PowerSlave: Exhumed

Solid and definitely have an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.

Honestly, it's tempting to give Powerslave a 10 just for being available again, but no. That would, of course, be naughty. Here it is, though, in even more than all its glory - a brilliant, beautiful reworking that captures the very essence of what made it so awesome back in the day while giving the best of both the Saturn and PlayStation's distinct versions. For such a prototypical take on Metroid Prime, it's alarming and impressive just how much confidence Powerslave Exhumed shows in its design, making it the best kind of retro game - one that's even better today with full knowledge of how ahead of its time it really was. An easy recommendation to FPS fans of any vintage, Powerslave Exhumed will keep you playing and playing, searching for those last niggling secrets.

Powerslave Exhumed is another solid conversion by Nightdive Studios that's improved by some smart changes. The merging of elements from all three versions of the game creates an experience that feels both familiar yet new, while focusing on the console version's exploration aspects makes for a more interesting game. The shooting remains solid despite the slow rollout of different enemy types, and the platforming is also good for a first-person shooter, despite your swift movement speed. Fans of the original will be thrilled to go through this version, but newcomers who love retro games will enjoy this more since they get to experience an early exploration-based, first-person shooter.

PowerSlave Exhumed is yet another outstanding port from a team with a genuine love of games from that era. I cannot wait to see what they deliver next and if you have not checked out their previous work, Turok 1 and 2, ShadowMan, Blood (please put out a console port!), and so many more are just begging to be revisited. This team continues to deliver with every game they put out and I am ecstatic for what they decide to bring next.

PowerSlave Exhumed is a return to an early time in the evolution of First Person Shooters, with this 1996 classic that was ahead of its time at the moment of release showing that it can still stand the test of time. Thanks to an excellent work of adaptation to the Nintendo Switch, this version fits perfectly with today thanks to its technical and control updates, and its mix of action and exploration works perfect to bring back an FPS classic, one that's recommended to every fan of the genre.

PowerSlave Exhumed is a remake of PowerSlave, a first-person shooter that takes place in ancient Egypt. PowerSlave was originally developed in 1996 for the PlayStation and SEGA Saturn. This title takes the best elements of both original versions and updates them to meet modern standards. Does this relic belong in a museum? Or will it fade into obscurity? Find out in this Rapid Review.

Will you like PowerSlave Exhumed? Well, if you have played the genre's greats, or even its cult classics, you won't find it to be something special. It's a good shooter, no doubt about it, and the fact that it sort of plays like Metroid Prime many years before the latter saw the light of day is quite the feat, but at the end of the day it's just a decent-to-good FPS. If you view it strictly as a remaster, though, it's something more. It combines the best elements from all its versions, beautifies it a bit for the modern era, and adds all the typical buttons and levers that Nightdive tends to include in its fantastic repackagings. More like a collector's item than a great blast from the past, but boy, what a collector's item!

Once in a while, each of us just needs to take a flamethrower and destroy a horde of mummies. And this is something that PowerSlave Exhumed still does almost as good as it did 26 years ago.

Ultimately then, PowerSlave: Exhumed is a throwback to an earlier era - that much is true. However, while it clearly and proudly wears its retro design sensibilities on its digital sleeves, so too does its satisfying blend of frantic shooter action and Metroidvania design provide us with a bittersweet reminder that so few others have seen to follow in its largely forgotten footsteps.

‎Powerslave Exhumed is undoubtedly an entertaining shooter, which although it suffers from a disappointing variety of enemies, and a little interesting and sometimes tedious ammo system (which I only feel exists to not be considered "Doom with a skin"), at the end of the day it is still a recommended title for every fan of the genre, especially for those who have not played it in any of its original versions, and who were unknowingly missing out on an interesting but small cult experience, which today is part of the history of first-person shooters, and which undoubtedly managed to overcome the test of time.‎