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The Thing Remastered is out now after a stealthy type release with the date announced the day before its release!
Much like most remasters, the game has had a decent lick of paint, with controls being more in-line with modern-style games.
The Thing originally released in 2002 on OG Xbox, PS2 and PC, and has gained quite a cult following over the years, as well as being canon to the original John Carpenter classic from 1982.
Set on an American Antarctic base, you have this alien lifeform/parasite which can mimic anything it comes into contact with, including clothes, which makes it’s way to the American base in the form of a Siberian Husky escaping from a Nordic base. This alien Thing can survive in deep cold and every single cell of it will strive to survive, no matter what. This leads to nigh-on two hours of suspense with the crew, led by Kurt Russell, at odds with each other, and paranoia setting in fast. There is plenty of body horror, jump scares and gore throughout, as well as an ending with…
Here is where you come in, playing as Captain Blake, you arrive at the American base with Bravo Team, to investigate what has happened there due to radio silence. Alpha Team are taken to the Nordic base for the same reason. This opening area serves as a sort of tutorial area, getting you used to the puzzle-solving and use of other characters in the team with a medic, engineer and soldier. After completing this level, you head to the Nordic base to see what is going on with Alpha team…
So we have basically the same game from 2002, and reviews from that era are still relevant today with regards to setting and game mechanics. Nightdive have again used their Kex Engine with The Thing Remastered, this engine getting better and better with every release as it matures.
Visually, all the characters including Blake are now razor-sharp, instead of the lower resolution and fuzziness that the game had upon first release, albeit to a lesser extent the PC. Lighting has now been done per-pixel, so you get some nice shading in rooms and when using the flash light, as well as the flares. Interior textures have been nicely upscaled, making everything nice and sharp, no matter which way you look.
The sound, itself, is very similar to the original version, but at times can be a bit strange; You can be in a room and hear all the noise of wind and snowstorm outside, but then when you turn your back on it things go silent instead of a low background noise. I tested this on both the 2.1 speakers across the front of my BenQ screen, via my RTX 4070 output using Displayport, plus my Soundblaster Z SE connected to a 2.1 full range soundbar, and it made no difference. I believe this was an issue with the original, too, and find it more of a quirk than an issue.
In 2024, The Thing Remastered‘s monsters and gore are something to behold. They haven’t just been upscaled, but have had some work done to them giving a lot more detail, entrails etc., and there is buckets of the red stuff getting splattered about. The Thing without gore and crazy-looking creatures is literally unthinkable.
The controls being updated helps no end, and makes gameplay a little easier. With the original version, you use R1 & L1 to strafe left and right. You now have full camera control with the right stick, and to be expected movement from the left and going into aim-mode, use right for the crosshair movement.
The game, however, does have quite a short runtime coming in at around 6-7 hours from start to finish, and I have seen some complete times as low as 3 hours, if you completely know what you are doing. The reason I mention this, is the asking price of £25. I feel is a little steep, even though loads of work has been done to bring us this remaster. I think a £20 price point would be the sweet spot.
Either way, The Thing Remastered is well worth playing, and Nightdive have outdone themselves,yet again. This game is a must buy for fans of the classic Carpenter movie, as well as fans of action-based survival horror that is a bit more fast paced, not forgetting fans of the original version of the game.
Thanks to our friends at Nightdive Studios for the review code.
The Thing Remastered is out now on PC / Steam and the digital stores for Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PS5.
Important info:
- Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks
- Publisher: Nightdive Studios
- Players: Single player only with no online copmponents
The Thing Remastered Official Launch Trailer – Nightdive Studios
FINAL SCORES:
GRAPHICS
SOUND
GAMEPLAY
ENJOYMENT8
7
8
7OVERALL 7.5
Retro at heart and lover of all things ’80s, especially the computers, the music and the awesome movies and TV shows! Crazy huge retro gaming collection spanning the ’80s and ’90s with hundreds of tapes, discs and carts for various machines on top of a 600+ strong Steam library that is ever-growing. No I am not a serial hoarder, just a dedicated retro gamer!