Painfully slow movement, hideous graphics & choppy animations, terrible voice acting, unispired story and eneless exposition dumps: This game has it all! A textbook example of how to not make a first person shooter.
I'm so in love with the whole viking premise, but this game truly fails to deliver. Norse mythology seems like a perfect source of inspiration for a dark, moody and brutal action adventure game. But the technical issues and janky gameplay are too much to look past. For me, the game is borderline unplayable because it is too dark and the brightness slider does not function whatsoever. The combat is clunky, frustrating and underdeveloped. Platforming can feel slippery and stressful becuase the player character moves so fast. The game technically supports modern widescreen resolutions, such as 1920x1080, however it will result in a portion of the screen getting cut off. I only have so much free time nowadays, and Rune simply isn't worth it.
This game has some of the worst compatibility issues with modern systems. Worst case scenario, it won't start at all- especially common with the expansions. If it does, you're likely to experience horrible stuttering. This was present on a variety of systems I've tested this game on- from Sandy Bridge to Coffee Lake. Strangely enough, this does not occur on my AMD Ryzen based system even using the same GPU. The D-Day level has broken skyboxes- it's like staring into an infinte grey void. As for the actual game, it's not very good. Call of Duty came out the following year, and in my opinion it blows MoHAA out of the water. The level design is terribly boxy and missions can be very frustrating (eg. Sniper Town). Graphically, even for 2002, is pretty unimpressive. There is a horrible LOD effect on NPCs that is super noticible at higher resolutions- even at 1152x864 I can see it. Textures are fairly average for a game of this age. On a more positive note, the music is some of the best I've ever heard in a video game. I think Medal of Honor is good on the consoles, such as the PS1 or PS2, relative to what's available on those platforms but it's a major flop on PC.
Honestly, it's boring. The level design is calustrophobic and a genuine pain in the ass to navigate. The combat lacks the satisfying punch I'm looking for. The visual presentation is top notch, however, and is one of the only positives here. I suppose the music is pretty good, too. Typical Unity Engine stuttering and frame drops are present here. I had the same issue with Project Warlock when the FPS would drop from a perfectly stable 144 to 60-70 after throwing a frag grenade. The combat feels clunky and really doesn't scratch that itch for me. All the ingredients required to make a great game are here, but alas...
What a shame.
Basically the same as the shitty Rockstar games out there. Mind numbingly boring. Characters spout exposition during bland driving sections. Stale cover based shooting. Glitches, glitches, glitches galore. Can't play at 144Hz because it breaks the game. Got stuck during the fighting tutorial because there is an invisible wall and the enemy got pushed behind it. He would not approach me, therefore I could not hit him. Cannot speed while driving or else you will receive a speeding ticket. This is a stupid idea and not "realistic" because you can freely run red lights and destroy public property with your vehicle, yet speeding is a nono. No quicksaves, very few checkpoints or autosaves. Graphics are good for the time and voice acting is okay. The entire game is a chore.
Difficult for all the wrong reasons. Levels are designed by a sadistic prick. Frustrating experience. A lame, bland, buggy game overall. Poor performance, too.
The game is alright. A lot of people are complaining about random crashes and bugs, but I cannot recall a single crash or major bug of any kind during my play time. I'm pretty sure the game has been patched since those reviews were posted. The game is dark and moody, which I love. It has a distinct art style and looks great, but calling it a remaster is misleading. There is very little improvement to be seen. Mostly just random changes in art direction, such as light sources added or removed or additional objects in the environment. The opening cutscene has also been tweaked. You have to have a keen eye to spot most of the differences. The shooting feels okay and upgrades all make sense. There is a good sense of progression throughout the game. You start off unarmed, then acquire a wrench, then a pistol with little ammo until you build up a full arsenal with many plasmids and perks. The final boss was piss easy because I took the time to upgrade just about everything. I got the "good" ending because I saved all the Little Sisters, and I found it somewhat touching. Plasmids can be used with traditional weapons in many different ways and the abilities accomodate different play styles, so there is a small amount of replay value. The player can choose to be sneaky, hack turrets and place traps or just go all out with fire and lead. For the price I paid, definitely worth it. Not bad at all.
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.
I wanted to give it a chance but it really is as bad as people say it is, if not even worse. Even with the unofficial patch that's supposed to make the game 'better" it's difficult to tolerate even the first two levels. The graphics are hideous and dated, even for the year 2000. It's truly one of the ugliest video games of all time. To make matters worse, it has annoying flying enemies and tiny pest enemies and all you are given to defend yourself is a garbage energy pistol with projectiles that bounce back and can hurt you. This game is true suffering. Don't buy this game.
