Breaking Down PO'ed Remaster
Nightdive Studios has resurrected a forgotten piece of gaming history with its upcoming remaster of PO'ed, a 1995 first-person shooter (FPS) originally developed for the 3DO. This remaster not only brings the title to PC for the first time but also highlights the ambitious yet flawed attempts of console gaming to challenge the PC's dominance in the FPS genre.
Released around the same time as the legendary Doom, PO'ed had the potential to be a noteworthy contender. Players assume the role of a chef navigating a hijacked spaceship, faced with bizarre alien foes. With an assortment of quirky weapons, including a frying pan and a flamethrower, it aimed to inject humor into the same vein that popularized shooters like Duke Nukem.
However, upon revisiting PO'ed, it quickly becomes clear that the game is riddled with issues. The opening moments drop players into a drab environment filled with enemies that offer little guidance or context. The lack of floor textures contributes to a disorienting experience, making exploration feel more like floating through a bland void than engaging with a vivid game world.
The enemies themselves range from the relatively mundane to the downright bizarre, like disembodied creatures that shoot projectiles, adding to the game's chaotic feel. Unfortunately, the absence of in-game music exacerbates this chaos, replacing it with an awkward silence occasionally punctuated by the sound of flatulence from the odd enemies.
Level design in PO'ed veers away from the maze-like structure characteristic of its contemporaries. Instead, it features sprawling, open maps that often lack direction and pacing. Players may find themselves aimlessly wandering through vast spaces, struggling to find the next objective. This open design does not lend itself well to gripping gameplay, as evidenced by the second level's monotonous cube-themed layout.
Control mechanics also detract from the experience. Movement feels slippery, resulting in frustrating mishaps that can drive players to the brink of annoyance. The implementation of a jetpack, while innovative for its time, suffers from slow ascent and a lack of automatic hovering, complicating navigation further. A button dedicated to performing backflips, while amusing, does little to enhance gameplay and contributes to an already convoluted control scheme.
Ultimately, PO'ed stands as a stark reminder of the early days of FPS games, displaying a mix of ambition and shortcomings. Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick emphasizes the importance of preservation in gaming history, but with PO'ed, one wonders if the flaws outweigh the novelty. The remaster captures a moment in time that remains crude and unsophisticated, akin to graffiti on the walls of the genre's history.
This remaster may not be for everyone, but it serves as an artifact of early attempts to bring FPS gameplay to consoles. As players reflect on PO'ed, they may appreciate the journey the genre has taken since its inception, even if that journey includes some missteps along the way.
