Sidestepping charges from large enemies or avoiding projectiles become near-impossible tasks considering how swift everything is in comparison. The biggest issue stems from the fact that the player character moves a touch too slowly for the fast pace of the game. That said, Hard Reset isn’t without its frustrations. There’s an unquestionable satisfaction in each fight, especially when the final bot has exploded and the player stands among various steel limbs and burnt-out hulls, surprised to somehow be alive. Those with fond memories of older FPS games will feel right at home with what Hard Reset offers and ought to revel in the consistent level of high octane carnage it delivers. It commits to presenting a certain style of shooter and never deviates from that course, only evolving in terms of how big its combat sequences grow and how much the increasingly devastating robots up their ante. Hard Reset‘s strength comes from its undiluted purity of gameplay. That said, there’s enough in-game cash within easy reach for players to piece together a worthy selection of upgrades, some of which are damn-near essential for facing the game’s most difficult battles. Each stage features multiple secret areas where large NANO caches are available, and some of these positions are quite fiendishly hidden. These upgrades are paid for at upgrade stations using NANO earned via kills and found littered throughout the levels. Each of these modifications can be further upgraded with new properties, and the player can also boost his own health, ammo capacity and shield strength. Meanwhile, the NRG gun can fire electric mortar shells, spray lightning, or be used as a railgun. For instance, the CLN can be upgraded to become a shotgun, grenade and rocket launcher, or deposit mines - with players able to make the gun transform between each mode on a whim. Despite the apparently limited arsenal, both weapons can be upgraded to house different modes, making each of the two firearms far more versatile. The player gets two weapons for the duration of the game - the bullet-spewing CLN gun and the electricity-based NRG weapon. The ferocity of the enemies cannot be underestimated, and many of the huge arena-like conflicts will end with players breathing a sigh of relief and taking a moment to recollect their thoughts. That doesn’t mean it’s not hectic, however. So long as players prioritize their targets, keep moving, and make the most of their weapon variety, even the stiffest competition can be put down. Despite the brutality of the game’s enemies, no fight feels truly unreasonable. Playing on Normal will offer some hefty resistance. Hard Reset‘s robots are among the most vicious, aggressive enemies I’ve ever fought in a game, as they unrelentingly chase players through entire levels, swarm in droves, and deal plenty of damage to boot. It also resurrects the tough gameplay that such an era was known for. Cover, regenerating health, and the fancy gimmicks of the modern shooter have been cast aside in favor of a game that focuses exclusively on the very fundamentals that made first-person-shooters what they are. Hard Reset brings back the ideal of the “old school” shooter. As is quite fitting for former members of People Can Fly, Hard Reset bears many similarities to the classic PC shooter Painkiller, presenting as it does hordes of swarming enemies with little else getting in the way of its over-the-top, adrenaline-pumping combat. In this endeavor, Flying Wild Hog has most assuredly delivered. It is but a distraction from the real point of the game - intense combat against hundreds of violent robots. In all truth, any narrative element can be quite safely skipped and nothing will be missed. I found the cutscenes annoying after a while, as they didn’t really add anything to the game, and served only to waste time between cybernetic killing sprees. There’s something about a “company” and artificial intelligence, with the robotic enemies that make up the entire game seeming to factor very little into the actual plot. Fully voiced comic book cutscenes open each level to present the narrative, but it’s rather impregnable stuff. Those who have played Hard Reset will talk about its difficulty, but by far the hardest aspect of the game is working out what on Earth it’s supposed to be about. Fortunately, it’s a risk that has most certainly paid off. Hard Reset has gained attention for its bold visual style and hardcore gameplay, but being a brand new IP in the PC indie market, it was always going to be a hit-or-miss risk. What happens when former Bulletstorm and The Witcher 2 developers club together to make a first-person shooter about insane robots? Well, if Hard Reset is anything to go by, you get something very promising indeed.
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