Review of the game Hard Reset. They made it themselves, they broke it themselves: impressions of Hard Reset Redux A robot is an iron machine, a slave of people

GAME FORMULA

Why, it would seem, would humanity invent artificial intelligence? According to the version, it is extremely necessary for the production of robotic miracle openers with legs. People, however, did not take into account one important detail - intelligent openers, like other robots on fancy chassis, do not care at all about Asimov’s laws of robotics.

The result of this short-sightedness is expected and deplorable. The tins have rebelled and are systematically destroying people. Their final goal is a repository with preserved human personalities, having acquired which the robots can become as smart as HAL 9000 from A Space Odyssey or Shodan from. So far, the iron friends are doing great: people hold the last city, Bezoar, and the triumph of artificial intelligence over weak human intelligence is already very close. last hope of humanity - Major Fletcher. Mercenary, cynic, excellent shooter.

High voltage

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In fact, the allusions to Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov are just a diversion. Yes, the weather here is constantly bad, neon lights are on everywhere, and advertising machines offer the key to eternal life for a ridiculous amount. But this is just scenery; in reality, Hard Reset is about something completely different: about an army of evil robots against a man with big guns. Without fashionable health regeneration, shelters and a plot about war. They were like that at one time.

In battle, you are often confronted by dozens of ordinary clanging monsters, supported by one or two stronger robots. The air fills with lead and flares up with plasma discharges, and your finger cramps on the trigger. Afterwards, wiping the sweat from your forehead, you mentally thank the designers for at least not having to recharge.

The most questions, of course, are raised by the practical application of such a robot in everyday life.

It’s not always possible to attack head-on, and very soon you learn to watch the level first, not the enemies. There are always plenty of electric generators, barrels with explosive contents and other bad garbage around. Therefore, it is easier to shoot not at enemies, but at something unstable and preferably deadly next to them. It is much more elegant to lure, for example, a crowd of pieces of iron under a generator and cause them a massive short circuit than to surgically shoot off spare parts.

There are formally only two types of weapons in Hard Reset: a machine gun and an energy cannon. But both can be improved, opening up, in particular, new shooting modes. This is where the real Hard Reset arsenal is hidden. Switch to new mode physically transforms the weapon right in your hands, and now you are no longer holding a machine gun, but a shotgun or grenade launcher. In total, you can rebuild the base barrels in ten different ways.

Anthropomorphic cyborgs seem to have flown into Hard Reset from the planet Stroggos from Quake 2.

Dark streets

The simplicity of Hard Reset's gameplay formula is both good and bad. It's very easy to get lost in the game for a while, getting caught up in the process. But it’s just as easy to stop loving it, realizing that, apart from deafening cannonade and the clang of metal, Hard Reset has nothing more to offer you.

The straightforward, boring levels stand in sharp contrast to the long story sequences. The videos set you in the right mood, you think that after the splash screen there will be an exciting in-game narrative, but instead you have to contemplate a long corridor, canned food walking and weapons in your hands. And if a lackluster plot is quite acceptable within the genre, then the stereotyped enemies, who always act in accordance with one of about three behavior models, do not look very decent.

Opinions

Maxim Eremeev, editor of “Gaming”

My main complaint about Hard Reset is the absolutely disgraceful visual design. Flying Wild Hog still had enough imagination for the scenery, but it’s simply impossible to look at the robots opposing you without tears. These are exactly like walking tin cans: angular, awkward, completely ridiculous.

We live in a time of re-releases, and this is certainly wonderful: some can replay their favorites on new platforms, while others can join the classics. For publishers and developers, this is a great chance to make money and test how interesting the brand is and whether it is worth developing it further. But sometimes it’s better not to touch anything, not to redo it, not to release it again. Because it’s either not necessary, or not relevant, or everything will be broken, or people simply won’t understand. And the authorsHardResetIt would be better to control yourself.

In 2011, the original was akin to a life preserver for drowning people. We were drawn to the bottom of Call of Duty clones, and a hardcore, old-fashioned shooter for PC came in handy. Of course, it was budget and short, but dark and tough. In a futuristic world in the spirit of Blade Runner, we survived with a set of classic guns and killed millions of stupid aggressive robots.

