411 Games Retro Review: Exhumed (SAT)
Posted by Steve McHugh on 08.03.2006
The better name for Powerslave.
Hi and welcome back to the second Retro Review. Before I start just a quick word. After looking at last weeks column I decided to change it a little. So instead of having old and new graphics and sound together I'll be doing them separately. So I'll go through how the game was seen back then and then do a whole new review for how it is now. I thought that might make things a little easier.
And so on with Exhumed. Some of you (i.e. those in the USA) might never have heard of a Saturn game by that name. That's because you know it as Powerslave, an all together dumber name. I'm not sure why it was changed and I can't seem to find any info about it but for the rest of the review I will be calling it Exhumed.
Exhumed is an FPS games that was originally released on the Saturn in 1996/97 and was widely seen as being a critical success. It was developed by Lobotomy Software and was also later released on the PS1 although personally I didn't think it was as good and was one of many cases where the Saturn version of a game was vastly superior to a PS1 version.
The game centers on an evil force taking over Egypt and you are the last man sent in to destroy this force and hopefully get out alive. Okay so it's not the most original story but FPS console games at the time were hardly known for being great story tellers. Thankfully the pretty flimsy plot never gets in the way of the action, which is fast and frantic and doesn't really let up.
It did things that the machine wasn't meant to be able to do such things as 3D and dynamic lighting but this game did those pretty well. The 3D world in particular is pretty impressive. This made the game beautiful to look at especially considering everything ran incredibly smoothly with very little slowdown.
It was seen by many at the time as the premier FPS game on the machine, which considering it was in competition with Duke Nukem and Quake was pretty high praise indeed.
So we know that ten years ago this was a great game. So how has it aged?
Graphics
Okay this isn't exactly the best thing about the game. The graphics, whilst still having pretty impressive lighting are probably the weakest part of the game age wise. Yes most of the levels look similar and are quite sparse but that's not really a huge problem because of the setting in a very sandy Egypt. The real problem with the graphics is the ability some enemies have to blend in to the background. You'll hear them and look for them until it's too late and you've been hit. It's only a real problem with the birds but there are quite a lot of birds in the game and it does become very annoying when you've only a small amount of energy left and you get hit by an enemy that seems to appear from nowhere.
Other then that the graphics are mostly fine considering their age. Sprites move well, although the mummies look like their doing some weird drunken dance. But none of this detracts from the immersion into the game world and after a while you'll hardly notice any odd movements.
5/10
There are still some lovely lighting effects in the game.
Gameplay
In retro games gameplay is much more important then graphics and Exhumed still plays very well, although with a few problems. Moving forward and back in controlled with the D-pad and the same with looking right and left. However, moving right and left is controlled by the shoulder buttons, which after years of two analogue sticks takes a while to get used to. A shoots, B jumps, C uses switches, Y and Z cycle through weapons and X looks up and down. This doesn't cause too may problems until you have someone attacking you at your feet and you can't see them. So you try to look down. And you die. It simply takes too long to get a good view. The same can be said with looking up. It just doesn't feel natural. This is mostly a problem when jumping. Oh lord the jumping.
Now jumping in the game isn't as bad as say Turok, but it's still a pain in the ass. Mostly because you have to stop and look at your feet and then run up to the edge and press jump. Except you have to press jump way before the edge because otherwise you'll fall off and die. Again and again and again. Jumping has moved on in leaps and bounds with current FPS games because of the ability to look around you naturally and because response time from pressing jump is mostly instantaneous. It really does become the bane of your life when you've just got to nearly the end of the level and you've got jumps over a bottomless pit left and you die and therefore have to do the whole level again.
Actually that is also a pain. When you die in a level you have to re-do the whole level. No mid level checkpoints, now it's not a game ruining aspect or anything but that does mean that you'll be redoing levels quiet a lot. Mostly because the game is hard. Now I don't mind hard games, Ninja Gaiden to me was no where near as hard as people seem to be under the impression it was and this isn't quite as hard as that but its still very easy to die and death is something you'll find a lot of. This is mostly because of jumping and the fact that a lot of corridors aren't wide enough for you to dodge attacks effectively.
The game tries to make it a little easier on you by giving you pretty impressive weapons and a fairly readily supply of health and ammo (both found in blue orbs so whatever weapon you have equipped is the one that gets a refill.) as well as invisibility and invincibility both of which will come in very handy. It also gives you new powers every few levels (jump higher, walk on lava etc) which then open new routes in the game.
Like I said above the action is pretty much constant and you'll always find some new enemies to fight so you'll never get bored. But be prepared for a challenge.
7/10
The machete. Not an impressive weapon.
Sound
The sound is actually not too bad. The voice acting is perfectly ok and sounds fairly appropriate to the characters that actually speak (intro and Ramses). Enemies also make different sounds to one another and you'll soon be able to pick out which enemy is about to attack you from the sounds they make.
The music in the game is passable but I would have thought a more classical soundtrack would have fitted the game better. But that's just personal preference.
The sound actually does play a very important part of the game in finding the hidden transmitter parts. I'll explain what they are further below but on any level with a piece you will hear beeps as you get closer. It's a nice way to help you find something which can sometimes be very hidden and awkward to see.
7/10
Lasting Appeal
Well this depends on how good you are. There's a lot of back tracking in the game as you get new powers and weapons and thus new paths to explore.
The game by itself will last about 12-15 hours and if you try to find all of the transmitter pieces it can last even longer. You see there are 2 endings. The first one is without a full transmitter and the second is with one. Finding the pieces is quite a challenge and some are quite difficult to get hold of until you have the right power or weapon. So whilst there aren't hundreds of levels you do have to play some of the levels several times to find all the exits and secrets.
There are also the team dolls, these are little dolls of the people who made the game and are near impossible to find. Certain things happen when you collect different amounts but if you get them all you can unlock a mini game Death Tank Zewi. This is an awesome multiplayer only game that they didn't put it in the UK version for whatever reason (although it was in Duke Nukem and was easier to unlock too). The basic aim was to blow each other up by controlling a tiny colored tank (think old versions of Worms but with tanks instead) and believe me when I say that you will play this game with friends for weeks and weeks without ever getting bored.
But without Death Tank Zewi this game is still going to last you a good long time.
7/10 (10/10 if you want to find and play the mini game)
It looks like nothing but this little gem will own your multiplayer life. If you can find it.
Fun Factor
I know I've ragged on the game for having awful jumping mechanics and the graphics are not exactly aging well but since I got this game I can't stop playing it. It's just so much fun to play and even when you finish it you'll go back to it after a while to play again. There's something about the game, some charming aspect that makes the game incredibly Moorish. As annoying as its faults are the rest of the game more then makes up for it.
9/10
Is it worth buying?
If you've never played the Saturn version or you want to relive it then yes this is totally worth buying the machine for as it's a very important game in the FPS history and is also a great game in its own right.
If you own a Saturn already then yes go buy this game. It cost me £5(about $8-9) and is more then worth it for the huge enjoyment it will bring you.
Over all this is a great game that although in parts has aged badly (mostly due to controller advancement) is still a joy to play and still one of the best retro console FPS games available.
8/10
Well there you go another great Saturn game and something I'd been looking forward to playing again for a while.
Next week I will be reviewing Virtual Hydlide, a game I've never played before.
