and Duke 3D are the "Build Kings", Powerslave is the Prince. Other games, like Tekwar both is and looks horrid. Witchaven was a lazy release, Capstone didnt even bother using border textures so it makes levels look flat and uninspired. They had a good engine but didn't use the potential. Its sequel i haven't played yet. Powerslave/Exhumed might've had just one theme, the egyptian, alot of sand and orange colours, however it used it very well, levels are large and varied and the texture theme doesn't feel repetitive, in short its a game made with passion and the game was longer than i thought it was. So buy it, get a sourceport - an easy google search and have fun. And the soundtrack is amazing!

First off, it's great to see this game get a gog.com release. No problems running this "out of the box" It uses dosbox but my recommendation for the best experience would be to use something like PCExhumed (eduke32 based) engine to play on modern systems. If you do use dosbox to play you may want to do some tweaking in the conf files to get a little better performance. Also it was nice to see this title support Linux which is the version i downloaded and played. As others have said this is the Exhumed PC release for DOS, which isn't a bad thing imo, it's your typical mid 90s FPS game formula with an Ancient Egyptian theme, Sounds are good guns are interesting, controls will probably need tweaking to taste, It's a build engine game so a mix of 2D sprites and 3D environments, upper/lower levels lava, underwater, secret areas, find the keys, shoot the bad guys switch the switches, all of that good stuff. If you enjoy 90s FPS games you'll have fun with this for sure, DOOM, Duke 3D, Shadow Warrior, Dark Forces etc. that kind of vibe. For the price it's up for currently I'm more than happy with it, 3 Stars as some tweaking is required by the user to get the best experience from this one.

Don't get me wrong, the Saturn/PlayStation version, which Nightdive's Powerslave Exhumed is a port of, is a perfectly serviceable game. The PC version, however, is the real deal. Unlike the console versions, Powerslave (or Exhumed, as it was called in Europe) for PC has linear progression through levels. Furthermore, each weapon has its own ammo, and you have an inventory with several power-ups. What sets Powerslave apart from other 90s FPS is its setting and level design. If you like ancient Egyptian themes, you're in for a real treat, as both the visuals and the music successfully create a wonderfully unique atmosphere. When it comes to the level design, Powerslave is a master class. This game has some of the best levels of any FPS ever, striking a perfect balance between complexity, non-linear progression, and nicely balanced item and enemy placement. There is key hunting of course, but I very rarely felt lost, despite later levels in particular reaching epic proportions. Powerslave doesn't even have a difficulty selection, since the levels are so carefully crafted that there is no real need for one. Unlike the console versions, Powerslave PC is running on the Build engine, of which it makes great use. The sprite work is excellent throughout, and even better yet, the game can be played in a source port such as Raze, which allows for proper widescreen resolutions, saving at any time, and even adjusting the strafe speed. In short, there is no reason to bother with DOSBox. The only thing worth criticizing is the lack of enemy and weapon variety. The basic enemy types can be counted on one hand, and for 80% of the time, you'll find yourself using your trusty M60 machine gun and not much else. Overall, Powerslave is just a blast to play, and more than worth a look for anyone with a penchant for classic FPS.

This PC version of Powerslave (Exhumed in Europe) is different from the Saturn/PSX versions as it has a linear progression through the levels, no backtracking, old school weapon management and different maps entirely. It runs on the Build Engine, like Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. I like this version a bit better than the Saturn/PSX remaster from Nightdive Studios. There's no annoying platforming and backtracking to speak of. No floaty jump mechanics either and every weapon has it's own ammunition. The game has no dificulty setting, but that's not really necessary because it gets ridiculously hard in the later levels. It still retains the terrible checkpoint system though, although the checkpoints are more evenly spread throughout the levels. It's not a treasure hunt like in the console versions and remaster. The shooting is just okay. You'll be mostly using the M-60 machine gun, but ammo is pretty scarce and you'll run out of it frequently, which sucks because most of the enemies are real bullet sponges. The weapons are fairly standard: A machete, a revolver, a machine gun, grenades and a flamethrower. Later you'll get your hands on the Cobra staff and the Manacle. If you get turned into a mummy you can use their mummy power against them, which is a nice touch. I'm about halfway into the game now and it's getting a bit of a slog. What Exhumed is missing is more variation between levels and enemies. You'll just travel from one tomb to the other, killing the same boring enemies while hunting down keys to open different doors. The Egyptian theme is really nice, but that can't save it from feeling extremely repetitive. As I said the maps are huge, which is also a negative point since you'll be running around the level a lot, looking for a way out. All in all I've enjoyed this original linear PC version a bit more than the Nightdive remaster, but it's not in the same league as Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Blood, Heretic and Hexen.

While it shares audiovisual assets and it's general plot with Powerslave Exhumed, this plays more like a traditional FPS. So if straight up run-and-gun is more your speed, this is a great game to add to your collection. For best results, I recommend playing it through the BuildGDX source port, which affords you all of the QoL niceties a modern remaster would.