Remaster – this is an update of an old project to new devices, graphics improvements are possible. Mechanics, story and gameplay remain untouched. Have you ever felt like you want to play an old game, but it ignores the latest Windows and only wants to run on systems older than XP?? Or the game was on consoles 20 years ago, but you don’t want to bother with an emulator on a PC? So the developers thought, why not take that same game and optimize it for new systems; the graphics can also be tweaked to increase sales, in order to reach not only the old audience, but also the new one. (Examples: Age of Empires, Spyro, The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening, Dark Souls, Heroes 3, Resident Evil HD, Baldur’s Gate)
Age of Empires: Definitive Edition
Remake – this is no longer an update, but a strictly reworking of the project on new platforms, on new rails, they can also add new voice acting and even supplement the story, but it doesn’t really change the essence of the main one. The latest representatives of remakes remake not only the picture and complement the story, but also change the controls in a modern way. For example, the camera, controls and the principle of locations in Resident Evil 2. (Examples: Resident Evil 2 and 3, Black Mesa, Warcraft 3 Reforge, Final Fantasy 7, Pathologic 2 (Pathologic))
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Restart – there is such a term and it is very often equated with a remake, but as for me these are two different concepts. He doesn’t continue the restart, he doesn’t build on the plot of the old games. It reboots the entire series of games. While I was looking for examples of remakes, I came across articles that the new DOOM and XCOM are remakes, I don’t agree with this. You can argue with me in the comments. Restart, one word speaks for itself, restarts the series and the history of the game.(Example: XCOM: Enemy Unknown, DOOM, BlackMesa, Wolfenstein, Thief, Jagged Alliance – Back in Action, Prey, Tomb Raider)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
But does this mean that the developers have run out of ideas and they just want to make more money on an already finished product, simply by changing the graphics and controls??
Yes and no. When developers announce a big 3A game in a new universe, there are risks. And more and more often we can see something new from small studios or Indian developers, and from large studios reboots, remasters, remakes and continuations.
Let’s go through the main examples. Let’s look at three good examples and one bad one. Resident Evil 2 Remake, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Warcraft 3 Reforged, the last one would have been better off never having come out.
Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
An example of a good https://jacksclubcasino.co.uk/mobile-app/ Crash Bandicoot N remaster. Sane Trilogy. In general, Crash is the PlayStation mascot. It used to be popular for big studios to have their own mascot. Such as Sonic from Sega, Elephant (from the red light street) from Dendy, Mario from Nintendo. Studios are still making mascots, but without the same enthusiasm as before. And it’s hard to believe that the Naughty Dog studio, which gave us Uncharted and The Last of Us, used to make a platformer about Bandicoot, targeting a younger audience, and without plot twists that weigh on your feelings. The original game was released on September 9, 1996.
The Last of Us, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, Crash Bandicoot
Since 2011, rumors began to appear about a reboot of Crash’s adventures, but nothing went further than rumors. The developers from Naughty Dog refused to restart the series because they did not miss it, were busy with other series of games and did not see the point in restarting. In May 2016, in Uncharted 4, Drake plays a level from the first game, adding fuel to the reboot fire. And on December 3, 2016, remasters of the first 3 series of games about Crash were announced and they will be made by the studio Vicarious Visions. Previously, this studio made races in the Bandicoot universe Crash Nitro Kart.
The remaster was a success, as evidenced not only by the high ratings, but also by the remasters of Spyro and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, and other classic games on PlayStation 1. So this remaster not only touched nostalgic notes among old fans, but also found a place in the hearts of new ones.
Resident Evil 2 Remake
A remake that no one expected and no one asked for, but which showed how remakes should be done. He raised the bar so high that all remakes of other games can safely be called remasters. I’m talking about Resident Evil 2. Everyone already thought that the continuation of Resident Evil 7 was the hammer that drove the last nail into the coffin of the original game series, which had gone somewhere wrong, and with this same hammer the studio was ready to rethink this series. First-person view and a return to the roots of survival horror brought this game to exemplary status.
And while everyone was waiting for the continuation, Capcom at E3 2018 brought not only the announcement, but also a demo version of Resident Evil 2, and this remake turned out to be something more than an ordinary remake. The camera moved behind the back, locations stopped loading, Mr. X scared, breaking walls and penetrating into safe areas. And much, much more. I was amazed by the work done on this project. Now you can play 2 different projects and get a different feeling. The fact that the game took off is an understatement. I wonder if Capcom will be able to continue to maintain the quality bar in their remakes?