A year later the first re-release happened. First of all, it was connected, of course, with a small downloadable add-on - it was simply included in the game. Then the developers started working on Shadow Warrior. A new game also turned out to be successful, they started working on a sequel, but at the same time, without having time to finish it, they made a new re-release of Hard Reset for commercial purposes. For PC and new generation consoles. It came out quite recently and became a cause for heated debate and even disappointment.

Many were outraged by the graphics. They say she has gotten worse. The developers even had to make a statement where they said that they simply created a new version of the engine and changed some effects to others. Of course, there is no reason not to believe them: they changed it, they changed it, a new version so new. It’s difficult to compare the graphics of the original with Redux: at first glance, everything seems to be the same. But at the same time there is a strange, subtle feeling of change. Perhaps it really is the new effects. The picture has become softer, or something. Or it’s possible that the developers really aren’t saying enough. Because talking about improved optimization is a complete hoax. After all, the game is 5 years old, it flies today on every bucket without any changes. Moreover, since they were making a current re-release, it was possible, on the contrary, to greatly improve the graphics and add details. Make the damn valves less square, after all. But this did not happen.

But, in my opinion, what is hidden behind the wording “balance changes” and “difficulty optimization” is much more important. I repeat, Hard Reset became famous in particular for its hardcore nature. To make your butt burn, it was enough to select medium difficulty. Already at the end of the first level, it became clear that you need to stay away from enemies, and kill large opponents from around the corner, using the environment as often as possible (in particular, barrels and electronic machines).

Now you can forget about it. In Redux, I died for the first time only on the first giant boss (this is about half the game later), and the previous levels did not bother me at all. He flew into a crowd of opponents and crushed them with a shotgun. I wasn't afraid of kamikaze robots. Previously, they exploded so that you were almost completely affected. There is no such thing anymore. Enemies deal less damage and die faster. You can finally use a gamepad. It is impossible to play with it in the Extended Edition, although there is support there. And here - go ahead, run, smash, enjoy.

Moreover, in Redux, simple acceleration was replaced with a strong dash, and now it has become much easier to dodge. And the pumping began to go faster. In the middle of the game, I already had guns for all occasions, and I simply didn’t know where to develop next and why I should make other upgrades.

The placement and number of enemies has also changed, although not everywhere. Most of the spectacular appearances and surprises were preserved, but some disappeared without a trace. Somewhere some types of opponents were replaced by others. Added more flying robots. In some places the rats were replaced with zombies. The latter were passed off as fresh chips. New type of enemies. But these are the banal fast and stupid dead from any zombie shooter. There is a crowd of them, they run at you and quickly die. Well, and a lot of blood. Apparently, the developers were too lazy to come up with something really new, so they simply took the developments for Shadow Warrior. Hence the new weapon - the electric katana. But it is almost always useless. It can only be used against zombies, but it is much faster and easier to kill them with a shotgun.

It probably makes sense to buy Redux only on the console. For PC - definitely not. At worst, it is better to buy the Extended Edition. Thank God, the situation with Doom 3 BFG Edition did not happen again, and we have a choice. At least for now.

Why play? The question is actually simple - out of great love for stupid, frankly speaking, shooters, of course. Well, you know, where there is nothing at all except explosions and shooting, but blowing up and shooting is a lot of fun.

The game was released five years ago and was created by those who had a hand in the development and. True, Hard Reset does not reach either one or the other, but this does not detract from its merits. If you didn’t have time to verify this in 2011, it’s time to correct the situation - recently an updated and improved version of the game was released, entitled Hard Reset Redux.

Decay

Twenty-fifth century. A bleak future with endless rain, gray skyscrapers and cold neon lights. People live in fear of robots out of control, and somewhere around the corner in one of the bars, Rick Deckard is probably knocking back shot after shot.

If your craving for shooters is combined with a love for cyberpunk, then Hard Reset will not waste your time - it maintains the visual style perfectly and creates the right mood with its design, music and even sounds. Everything, of course, is collected from genre cliches, but within the framework gaming industry they are not too worn out, and the overall result is quite decent.

