Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Well, this is nice. Good graphics, nice lighting... reminds me of Detroit from Deus Ex I guess... very run-down-near-future- esque. Oh, hey there little guy, what are yo-OH GOD IT'S TRYING TO SAW MY FACE OFF! Holy crap! There's MILLIONS OF THEM! What do I DO!? And where the bitch did that massive robot comes from! Run away! RUN AWAY! OH GOD HE'S CATCHING UP! HE's- *Dead*.
 

Welcome to the future

That was my first few minutes of Hard Reset, the debut title from eastern european studio Flying Wild Hog. Imagine what it would have been like to live in the Matrix universe, back when the machines first attacked mankind after being given their freedom - and then throw in a hyper-tense atmosphere and a lot of screaming (on your part). Welcome to the dark, cyberpunk world of Hard Reset. Mankind is under attack by the 'machines', and you (as solider-come-mental guy Major Fletcher) have to fight and survive through this bleak, heavy metal existence.

The first thing you'll probably notice is just how gorgeous it looks - seriously. On the scale of graphical fidelity, Hard Reset is up there pretty high, and being a PC exclusive game means that it doesn't cater to what many consider old hardware now. Levels are preceded with story scenes, done in a very slick comic book style. The action is very over-the-top and intense, and the engine copes nicely with all the explosions, shrapnel, and collapsible objects around the game world. The colour scheme, despite being quite bright, really helps add to the mood of the game as well, and you'll find yourself constantly on edge as you trundle slowly through the abandoned buildings

Hard Reset styles itself as an 'old school' shooter, and speaking to the developers you can really tell that they are dissatisfied with the current state of the genre. To them, it's all Hollywood this and America that, and they've had enough. Is Hard Reset a subtle metaphor meant for the entire FPS Market? Maybe, but it could just be that it's just a good game. Hard too - even on regular difficult settings, you'll find yourself struggling to cope against the hordes of enemies wanting to chisel your face off, or splatter you into a wall.
 

They'll be a lot of this going on ...

Not much is known about the story itself so far, other than the obvious. Who Major Fletcher is, and how he fits into everything is a mystery, and why exactly the machines want to pop apples in our asses is anybody's guess. With inspirations such as Blade Runner, Phillip K. Dick and other classic sci-fi authors, you just know it's going to be good. Flying Wild Hog want you to remember Doom and Painkiller when you play this game, but they also want you to remember gaming as it was before the idea of mass market appeal. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with the mass market, but many veterans will tell you something has been lost in recent years.



Despite their digs at 'On Rail' shooters and scripted events, Hard Reset does seem fairly linear. So far you're just going from one area to the next, blasting away as you go and there's little diversity and no multiple routes or anything like that. With no multiplayer either, we question the games replayability, but then there's a real challenge to this game that's addictive. Not to mention it's just fun making things blow up. Using the environment to your advantage is key, with many objects - from explosive barrels to electric stands - available to use against the enemy.

The core action revolves around two main guns - your solid ammo weapon, and an energy weapon. They have official names but basically they're just two guns that can be upgraded to perform a variety of functions. The solid ammo weapon, for example, starts off as your basic assault rifle. It can be upgraded though to have a combat shotgun, a grenade launcher, even and RPG mode. The energy weapon again starts out as a basic pulse-laser thing, and can be upgraded with beans, plasma grenades etc...
 

... And this

We've been impressed with Hard Reset, we have to say. Seeing a some-what fresh (if retro) approach to game design, and even game promotion, is a nice break from the highly corporate norm. Whether it will translate into sales is another matter, but Hard Reset and Flying Wild Hog know who they're aiming for - the PC gamer. The original gamer. We hope these newcomers get enough success to propel them onto future projects, as we can't wait to see what else they can come up with. Hard Reset is due out in September 2011 on PC.

Most Anticipated Feature: Finding out just what the bitch is going on.