Hard Reset will be getting a new re-release, featuring tweaks to the game balance, new weapons, new enemies, and of course, updated graphics. Hard Reset Redux has been announced, and it will be launching on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC some time soon.

Chief among the new weapons that will be included in Redux, but which were not in the original game, is the cyber katana, a ridiculously badass weapon that lets you get up close and personal with all the enemies you face off against in style. Most other details about the re-release are under wraps- apart from this announcement, and the trailer for the new release, which you can see for yourself below, we really don’t know a whole lot about what Redux will entail.

What we do know is that, as fans of the the original game, which managed to blend a dark sci fi tale with shooter and RPG trappings to great effect, we are glad that Hard Reset is getting a chance to shine yet again.

The city of Bezoar is undoubtedly well crafted

Set in the distant future, Hard Reset takes place in Bezoar, the last sheltered human city on earth. A robotic menace has wiped out all other human life and is hell bent on taking humanity’s last bastion. The game casts you as a soldier for a private defence company who must defend humanity from the robot forces. It’s all very standard matrix rip-off minus the goofy coats and slo-mo, and the plot generally fails to evolve from the humans vs. mechs paradigm. What few plot bits occur are confusing and haphazard at best but, as with a large proportion of Hard Reset, the execution picks up where the ideas fall flat. Conveyed through highly stylized comic book panels, the cut-scenes are carried by smooth drawings and competent voice acting and they’re generally a joy to watch, even if I had no idea why I was supposed to care about any of the characters on screen.

In a game like Hard Reset though, the story is largely just for completion’s sake. Indeed, the main pull here is the shooting, and it has classic written all over. Much like Painkiller (which shares some of its development talent with HR), Hard Reset is a retro shooter that pits you against a horde of bots so fast and plentiful that it will probably induce motion sickness in the weak of constitution. It makes for a fast and furious game that is as satisfying as it is brutal.

The sad thing however is that the novelty wears off rather quickly. It’s refreshing to see the genre taken back to its roots, but many of the frustrating elements of the retro FPS are sadly present as a result. The streets of Bezoar are littered with explosive canisters and lightning spewing kiosks that, whilst helpful and satisfying when timed right, can easily destroy your health reserves when the chaos starts mounting. Likewise, the enemy spamming elements often give Hard Reset an eclectic difficulty. Some corridors will let you pick off the legion of freshly spawned enemies from complete safety, whilst other more winding catwalks will see you pincered and blocked in a matter of seconds with no hope of survival. I’m not sure whether it was the level design or the sheer quantity of enemies thrown your way later in the game, but there were certainly some serious spikes in difficulty throughout that made the whole experience rather uncomfortable.

Despite the various upgrades for each gun, two weapons is a very low number indeed

The main problems with the retro style, however, are in the quantity. The game is just very short, lasting barely a single afternoon on anything below the hardest difficulty setting. As fun as the secret areas hidden in each map are, there is also no incentive for going through it a second time in spite of them, and the lack of multiplayer really makes HR a one trick pony. The Extended Edition offers a few hours of extra content with all new upgrades and enemies, but the lifespan of the game still remains below average. The new content is also not plentiful enough to be worth a second purchase for those who have played the original.

The variety of the game is also a serious issue. With only a handful of enemy types and a measly two guns, it’s very easy to get a sense of deja vu within minutes. The two guns are bolstered by a robust upgrade system, but the upgrades for the two guns are largely identical, so expect to have two of every type of conceivable attachment by the game’s end. It certainly streamlines inventory management, but it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of variety. The game’s bosses (the final one in particular) are definitely highlights that break from the norm, but they are too few and far between to prevent the rest of the game from feeling like a bit of a chore at times.

I hope you like this guy’s design, as you’ll be seeing a lot of him

One thing Hard Reset manages to do unquestionably well is paint a pretty picture. The visuals are top notch, with the smooth animations complementing the game’s speedy mechanics effectively. The city of Bezoar is equally impressive with a fantastic atmosphere and attention to detail, even if it looks a little too Bladerunner for its own good at points. The music is similar, dynamically adapting to fuse with the on-screen action majestically, but also failing to rid itself of clichéd sci-fi dogma. Well executed stereotypes thus become the order of the day with HR but, whilst the technical excellence of the game is exciting at first, the lack of original ideas wears thin eventually.

Without wishing to decry the many things Hard Reset does well, it is sadly a game that feels ultimately premature. Whilst the initial hour of gameplay is refreshing, retro and comfortably familiar, this feeling of well crafted nostalgia later deteriorates to a feeling of repetition and shallow gunplay. The Extended Edition certainly helps to bulk out the package, but it is still not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. The style is there, but the game just isn’t substantial enough to truly be worth the asking price, even in spite of the clear technical excellence and attention to detail that has gone into creating the city of Bezoar.