There is no life on the streets - the city seems abandoned.

But all these billboards, posters on the walls, flickering bar signs and abandoned cars attract attention and make us believe that people really lived here before we arrived. There is even something in this.

A quiet life in such a world, you understand, is impossible. The city of Belphegor is under attack by intelligent machines seeking to penetrate an archive containing digital “casts” of the personalities of millions of citizens. There is a theory according to which the development threshold artificial intelligence is limited, and the archive can help robots... in general, then everything will be like that. All that matters to us is that the brave Major Fletcher stands in the way of the robots. He is angry, drunk and ready to commit a real tin genocide.

The plot is presented only between levels in poorly drawn comics that you want (and it is possible) to immediately skip. Of course, if you wish, you can find exciting twists and a lot of interesting references to cult works in the cyberpunk genre in the story of Major Fletcher, but such a desire is unlikely to arise. The story is spoiled by the presentation, and stupid dialogues finish it off. And at the levels themselves, the plot does not appear in any way, and the events quickly disappear from your mind. Don't try to run Hard Reset Redux for the sake of the story.

It’s not entirely clear what angers Fletcher more: the fact that robots slaughtered thousands of residents when they burst into the city, or the need to work overtime because of the hardware.

Flesh and steel

But for the sake of speed, explosions and a pleasant metallic clang, feel free to launch it. The game revolves around a single element - shooting. You can shoot back at the insolent pieces of iron with a machine gun and a plasma cannon, which seems to be the same machine gun, but slower.

This, in a certain way, is what Fletcher's arsenal is limited to. But by collecting containers with nanites at levels, you can get hold of special points and spend them on new modes for the two available guns. A dozen of these points, and the machine gun effectively transforms into a shotgun or RPG, and the plasma gun begins to fry robots with electrical discharges.

The important thing here is that all weapon variations sound impactful and feel very convincing. When a machine gun fires shells into battle, you literally feel all these steel components working tirelessly under the metal body of the gun.

And how the enemies react to hits! Robots shower sparks all around, scatter metal plates, fall apart, explode, touching each other. Add to this the fact that most of the time there are dozens, or even hundreds, of enemies on the screen. The feeling of destroying them is difficult to put into words, but the combination of sounds, special effects, weapon recoil, breakneck speed and the need to constantly move is almost euphoric. At its best, the game is as effective as an ASMR video.

The levels are filled with explosive elements. No matter where you shoot, something is sure to catch fire, explode, or start emitting electric arcs.

But in the re-release, the developers figured out how to enhance and complement the effect. Between the Hard Reset itself and the Redux version, Flying Wild Hog managed to reboot the old shooter, and there they often had to swing a katana rather than shoot. So, the developers put the experience gained into action: from now on you can feel like a samurai in Hard Reset. Fletcher will find the cyberkatana buzzing like a lightsaber early on. Well, in order to have something to apply it to, stupid cyberzombies were added to the army of opponents, pouring in crowds from literally every nook and cranny.

The mechanics of stabbing and the sensations from it, quite expectedly, migrated from the same Shadow Warrior. And this is good. The blade hums pleasantly and cuts the zombie like a hot knife through butter. It is convenient to control the trajectory of the blows, and the collision of the blade with the flesh is perfectly readable. You can also chase other robots with a katana, but it’s not so easy to deal with them with a sword - it’s clear that initially the behavior of the enemies did not take into account the player’s use of melee weapons. However, as an additional weapon that allows you to quickly get rid of enemies in close proximity, the katana is quite appropriate.

It is still not recommended to swing the sword too often and thoughtlessly. The difficulty of the game is quite high, and the hero can be trampled very quickly.

But all the pleasure is based on “tactile” sensations. Interesting situations the game doesn't try to create - you just face crowds of enemies in large arenas. As, however, in most similar shooters. But there is progress in this area: in the original, you often had to fight off an army of robots in narrow corridors, where there was nowhere to turn around. IN updated version There is much less such “entertainment”; the developers have revised the location of the enemies.

