A 2020 HD remake of 1996's Chex Quest somehow feels even weirder a concept than the original pack-in. The transition to polygonal assets leaves the whole thing feeling kinda cheap, and sheds a lot of the naive innocence that the original exuded. That being said, it is interesting to see the levels reimagined with the allowance of layered verticality – an impossibility of the DOOM engine. The most fun I had with this was seeing how nearly 30-year-old levels had been tweaked and translated into a new engine while still trying to capture the spirit of the original. Unfortunately, only the first level and Arboretum really feel evocative of their predecessors. The other levels are just sorta generic industrial space venues, which, is pretty appropriate to the originals, but they don't feel like particularly great callbacks.
The levels aren't the only thing that suffered from the shift to 3D, though. The movement kinda feels like ass, with very little feedback and an awful acceleration lag when trying to sprint. The weapons, too, have little-to-no feedback and straight-up don't function like they should. The shotgun has no spread, the rocket launcher feels like there's no splash damage, and the plasma rifle's projectiles are incredibly slow. It's charming that they retain their original sound effects, but their referential inclusion spurs little more than a "huh, that's neat!" after first noticing.
Surprisingly, the best part of this game is the writing. They've really leaned into the corniness of this game's very existence, with Captain Fred Chexter slinging cheeseball one-liner after cheeseball one-liner. I think this gets the closest to capturing the spirit of the original, but it's a bright spot awash in a sea of mediocrity.
The levels aren't the only thing that suffered from the shift to 3D, though. The movement kinda feels like ass, with very little feedback and an awful acceleration lag when trying to sprint. The weapons, too, have little-to-no feedback and straight-up don't function like they should. The shotgun has no spread, the rocket launcher feels like there's no splash damage, and the plasma rifle's projectiles are incredibly slow. It's charming that they retain their original sound effects, but their referential inclusion spurs little more than a "huh, that's neat!" after first noticing.
Surprisingly, the best part of this game is the writing. They've really leaned into the corniness of this game's very existence, with Captain Fred Chexter slinging cheeseball one-liner after cheeseball one-liner. I think this gets the closest to capturing the spirit of the original, but it's a bright spot awash in a sea of mediocrity.