Warcraft 3 Reforged
And here’s another remake that no one asked for, but it appeared, and it would be better not to appear: Warcraft 3 Reforged. Why did it fail, although when they heard about the announcement everyone was waiting, everyone believed in Blizzard. After all, they previously revived WoW Classic (yes, there were a lot of bugs, they still exist, but I fell in love with the classic with its atmosphere, even though the developers frankly give up on this game). But everything went wrong. At the BlizzCon exhibition they showed the intro of the mission The Culling, and not to say that everything looked good, but it aroused interest. Loading screen, camera flyover, showing characters’ faces in close-up, no portraits next to the monologue window. The only thing that scared me was that the picture tried to reach for realism, which was scary in some characters.
New mission loading screen *should have*
And after BlizzCon 2018, nothing was said about the game, there was only an announcement, the end of 2019. We’ve been waiting. They announced that the Russian localization would be new, they were upset. We were given a beta test and from it it was clear that the game would not be completed for release. Bugs are a common thing for a test, again, only the “more realistic” picture was scary, we had not yet imagined all the horror that would fall on us on January 28, 2020. And now the game is out, we put it on download, the first reviews have already started: 0/10, 2/10, 5/10 sometimes 7/10, and you think there are so many bugs? Not finalized yet? We don’t specifically watch the walkthrough, we’re waiting for installation. Fans are growing increasingly tense, and calls for money back are already being heard. But you think it can’t be that bad. The game is installed, we launch it, watch the first video, there are no signs of trouble yet, we launch the prologue and then it begins. Why is the introductory video the same as 18 years ago, only stretched to full HD. Where is the promised redrawing of the videos?? Why is the loading screen the same?? What kind of voice acting? Where are my new videos?? And the further you go, the more you understand that the point is I spent money on this fake.
As promised and how it turned out
I decided to go into the old Warcraft 3, but it’s not there. Please play the new one. Then it turns out that Blizzard was not involved in development, but outsourced the game (for development to a third-party studio) and scored. That all custom (level editor where players make their own maps, tasks or new games in general) will belong to Blizzard, so that it won’t be like with Dota 2. And the point was to make this remaster, to make loud promises? And the original game plays well now, the cartoonishness of the graphics makes it relevant for all time. It would be better to take up Warcraft 1 and 2; modern WoW fans are unlikely to have played, and even the hardened old men have not all played the first and second parts. Fans’ anger brought the game’s Metacritic ratings down to 0.6 points out of 10, this is the lowest score for an independent game in the history of this site. Rating of original games (Relgn of Chaos and The Forzen Throne) 9.3. Blizzard wanted to make money, but received only anger and loss of trust from fans. Very scary for Diablo 4.
Wolfenstein: The New Order
And let’s end on a good note, like a Wolfenstein reboot. Great first-person shooter, but what did its source look like??
Agree, the only thing left from that game is the interesting setting? All that remains is to tweak the graphics, add a little history, make a good shooter system and spice it up with a dash of madness. And it all worked out for the restart. The picture still looks attractive today, crushing fascists with dynamic music, shooting off body parts, is very addictive. The shooter moment is revealed if you play on the maximum difficulty level. The passage will give you a lot of challenge, especially on the last boss. I killed him for about 40 minutes, planning my every step and my shot, juggling weapons and modifications.
Second phase of the battle with the skull
And shooting with two hands, how awesome it is, and in general shooting in this game is made as pleasant as possible. There is drama and motives for the character, to save everyone he loves and knows, to avenge losses and prevent new ones. And a bit of madness is in place, in a very good place. From all this it follows that Wolfenstein is a wonderful reboot.
In general, developers act very carefully with restarts so as not to offend old fans, and younger gamers may also fall under the influence of more experienced gamers.
Based on the above, I will express my final opinion. The creation and release of any project leads to earnings, but depending on the quality of the work done, this earnings and evaluation will be at a certain level. And if the project is made or remade with love, positive reviews and high sales will definitely come. What will happen next? Well, we’ll see and see what happens. Don’t be sick, don’t be bored, goodbye.