This game was review on PC.

Hard Reset: Extended Edition is now available for £29.99 GBP.

Hard Reset: Extended Edition features:
• A haunting cyberpunk / dark sci-fi setting
• Fast-paced, old-school shooter gameplay
• Hordes of enemies to destroy
• Epic boss fights
• A deep, experience-based weapon upgrade system
• High-fidelity graphics with full dynamic lighting
• Extensive use of physics and dynamic environments
• Exclusive in the extended edition: four new creature types, a new boss monster, five new campaign levels with a total of about three additional hours playing time as well as two new levels for the survival mode and an improved graphics engine.

Stay tuned to GB for more news and updates.

Flying Wild Hog, the developers of Hard Reset have said that Steam owners will get upgraded edition for free. The upgrade contains five additional campaign levels, two more survival mode levels, one new boss and upgraded graphics.

“To show our respect for all the PC gamers who picked up Hard Reset, we decided that the upcoming expansion will be FREE for all those who already own Hard Reset on Steam,” they said.

“The [upgrade] should be available sometime between the last week of April and the first week of May.”

The game was released on the PC last year, and looks quite good visually. They’ve also released the trailer for the extended edition of the game, which you can check out below.

The extended edition releases in March.

Hard Reset is an action-packed, single-player shooter for the PC. With over-the-top destruction, loads of enemies, great weapon variety and a beautifully realized cyberpunk setting, Hard Reset is sure to shake up the shooter scene. Exclusive in the extended edition: four new enemy types, five new campaign levels with about 3 hours of new gameplay and improved graphics engine!

A haunting cyberpunk / dark sci-fi setting Fast-paced, old-school shooter gameplay Hordes of enemies to destroy Epic boss fightsA deep, experience-based weapon upgrade systemHigh-fidelity graphics with full dynamic lighting Extensive use of physics and dynamic environments Exclusive in the extended edition: four new creature types, a new boss monster, five new campaign levels with a total of about two additional hours playing time as well as two new levels for the survival mode and an improved graphics engine.

Kalypso have announced that they will release an expanded and exclusive retail edition of their cyberpunk First-Person Shooter, Hard Reset, to UK retail in March 2012.

“We are very pleased to work with Flying Wild Hog to bring such an exciting and innovative title to our customers, “ said Simon Hellwig, Global Managing Partner of Kalypso Media. “The team at Flying Wild Hog is known for crafting excellent experiences, and we are pleased to expand our catalogue of games with Hard Reset: Extended Edtion.”

Steampunk has just released a new patch which adds a lot of new things to Hard Reset and fixes other issues with the game. If you are a Nvidia 3D vision user then you can use the glasses to watch 3D content. It also adds a survival mode where you face a lot of enemies with basic weapons, reports Eurogamer. Check out the full patch list. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

New content:

• New Survival Mode. Two new maps are available: ‘Arrival Hall’ and ‘Landing Pad’.
• To launch Survival Mode, select ‘New Game’ and then ‘Survival Mode’
• Survival Mode is available in all the difficulty levels selectable for Hard Reset Campaign.
• Added Leaderboards for the Survival Mode.
• Full Nvidia 3dVision support.
• Full Nvidia Surround support.
• Support for multiple displays – recommended 3 display adapters for best effects, and several non-standard resolution modes.
• To select the triple display mode in the game, change the Aspect Ratio to ‘Other’ in the Video Options menu, then select a resolution you wish to use.
• Note that the ‘Other’ mode will be available only if you have 3 displays connected to your PC.
• Added a ‘Details’ tab in the Profile screen – now you are able to check the score you achieved on each of the game’s levels.

• During bullettime, falling down won’t cause additional damage to players.
• Changed the way how the Mortar Cyborgs react to player in vicinity.
• Crawling gorillas will explode when trying to jump off a higher place.
• Changed the way how Melee Cyborgs behave – now you are able to avoid their attacks while sprinting – their aoe frontal cone was lowered.
• All the crosshairs will be displayed in an appropriate way to objects in front of the player for 3dVision.
• Changed the way how the messages and hints are displayed to a way more appropriate for 3dVision.
• Changed the way how dynamic lightning is rendered on decals.
• Changed the way how weapons are displayed on screen.
• Changed the way how the HUD is displayed both in 3d and on multiple displays.
• Improved support for dual SLI users.