[PC] Hard Reset Review

[Ghostbear]

Hard Reset Review

Product: Hard Reset
Platform: PC
Developer: Flying Wild Hog
MSRP: $29.99
Editor: Jeremy 'Ghostbear' Spurlock

What's Hot: Pretty, intense shooter with a focus on tons of action.

What's Not: Checkpoint system can be frustrating, weak voice acting.

Flying Wild Hog is made up of former People Can Fly, CD Projekt RED and City Interactive developers, so you know what you're likely to get from them is a high quality, PC focused title. Hard Reset hearkens back to shooters of old. There is no reloading, there are about a million enemies at any given time and you have a wide variety of ways to destroy your robotic foes.

Feel my awesome destructive power you overgrown microwaves!

Speaking of destroying robots, the way Hard Reset handles weapons is a lot of fun. You have two basic weapons, one that shoots projectiles and one that shoots electricity. They can both be upgraded to do more damage, turn into mortars, emp blasts, rail guns, etc. You can also upgrade things like your health, shields, and how much information about your enemies is displayed. There didn't seem to be a distinct disadvantage to one weapon or the other, so mix and match to your heart's content.

Choices abound, choose wisely.

You are in for a challenge with Hard Reset, it starts off tough and never really lets up. You will be harassed by foes at almost every turn. When I say harassed, I mean there will probably be at least a dozen or so robots trying to shoot, stab or blow you up all the same time. I found myself reloading a checkpoint many times even on normal difficulty. You have to constantly stay on the move to not be torn apart. You have a few advantages however, as mentioned earlier you have plenty of weapon variety, but you'll also have a lot of environmental attacks. I do not know how anyone safely traverses this city without setting off something that explodes or shoots electricity everywhere.

There is a decent variety of enemies. Some smaller robots that range from melee style to others that try to get near and explode. Medium machines that will force you to dodge them like a matador and bigger opponents that will bombard you with artillery. There are two big boss fights as well and trust me when I say they will make you work to defeat them. Get ready to destroy smaller foes while dodging giant laser beams from bosses.

Glowing red means he wants hugs.

This game is clearly not focused on the story, and that's a good thing because there is not much to speak of. What little there is to see is shown in comic book style panels with some slight motion. The art is pretty good and worth looking at. The voice acting however, is another story all together. It is frankly, terrible. The scenes are shown while loading into the next chapter and you can skip them as soon as the game has loaded. Honestly though? The action more than makes up for some wonky voice acting or weak story bits. You're here for some man on robot mayhem, so just load in and blow some stuff up!

So easy...

While we're on the negative side of things, I'd like to mention my one real complaint, the save system. You cannot quick save so you are at the mercy of the checkpoints. After my ninth attempt to beat an area, I was starting to get really tired of leveling up my weapons nine times. I get that they are trying to set a certain level of difficulty by removing quick saves, but if you're gonna do that, you need to have a lot more checkpoints. The fights can be tough and I would rather not relive the five minutes it takes me to get back to that fight over and over.

Everything explodes in this city!

Even with my complaints, I would still recommend Hard Reset to anyone looking for an intense, old school shooter experience. Fans of Painkiller and Serious Sam take note, this is your new game. Prepare to dive into a Blade Runner-esque city with a really bad robot problem. A problem that can only be solved by glorious man on machine violence.

Score: 4 out of 5 CoGs


Jeremy says, "If you want a shooter that will challenge you, is pretty and really intense, you can't go wrong with Hard Reset."

[Wilkz07]

thanks for the review. i was on the fence about this one but its a buy when work ends(or i sneak out early).

[Dark Acre Jack]

Despite it being so super punishing, it's definitely a stand-out effort in a sea of generic man-shoots (I'm looking at you, Bodycount).

The thing that blew my mind was the incredible fold-out UIs. I went back to Deus Ex after a session of Hard Reset and was kind of underwhelmed.

[Ghostbear]

Yes, even the little buttons for opening gates and such were pretty impressive.

[Karak]

Originally Posted by the Jack

Despite it being so super punishing, it's definitely a stand-out effort in a sea of generic man-shoots (I'm looking at you, Bodycount).

The thing that blew my mind was the incredible fold-out UIs. I went back to Deus Ex after a session of Hard Reset and was kind of underwhelmed.

I sort of liked Bodycount. Not sure why.

I am getting this game though for sure.

[Wilkz07]

Originally Posted by Karak

I sort of liked Bodycount. Not sure why.

I am getting this game though for sure.

sort of liked Bodycount as well... until fighting the silver armor guys... then i turned it off.

[Exodus]

I might have to pick this up. What made Painkiller fun for me were the weapons and this sounds like fun especially with the ability to upgrade the way you want.

[PathMaster]

Good review. A few others reviews basically said it stunk and to skip it. But this sounds like a great fun game. Something many other games might take a note fun. I don't need something grandiose, I want something fun. You make that, and I am a happy consumer.

[tacitus]

Just found out about this on ars - to add quick saves :

Ctrl + ~ to get the console then type "bind f5 save"

[edit - turns out that restore is already bound to f9 according to this]

[Ghostbear]

Originally Posted by PathMaster

Good review. A few others reviews basically said it stunk and to skip it. But this sounds like a great fun game. Something many other games might take a note fun. I don't need something grandiose, I want something fun. You make that, and I am a happy consumer.

Thanks, This is a solid fun game, I am really looking forward to what their next project is.

Just a note, the game took me about 6 hours to complete.

[Ghostbear]

Originally Posted by tacitus

Just found out about this on ars - to add quick saves :

Ctrl + ~ to get the console then type "bind f5 save"

I exterpolated this info to "bind f9 restore" and it worked.

man, where were you last week?

[tacitus]

Originally Posted by Ghostbear

man, where were you last week?

Alas I did not find out about it until this morning and I can't get to CoG from work.

[JayK47]

I will consider a purchase during a steam sale. Other reviews around are pointing out the cut to black ending and high difficulty. I like a challenge, but not a keyboard smashing challenge. It doesn't sound like the game gives you 2 seconds to rest. Non-stop action can and will get old.

[Ghostbear]

I can't say the ending bothered me, since I stopped caring about the "story" about 8 seconds in.

[PathMaster]

Hmm, 6 hours means a bit longer for me, kind of steep price wise for that..but a STEAM sale on the other hand.

[Hawkzombie]

Since I can add quicksave, this has become a must buy for me.

[Wackman3000]

Great review Jeremy. It has definitely colored me interested in the game since I've been looking for a shooter to fill the disappointment that was Duke Nukem Forever.

[Ghostbear]

Just an FYI, it looks like they patched in a quicksave feature prior to launch.

[JayK47]

Cool. Now to patch in an ending

[agentgray]

Originally Posted by Ghostbear

Just an FYI, it looks like they patched in a quicksave feature prior to launch.

What is the key for it?