In general, the re-release is better than the original in almost every element. The only exception is the graphics, which is unexpected. The picture in the updated version is worse than in the original five years ago. In Redux, many textures have become noticeably cloudier and some lighting effects have disappeared. But the developers separately boasted of porting the game to the latest version of their proprietary engine. However, no big tragedy happened - the game looks good even with such a picture.

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Hard Reset is not a game that anyone would call a favorite. Ten years later you will hardly remember it either. But here and now it can bring a lot of pleasure. It doesn't require much time and doesn't ask you to take it seriously.

Why do we love “old school” shooters? For moments when the spinal cord is more important than the brain. For speed and frantic dynamics. For the knocking in the temples during a fight with another “megaboss” the height of a high-rise building. Rare modern games can boast of such a set. Weak opponents, health regeneration, sticking to cover... Enough. Complete reboot. Hard reset.

Rise of the Machines

The city of Belphegor is the last stronghold of people in the war against the ruthless artificial intelligence. True, from cyberpunk, in commercials, in Hard Reset All that was left was darkness, deserted neon-lit streets and destroyed houses. Yes, and also the texts of the posters: “Live to buy”, “Clones at low prices”. The deep causes of the conflict are behind the scenes.

Our hero is Major Fletcher, a veteran who has gone through fire, water and copper pipes. Now he is a mercenary of the all-powerful Corporation, protecting the metropolis from invaders. One day, while drinking something intoxicating in a bar, Fletcher accepts a call for overtime duty. The situation is critical - in the sixth sector, robots broke through the perimeter and slaughtered the entire population. Sighing sadly, the major sets off.

That's the premise, and if you don't like it, skip the poorly drawn comics that reveal the plot. Lose Hard Reset still nothing. There are no unexpected twists, charismatic, memorable characters or thoughtful storytelling. Just a trusty “gun”, crowds of enemies, the howl of electric guitars in the background and an off-scale level of “bestiality”.

Of course, there were some amendments for 2011. For each broken “tin”, Fletcher receives a certain amount of “nanites”, which he then spends in special kiosks to improve weapons and armored suits. The arsenal is a bit small at first: a machine gun and a blaster. As in Bulletstorm By investing money in a machine gun, you can “teach” it to transform into a shotgun, grenade launcher and rocket launcher. For any of them, a paid alternative shooting mode is provided. A shotgun, for example, will start firing electric pellets that paralyze robots, a rocket launcher will acquire a laser target designator, and a blaster will acquire a bunch of additional forms, from a spark gap to an energy mortar, mostly duplicating the functions of a machine gun. So choose for yourself: the usual bullets with grenades or lumps of plasma. Of course, you won’t be able to “pump up” everything, even if you rummage through the nooks and crannies in search of hiding places.

Judgment Day

The sewer hatch flies up into the sky with a roar, and they climb into the passage. One, two, five, ten... Small steel balls on legs, armed with circular saws, humanoid “terminators” with ray guns, kamikazes. And on the corner a mountain of garbage collapses, revealing another mechanical hulk, ready to flood the surrounding area with rocket rain. The main thing is not to panic. The interactive environment here is far from an empty phrase. The slums of Belphegor are stuffed with explosive objects: abandoned cars, gas cans, automatic stalls, fans, the notorious red barrels... One shot at the gas tank can cause a chain reaction that will save Fletcher from half of the attackers.

And how beautifully it will save you! Something unimaginable is happening on the monitor. Arcs of electric discharges snake, walls fall to pieces, small junk underfoot flies to the sides along with the limbs of fallen metal warriors... High-quality effects, clear textures, honest shadows - only the general monotony reminds of a modest budget.

But it makes itself felt fully. There are few types of enemies, even fewer environments, and in addition they are constantly repeated. Particularly tiring are the so-called “monkeys”, who, oddly enough, have completely bullish habits. Once again, having dodged one multi-ton colossus and been hit in the head by another, you remember with an unkind word the developers who did not come up with something more original. And the architecture of the levels, which deliberately prevents you from taking an advantageous position, leaves much to be desired.

