Killing Time: Resurrected was provided by Nightdive Studios for review. Thank you!
The masters of remasters are back, and with a game I would never have anticipated. Nightdive Studios has consistently delivered some of the best remasters of older releases, finding a way to bring them to a new audience with modern features while also retaining the feeling of the original game. Unfortuantely, I have not had the pleasure of playing Killing Time before Nightdive released Killing Time: Resurrected, but if its anything like I have played, it is just awesome.
First released in 1995, Killing Time was only available on the 3DO, and later released for Windows in 1996. There was an updated version of the original that was released in 2015 by ZOOM Platform, but Nightdive stepped in to create a full remaster of the game using their in-house KEX Engine and changed full of modern features while retaining the first release’s feel. This is a Nightdive specialty, and it shows how great they are at it with each release. Because of this, the game’s content is relatively similar to the original game.
As a student who is studying Egyptology, you find yourself trapped inside the estate of the wealthy heiress Tess Conway, who has vanished without a trace after a ritual to grant eternal life backfires on her and her friends. So now, you have to find and destroy the artifacts used in the ritual to free them while fending off leagues of supernatural horrors.
The story behind it is decent and quite interesting, but it does feel dated at times. This is purely due to how old the game is, and because this is a remaster, it actually feels like part of its charm. However, one of the unique features of Killing Time is how the team integrated real video of people into the game in different ways. Story elements are told via ghosts that are actually videos of real people, and it adds to what makes this adventure so unique. There's also some humor injected into the game this way, and while it feels a little too dated for my taste, it does make it a bit more enjoyable overall.
The real video also adds to the overall aesthetic of the game, which feels like an old game with a very fresh coat of paint. The visuals have gotten updates to textures to make sure they look nice with higher resolution, with some nice enhancements to lighting and the skybox. Nightdive did a great job again, making this feel fresh while still retaining the classic, retro feel that the 1995 release would have, and I love it. With story beats and even the enemies being real people, it feels like Killing Time: Resurrected has an identity of its own, separate from what I would normally see in first-person shooters.
There's a solid amount of variety with the outside and inside of the estate, and while the more open rooms were great, I did feel a little too claustrophobic with some of the corridors. They are easy to get lost in, at least it was easy for me to get lost, but it's definitely worth mentioning.
As for the gameplay, it feels like the original DOOM with some much-needed enhancements and tweaks. You run around a large open area with no loading screens at all and shoot at all the enemies coming at you. The guns are placed in the middle of the screen, like the original DOOM, and you will utilize a variety of different weapons to take down the onslaught of enemies coming at you. It can get very chaotic, especially in smaller closed-off areas with a solid number of enemies coming at you, but it is just so much fun.
Each gun feels a bit different from the others, enough for me to actually prefer some over the other. I was a shotgun maniac in my playthrough, but I ended up finding a use for all the weapons in my arsenal. Movement felt tight and fast, and everything felt extremely responsive. Fans of retro FPS games will feel right at home here, and for those who aren't acclimated to this style of shooter, this is a great game to try out! It is refined, there are a ton of varieties in enemies, and it overall just feels fantastic to run around and play.
There is also a great map to utilize if you get lost, which I did a couple of times. Just press Select on the gamepad and your screen will fill with a map of the area based on where you have been. It is very helpful for a game with such an open area like this, so I utilized it a lot.
And if you really want to enjoy Killing Time, I highly recommend playing it on the Steam Deck.
Unsurprisingly, Killing Time: Resurrected is very playable on the Steam Deck, and runs almost perfectly out of the box. It can easily hit and stay at 90 FPS in every area, and I wouldn't say this is surprising due to how great Nightdive is at optimizing their games. I did find some moments where battery drain went a little higher than I expected, but by setting a TDP limit to 5, this stays down to around the 7W - 9W mark.
It also feels great to play with the gamepad, and honestly, I don't think I can play it any other way. It just feels right at home, and since it isn't a super competitive FPS like Call of Duty or Counter Strike, the Deck is perfect for it. I will never say no to more shooters on the Deck, and this is a perfect one to add to your library:
We do have a specific accessibility tab to allow overlays, toggle weapon clashes and subtitles, and allow bobbing and weapon swaying. However, outside of that, we can change language, keybindings, sound volume, FOV and contrast, toggle HUD visibility, and toggle some of the enhancements like the skybox and lighting, as well as switch between 3DO actors and PC sprites, autoaim, and some cheats like God Mode.
The game does support 16:10 resolutions, controllers, and cloud saves. There are no HDR settings.
Just like Nightdive Studios continually does, Killing Time: Resurrected is the definitive way to enjoy this title. It is definitely not a game I was expecting to see Nightdive tackle, and it's a new one for me, but the wacky real actors, story, and tight, responsive retro shooting sold me on it. With how weird the game is, and it being a retro shooter, it won't appeal to everyone, but it is definitely worth your time to try it at the very least. And with fantastic support for the Steam Deck, this is a great first-person shooter to dive into wherever you are.
Our review is based on the PC version of this game.
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Killing Time: Resurrected is a fantastic retro FPS that Nightdive has molded into a definitive edition of the 1995 release, especially on the Steam Deck.
Loved the game originally but never finished so will see how I get on now.