Review by: William Abner

Hard Reset is a throwback. Technically sound, smooth on a modest PC, its focus precisely set on the combat, and nary a hint of multiplayer support, new developer Flying Wild Hog doesn’t deviate from the path of the pure shooter. It’s a dash of Painkiller mixed with the aesthetic of Blade Runner.

Hard Reset is set in a futuristic world; it’s also narratively baffling. The story is told comic book style with panels and the appropriate artwork but I’ve played through the game twice and have no idea what it’s really about; not that any of that matters. This is a game about experimenting with different weapon upgrades and using the environment to kill the evil machines that are trying to kill you. You don’t need any more incentive than that. Just shoot the machines and you’re good to go.

The game encourages multiple playthroughs due to the weapon system. During your running and gunning you earn upgrade points which are spent at stations sprinkled throughout the campaign. Here you can modify your weapons. This isn’t simply a matter of buying a new toy; you always have your base guns – a machine gun and an energy weapon but the mods add various uses to them. So your machine gun can also double as a rocket launcher or a shotgun or a mine layer and your energy weapon can morph into a device that lays energy traps or throws up a stasis shield.

The weapon upgrades and the constant switching between their various uses is one of the key components to the gameplay. Picking the proper weapon for the right situation plays a critical role, and with all of the various upgrades you can play the game multiple times trying different loadouts and get a relatively new experience each run through, despite the game’s linearity.

This is not an easy game – make no mistake about it, the robots that are after your head are rather adept at claiming it. It throws a solid variety of machines at you as well. Little machines that annoy, walking machines that explode when near you, flying machines that are difficult to shoot, hulking machines that take a crazy amount of damage, and so on. You need to learn to use your surroundings, especially power stations which shoot electricity and zap the robots in order to succeed, because just shooting the machines straight up only goes so far. This is not a game for novices as the increasingly difficult set pieces are sure to frustrate some looking for a leisurely romp through robot infested streets. Right when you think you’ve killed a mob, more (and larger) robots show up. Flying Wild Hog is very good at pacing – if you like your pace ridiculously quick.