What saves you from inglorious death is non-stop movement, “ticks” with rockets and a tightly held trigger. Out of the kindness of their hearts, the authors deprived us of reloading, because it would have taken away precious seconds. First aid kits and cartridges are scattered chaotically throughout the streets, and sometimes fall out of the dead. There are only two types of ammunition: regular and plasma, matching the two weapon variations. Automatic clips that turn into grenades right in the barrel are an overly original idea, but without such simplifications, the increased complexity would become unthinkable (and that’s why the nightmare system of “checkpoints” forces you to go through difficult places again and again).

Game production is a difficult business. There is no place for mediocrities and quitters. And those who lack experience will face either economic collapse or a return to free add-ons for high-profile projects. Developers from Flying Wild Hog probably dreamed of financial victory, great love from the players and loud applause from journalists, but, alas... it takes 4 hours to complete, offers a damn monotonous process, and the hero’s arsenal consists of only two “guns”. What is this - laziness or an unsuccessful seed before much greater achievements?

With an iron fist

Two types of weapons are, of course, conditional. As the player completes levels, he earns experience points. At special kiosks you can spend them on leveling up. After upgrading, the machine can turn into a shotgun and then into a rocket launcher with the press of one button. The second weapon, electric, can also be developed. So, with a certain improvement, the user will be able to create ionized spheres similar to those in. For the fastidious, for whom even this will not seem enough, the authors have provided an alternative shooting mode and additional functions, such as a grenade launcher, shots that stop enemies, and an optical sight.

The main character is also not against reconsidering the capabilities of his own body. Of course, it’s far from reaching the level of projects like this. The ability to collect more first aid kits and ammunition from the bodies of enemies, as well as health and shield parameters, can be developed. Development should not be neglected, because local conditions will scare away weaklings in no time.

The spirit is very reminiscent of cyberpunk style. Here the player can be simultaneously attacked by several dozen opponents different types. Therefore, constant movement is a great way to maintain health. During firefights, you need to watch your surroundings. Sometimes you can get so carried away that you miss a treacherous blow from behind. It’s also worth shooting at cars, explosive barrels (Be careful! They explode immediately if you step on them) and electrical panels in order to somehow catch the freaks.

The most dangerous creatures are red “koloboks”, which, when approaching the player, selflessly detonate. Fast and small, they make you run away from you to the side. The rest, however, also do not stand still. Small chicken-like droids seek to cut the hero with a circular saw; medium-sized cars press with weight; and huge bosses simply have a huge supply of health.

They have a short conversation...

The authors drew simply fantastic scenery. In some places it seems that the city simply copies Los Angeles from "Blade Runner". And this is an undeniable advantage. Dirty streets, neon and constant rain... Somewhere above, dozens of flying cars cut through the air, food warehouses gather dust in the slums, and roads and buildings are in desperate need of repair. It’s a pity that the sad music is turned on out of place, and the psychedelic “chopping” during battles only hurts the ears.

Unfortunately, it’s not worth going through solely for the sake of the plot - it’s here only to warm up before the fight. In the distant future, most of the population lives in virtual reality, giving their bodies to a government security company for safekeeping. Fletcher admits that he serves in it only for the money. After work, the hero is not averse to pawning his collar, but that day once again he was unable to drink. In one of the sectors, a large activity of robots was discovered, which constantly ruin the life of the company. Later it turns out that some evil professor is behind this. That's basically all. No intrigue.

An old-school shooter offers no health regeneration, no saving at checkpoints and is completely ordinary, tasteless game process. The hero cannot crouch, wanders alone, performing the same type of tasks, listens to briefings from different people and destroys thousands of robots without reloading his weapon. In this case, the short duration is rather a plus. For those who miss and, it’s worth a try, it might get you hooked. For the rest, it’s better to pass by. This autumn is already rich in interesting projects.

P.S.: Localization from 1C turned out simply amazing. Almost everything has been translated, right down to the messages on monitor screens and other textures. It would always be like this!

Graphic arts: 4.0
Plot: 3.5
Sound and music: 3.8
Gameplay: 4.0