Gods: Remastered

Well there’s nothing quite like taking a beating in video game form. It’s a strange relationship between a player and an extremely difficult game as for one thing, it’s punishing and require great patience to endure. On the other, a difficult game can be ultra-rewarding when you progress and finally complete it. We have an oldie from 1990, a classic gem of raw brutality and harsh punishment. Gods: Remastered, was it worth bringing back to life after so many years?

Players will take on the role of a nameless warrior as they embark on a dangerous journey through four worlds to defeat the Great Guardians. These are super bad guys who’ve stolen the homes of the gods and pretty much don’t like you at all. As a reward you will receive immortality and a place in the eternal hall of fame that is if you survive.

Players will explore all of the original 12 filled with intense platforming, mythical beasts, brain teasing puzzles and secrets to find. This remaster brings the original experience to modern age with vastly improved presentation including better sound design and sleek visuals. It looks great but for those who want some nostalgic charm there is an option to switch between the Remastered visuals and the classic, pixel art presentation. This was a nice touch and its transition is seamless.

The only thing I would say is that some of the animations don’t look fluent enough and end up looking very jittery. It’s strange to say that the pixel art version has smoother character animations but overall the presentation is pretty good.

The goal for players is to traverse various locations and defeat the four Great Guardians. Along the way you have to avoid death traps, solve puzzles and upgrade your gear to ensure your survival. Its design is extremely simple yet engaging and fun. The level design is structured well to include all the different gameplay elements at a great pace and to break things up enough to avoid feeling repetitive.

I will admit that even with improved controls, the main character still moves like a tank. Jumping and performing certain other actions can be slightly tedious for first timers but it’s all about some trial and error, while getting a feel for the controls. It’s a very 90’s thing where you just have to learn to get used to it. But it would’ve been nice to refine the controls a little more, maybe have an option for those who aren’t used to old school platforming games.

But while the game is punishing in many respects, it’s actually forgiving in others. There are plenty of save points to ensure you’ll never lose too much progress if you die and many of the encounters are balanced to ensure there are no cheap deaths lingering in your path. Not all but most. The ones which came off as cheap were some odd enemy placements which really felt like they were there on purpose, to ensure you lost some life right before the critical moment.

There’s plenty of great mechanics here too with the ability of purchasing upgrades. It’s neat touch and gives players another reason to explore areas thoroughly and find vital loot to use towards their progression.

Gods: Remaster is a neat game and worth checking out if you enjoyed games like Volgarr the Viking. For its price though I find it a little steep for what it is. If it goes in sale for a tenner then I highly recommend it.

+ Great visual and sound upgrade
+ Intense platforming and combat
- Lacks refinements in controls and some animations
A Steam copy of Gods: Remastered was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.