Publisher: Flying Wild Hog
Developer: Flying Wild Hog
System requirements: TBD
Genre: FPS
ESRB rating: Not yet rated
Release date: September 2011

Last week was one of those weeks. I found myself nearly overwhelmed by a slew of personal and work-related projects. Then I heard there was an opportunity to get a hands-on look at Flying Wild Hog’s upcoming cyberpunk shoot-em-up Hard Reset. Projects got put on hold as I made sure to allot a suitable chunk of time for it. Ever since a single screenshot appeared on the Internet earlier this year, I’ve been eager to take a closer look at this baby, because it seemed pretty damn enticing. Then there was talk about it being an old-school FPS (Doom-like as opposed to Halo-like) and that increased my interest tenfold. Finally, when I learned it was a PC-exclusive aimed at capitalizing on my favorite platform’s strengths, I was all but sold on it.

The version I was presented with showcased the beginning of the game, up to and including the first boss fight. At the start (and between levels) I was treated to hand-drawn and graphic novel-like cut-scenes. The setting is established as a grim technological future where a human city (the only one perhaps) is under siege by robots. Not as original as I’d hoped, but then again, the developers promised Doom not Planescape: Torment. The protagonist is some kind of tough guy cop/guard/soldier. He was drinking after a shift, but then there was a perimeter breach, and he was sent right back to work. Maybe they laid off all the other cops due to economic troubles.

Once on the ground you are provided with a very eloquent tutorial, which shows you what to do, how to do it, and then leaves you alone without annoying you, talking down to you, or requiring you to practice the task seven times. You basically have two guns, but that’s all you’ll ever need because you can upgrade each of those to transform into a variety of different weapons. So in the end you still get your machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, plasma gun and so on. There is also never a need to drop what you are carrying to pick up something else.

The levels are linear and chock full of ammo and health. There are also tons of explosives to blow up, and various electrical devices that can be used to electrocute anything in their vicinity. This gives you the option of dishing out some serious environmental damage to your opponents, which, as you’ve already guessed, are robots of various shapes and sizes. The lot of them are quite dumb and most will just charge you without so much as trying to avoid running by the aforementioned environmental hazards. Some stay back and shoot rockets at you, but are unable to dodge or seek cover. So while individually every robot is a pushover on Normal difficulty, they make up for it when in numbers, and the battles are quite challenging as a result.

Graphically, the game is gorgeous. It was everything I hoped it would be, and even with all of the settings maxed out (and at 2560×1600 resolution) it never choked or stumbled on me. Neither the environments nor the rendering of the many enemies running in my direction, caused the engine to hiccup. At times I found myself simply admiring the futuristic urban views, which is not something that modern shooters are generally known for.

I want to mention that my recently re-awakened appetite for secrets in games (see my review of Dungeon Siege III) was fully satisfied by the amount of said secrets in Hard Reset. It was like being taken to the good old days of Wolfenstein 3D, and I am grateful for that. Of course, other aspects of the game, such as the combat, the level design, the graphics and the cut-scenes are all of the highest quality and need not be improved. All things considered I am eagerly looking forward to the final product, which, if all goes according to plan, should hit shelves in September.