Gaming Genres: FPS
Story Genres: Science Fiction, Action
Graphical Styles: 3D, Realism, Cartoon, High Resolution, Punk
Platforms: Windows
Pricing Model: Pay $
Developer(s): Flying Wild Hog
Publisher(s): Steam
Initial Release Date: September 13, 2011
Website(s): Homepage
Description:
Hard Reset is an action-packed, single-player shooter for the PC. Set in a cyberpunk city, Hard Reset emphasizes over-the-top destruction and gives you a large variety of weapons to dispatch hordes of enemies.
The world as we know it ceased to exist. Humanity is at the verge of extinction, living in the last closed city of Bezoar. Mankind wages war against the machines controlling vast areas of what became the 'Barrens'. Machines want to control and assimilate 'The Sanctuary' a network that holds billions of digitalized human minds. Our hero, Maj. Fletcher, is a soldier of CLN - a corporation combat unit, established to protect the city. Machines are constantly assaulting the walls of Bezoar. Fletcher moves in when Bezoar's protective barrier is breached.
Featuring:
- A haunting cyberpunk/dark sci-fi setting
- Fast-paced, old-school shooter gameplay
- Hordes of enemies to destroy
- Epic boss fights
- A deep, experience-based weapon upgrade system
- High-fidelity graphics with full dynamic lighting
- Extensive use of physics and dynamic environments
Hard Reset is a very enjoyable game with some great high definition graphics, and as such is a unique entity in the world of indie gaming. If this was just one more FPS produced by mainstream gaming I would be talking about this game with decidedly more style then normal with some interesting game mechanics that at the very least makes it somewhat unique and worth a try; But it is not just one more FPS, it is one of the only original indie high definition FPSes.
Graphics wise, Hard Reset has a lot of attitude. The game is completely full of explosions, electricity, bright signs and lights, huge structures in the distance, and large and small hovercraft going by at all distances. These high definition graphics are replaced with a comic book style story between the levels, which overall was just OK. There are a few parts that don't look fantastic, the main menu for example, but overall it is quite high definition and beautiful.
And the gameplay is almost as interesting as the presentation. While it is a FPS, it plays very much like a top-down shooter, with a huge amount of the environment being destructible and it being very important that you use at least some of it to help take out the hordes of enemies. It is very important to have a good sense of where you are and to be constantly mapping out the environment so that you can use it to its fullest. This is simply a necessity and even playing on normal difficulty (with the difficulty going from easy, through normal and hard, to insane) it would be near impossible too make do without it.
The biggest problem with the game is its short length, hardly explained story, and abrupt end. The game simply ends and credits role with no absolutely no warning. You are not quite in the middle of combat but you have not really accomplished anything when it is simply over (you are literally in the middle of a objective); And bundled with its short length it feels more like a episodic game then anything else. Which I really believe that the company should of been more forthcoming about; Because buying Hard Reset the game that might feature sequels down the line, but not necessarily, is a lot different from paying for Hard Reset: Episode 1 which is at most only half of a game, with only a fraction of a game's plot.
But I liked it, and while it is pretty short it is not that short and very replayable because of the weapon upgrade feature that makes every character come out quite different.
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Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):
Indieness: Almost Indie, The company seems indie enough (thought it it staffed with ex mainstream developers) but the game is far more reminiscent of mainstream titles then anything ever else
Play?: Should Play
Just to point out a minor error: under "pricing system," you've got Hard Reset listed as "free," but it does cost money to buy.
ReplyDeleteYour right, I guess I review so many free games that it was just out of habit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pointer, I hope the rest of my blog is more accurate.