PowerSlave Exhumed

(played on Switch, for context) I gotta say, as someone who briefly tried the DOS version of Powerslave and didn't think very much of it, this re-release has been a pretty refreshing journey into classic first person shooters for me. Nightdive's new release comes with all sorts of bells and whistles but the CRT filter and shading modes? They're very well executed and flexible for anyone who wants to tinker with them. On a technical level I couldn't find anything other than a select few sound bugs which Kaiser has assured me will be fixed. But about the game? Well, the story is some absolute trash to begin with. But it's trash in a cheesy B-movie kind of way, with the voice of Don La Fontaine (Movie Trailer Man) to guide you through all the spoken dialogue with his smooth vocal timbre. The music by Scott Branston's very charming 90's synth stuff which makes for a very smooth sonic ride. As for the gameplay, it can be a bit daunting because it doesn't play quite like a standard FPS of the time. The "Metroidvania" label gets thrown around a lot but this does feel like the kind of game Raven Software wanted to make in HeXen. Though rather than working with hubs leading to other maps, here you can revisit levels and discover secrets in each as you progress through the game and gain permanent power-ups. Most of the weapons feel pretty meaty, with the M60 machine gun handling very reliably under most circumstances. For those familiar with Blood, you can also throw grenades around with some aiming and physics and it can be quite fun. I like the exploration aspect, but some of these fast-moving enemies can absolutely go to hell. Jittery lion women come to mind as some of the most irritating enemies because of the speed they charge at you with, combined with the teleporting. Breakable pots can be quite useful for collecting ammo but some are, randomly, death traps. Not a fan of all the design decisions, but overall? It's a cool game, absolutely give it a shot.

It's simple and fun, old school Gem updated for todays gamers. Give it a try and you wont be disappointed, think atmosphere.

I was pleasantly surprised by this game. I have never played the original, but wanted to buy a Sega Saturn after seeing a review of the game on Youtube. When the remake was released on GOG I immediately bought it and tried it out and I was not disappointed. I played through the whole thing. I recommend this to anyone that likes boomer shooters and platformer puzzles.

I know this review will be downvoted to oblivion, but could you please add achement support? Every other version has it and it adds a lot of replay value to the game. Other than that, the remaster is amazing and am very impressed. I loved and still own the saturn/ps1 games, and this package is a gift from the gods. The standard price is fair and worth a purchase from old users and new people who have not yet experienced it yet.

The game and the port are overall very good but some issues at launch. The player hitbox seems too big/ the french translation (the new one for this port) is hilariously bad and bugged (but devs says it's being patched)/some ennemies sounds seems to be missing. Otherwise its an awesome game that deserve your money for sure. Night dive, you're the best.