In a year of excellent remakes, too many remasters made messes of their original games

Gaming IndustryGame DevelopmentIn a year of excellent remakes, too many remasters made messes of their original gamesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: 3D Realms)

Shooting a man charging toward you in Kingpin Reloaded.

It’s an excuse (and an easy way) to return to a classic, and important preservational work for plenty of games that would otherwise languish on dead consoles. It’s partially why I believe that full-blown remakes should always get weird with it: remasters are for fidelity, remakes are for subversion, alteration, left-field swings.

Plus, a decent remaster feels like the only way I’ll ever see Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction again, and there are some torches I refuse to stop carrying.

Be still my beating heart.(Image credit: Pandemic)

Mattias Nilsson shoots an enemy soldier in Mercenaries.

Which means I must have been a pig in the muck this year, right? We got revisits of all sorts of yesteryear bangers, and while companies like Nightdive continued to do the sterling work we expect of them (mostly, even that studio slipped up withBlade Runner) with remasters of Dark Forces and Turok 3, plenty of other touch-ups arrived shoddy, buggy, and downright broken.

Kingpinarrived mired in bugs and stutters, the MGS Master Collection—while not marketed as a remaster—nevertheless came outlooking and playing worsethan the original games it was porting, and even The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition (a remaster of a game from 2019!) gotbrutalised in the Steam reviewsfor its bugs and performance issues, many of which remain in diminished form, I can tell you from recent experience.

(Image credit: Private Division)

One of the companions in The Outer Worlds firing a small laser pistol like a revolver.

And look, sure, there can be understandable reasons for it. Kingpin, for instance, is yet another old game whose source code has gone AWOL in the years since its release, but I’m not sure that matters. There’s just not really an excuse for selling a remaster of a game—some kind of gussied-up and supposedly definitive version—that plays objectively worse than the original version, andlooksworse than the original version plus one or two easily attainable fan patches.

Technical issues aside, I think at the heart of the issue is a kind of ideological division. There are studios who approach remasters as a kind of easy lay-up to gin up some cash while longer projects bubble away on the stove. Sometimes that’s fine, it rarely produces mind-blowing restorations, but it can mean getting gamepad support for an older title and the ability to play in modern resolutions without downloading mods. Sometimes it means dev teams are under-resourced and forced to put things out in a hurry, which rarely ends well.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

There’s just not really an excuse for selling a remaster of a game… that plays objectively worse than the original version

(Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

Fighting enemies using a minigun in Quake 2.

More about game developmentYakuza/Like a Dragon creator Toshihiro Nagoshi says his studio’s new game won’t be that big after all: ‘it’s not modern to have similar experiences repeated over and over again'‘Calm down!’ says Facepunch Studios: Garry’s Mod successor s&box is getting a fan-requested sandbox mode and an alternative to ‘Sausage Men’LatestSpeedrunning Crazy Taxi with a live band is an inventive way to dodge a DMCA takedownSee more latest►

More about game development

Yakuza/Like a Dragon creator Toshihiro Nagoshi says his studio’s new game won’t be that big after all: ‘it’s not modern to have similar experiences repeated over and over again'‘Calm down!’ says Facepunch Studios: Garry’s Mod successor s&box is getting a fan-requested sandbox mode and an alternative to ‘Sausage Men’

null

Yakuza/Like a Dragon creator Toshihiro Nagoshi says his studio’s new game won’t be that big after all: ‘it’s not modern to have similar experiences repeated over and over again’

A man with a sausage-shaped head

‘Calm down!’ says Facepunch Studios: Garry’s Mod successor s&box is getting a fan-requested sandbox mode and an alternative to ‘Sausage Men’

LatestSpeedrunning Crazy Taxi with a live band is an inventive way to dodge a DMCA takedownSee more latest►

Latest

Speedrunning Crazy Taxi with a live band is an inventive way to dodge a DMCA takedown

Crazy Taxi being speedrun with a live backing band

Speedrunning Crazy Taxi with a live band is an inventive way to dodge a DMCA takedown

See more latest►

Most PopularDragonflight got WoW back on its feet, now we get to see if Blizzard can make the Worldsoul Saga runThis bizarre roguelike has a new take on the Vampire Survivors formula: letting you build your own custom weapons out of brains, eyeballs, and chimpanzee spines18 games the PC Gamer team can’t wait to play in 2025The Witcher 3’s now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the ‘vibe’ CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 42024 was the year updates for old games beat out all the new ones for meTrain like you game with this adventure-inspired workout’It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raidsPlease join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual funCall of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doingThese are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre

Most Popular

Dragonflight got WoW back on its feet, now we get to see if Blizzard can make the Worldsoul Saga run

This bizarre roguelike has a new take on the Vampire Survivors formula: letting you build your own custom weapons out of brains, eyeballs, and chimpanzee spines

18 games the PC Gamer team can’t wait to play in 2025

The Witcher 3’s now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the ‘vibe’ CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 4

2024 was the year updates for old games beat out all the new ones for me

Train like you game with this adventure-inspired workout

‘It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raids

Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)

Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun

Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing

These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals