Posted on: February 28, 2024
Regenerator
Games: 1238 Reviews: 22
Expensive, but very impressive
It is expensive, but don't listen to people who claim that this is at level of (or inferior to) fan made mods. It's not, it's a very impressive reworking of the game on a new engine using the original source code, as you'd expect from Nightdive. I originally bought it on Steam because I wasn't sure it'll be released on GoG and also wanted to easily play it on my Steam deck. All the sprites, textures, assets, models, artwork are revamped in high resolution without ruining the original art direction. The cutscenes are smooth now and re-rendered in HD, with the use of new assets, not simply through AI upscaling. It's native widescreen, and you can switch to the original look with the press of a button. Gamepads are supported natively, ultra high frame rates work (mostly, with some mild judder because of refresh rate mismatch) out of the box. Nightdive are very responsive and prompt with fixes. It simulates the sound systems that would've been available at the time better than the mods can. It's just a great experience overall if you loved the original game. It's good, and better than any other available option for playing this game (and on consoles it is the only option since the original PlayStation release), including the fan made conversions. As a bonus it also has some nifty bonus content like The Avenger map and behind the scenes development content. It's overpriced yes, which is why I won't give it 5 stars, but it's far from a cynical cash grab that some make it out to be. Is it worth the full price? Probably not to most, but in my opinion Nightdive is to videogames what Criterion is to physical movie releases. It's niche, but it's almost always a labour of love that clearly shows a lot of appreciation for the source content, and providing the best experience possible without straying from the original vision.
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