PowerSlave / Exhumed Review

[Aldeb]

No offense to anyone nostalgic about this game. I remember stumbling on it at a friend's house when a Pentium 2 was cutting edge technology, and sorta liked it. But recently I replayed it and was incredibly frustrated by the awkward, console driven controls Really, this game is borderline insane when it comes to the controls, and it's a real shame because it would otherwise rock.

My score: 4/10
Here's a screenshot I've made

Here's my own review of the game if anyone's interested http://www.oldpcgaming.net/powerslave-review/

[MrFlibble]

console driven controls

I'm not sure what you mean by that? The default controls are basically the same as in any other Build or Doom engine games of that time.

You might want to check out this for advice on improved controls in this game.

you get only three lives per level

You can actually collect up to five lives. This is not very different from Star Wars: Dark Forces.

Consider the lack of a crosshair or auto-run feature

As in other similar games of the time, there's auto-aim, which makes a crosshair entirely optional. For auto-run, check out that thread at Duke4.net.

[Aldeb]

Ah, ok. What I meant is the controls resemble that of a console game. The biggest annoyances BY FAR are how you can't have free mouselook and gratuitous strafing... even with the autoaiming feature, it would be nice to have full mouselook plus a crosshair. I always tend to play and rate these games in their original, unchanged format; You know, experience gameplay like in the old days Good point on Dark Forces, but I stand by saying it wasn't a good choice there either... i hate not being able to save in a game

[tienkhoanguyen]

Cheezits and Rice!hehe

Well, my games are not as serious as these. Not that it matters that I don't know how to 3D render. What I am aiming for is for kids and the kids at heart. I don't like scary things. Egypt tends to scare me, but that's just me. I prefer stuffs like "freedom" and "fun" and "love" and stuffs like that. But, then again - it is just me. Not better than the REAL PROFESSIONALS in attitude, however, it is probably because I can't be that talented that I am complaining. hehe Well, don't get me wrong - it is a complaint that really is saying "Great job; you really showed off your stuffs." I mean compare my favourite game that I own Quake with my circle introductions programs. You see Quake is extremely talented since they're somehow able to render graphics at lightspeed. hehe I am one of those geeks who do maths based on circular formulas. So you see I have to be humble. I really rate Quake which I do own officially above my own productions. In fact, I am impresses Quake did not put a virus on my harddrive yet since I quit that game so many times. haha Well, I better NOT get any viruses since my installation is from the official disc itself.

Thank you God the only thing that Quake did mess up is my CD-ROM reader. Once I installed the official Quake it could not read the CD-ROM anymore.

[MrFlibble]

Well, to me Powerslave is a game that is very close to Doom. I think it plays quite well with default controls.

I agree that some of the areas can be pretty tough to get through without the in-level save feature - such as the jumping puzzle on level 4 or the lava labyrinth on the same level. It is my understanding that the console versions, even though there are completely different levels and all, also have this issue (e.g. mentioned here). That may indeed become quite annoying, but then again, the games back then were designed for lengthy (re)playing sessions.

I also agree with tienkhoanguyen that the game might become quite scary and/or disturbing sometimes. In fact, it has a much darker atmosphere than the other Build games, or Doom, Heretic and Hexen.

[Quadko]

In fact, it has a much darker atmosphere than the other Build games, or Doom, Heretic and Hexen.

Wow, that's saying something.

I certainly miss modern controls on the early 3D games, but that seems rather anacrhonistic since they were all still experimenting with what works. I remember thinking having to use a mouse was a terrible burden when I had been a keypad king on Wolf3D and Doom and knew exactly how holding down 6, 7, & 2 with an occasional tap of 3 would react. I still think WASD is lame, just best available. And I love my CyberSnipa pad to fix some of the WASD alignment problems.

But talk about problems that aren't real problems...

[MrFlibble]

Wow, that's saying something.

Have you played it? There are some pretty creepy/disturbing areas in the levels, e.g. the caverns in the very first level.

That said, the level design in the DOS version generally leans towards the more detailed and realistic style of other Build games like Duke Nukem 3D.

As for old school controls, here's an interesting thing. Recently I found an old, pre-release demo of Bethesda's The Terminator: Future Shock (1995). I had not played the game (or SkyNET) before that, and it was a bit surprising that the controls have a very modern feel. There's a dedicated grenade throw key which is bound to the right mouse button by default in that old demo. Actually I used to think that a separate grenade key was a much more recent invention. The default keys are not WASD but they're all remapable. The final release of the game also added the option to invert the vertical mouse axis. The demo can be downloaded here: shockdem.zip.

[Quadko]

No, just seen the name and screenshots around. I've started having nausea trouble with pre-quake era games as I've aged, sadly. I loved them so much once upon a time.

[tienkhoanguyen]

Cheezits and Rice!hehe

Well, I try to be good these days so I try hard to avoid even Quake even though it is on my hard drive. Besides did you hear the rumor that even the darkest one has to ask God for permission before taking any actions on any mere mortals like myself! So gives you comfort to know being God's only one and chosen sinner is not worth it. hehe So I am not a good example however for those who go to church you are graced. God blesses you with abundance of love and protection from that one and only forces that could ruin your careers, marriages and such. Seriously?