Old games often suffer from DRM and technical issues that make them unplayable on modern hardware. This is particularly true of the nineties, which were the Wild West of PC gaming. Unless a developer with the right skill set and connections remasters a title, it’s likely to be forgotten with time,no matter how popular the series. As far as video games have come in terms of being considered art, the medium has a very poor track record in preservation.
In recent years, however, some developers have made positive changes. NightDive Studios was founded on the principle of preserving old games and making them available for new generations to enjoy. Their remasters tend to be high-quality, and they’ve rescued games from being abandonware. Here are some of their greatest achievements.
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream is based on the Harlan Ellison short story of the same name. It was censored in several countries on release, with an entire chapter of the game removed outright. The game seemed destined to fade away as abandonware, until NightDive Studios gained the rights.
The updated re-release of I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream is fully compatible with modern PCs, and is also available on mobile phones. The cut content has been restored, allowing you to experience the game as it was meant to be played.
Harvester isn’t a particularly beloved game, being an FMV adventure title. The genre is treated as an embarrassing moment in gaming’s history - best left forgotten. But NightDive doesn’t want you to forget. The spirit of preservation is thatallvideo games should be accessible in the modern era, not just the popular ones.
Now that Harvester is far removed from the controversy that once dogged it, it’s a much more intriguing game. It’s hilariously campy, violent and over-the-top. With point-and-click experiencing a small resurgence, curious people would be well served checking this game out - if they have the patience.
Blood is a cult classic where you shoot cultists. You know it’s a good Build engine game when the first level starts and you can kick skulls around. The game has received a few fan-made ports and remakes, but NightDive’s Fresh Supply aims to be the definitive edition and let Caleb live again.
Blood: Fresh Supply comes with improved visuals, vertical mouselook, and rewritten netcode for multiplayer. The quicksave system is a bit overwrought, with saves taking several seconds to generate, but this remaster is still the easiest and most accessible way to experience one of the Build engine’s last hurrahs.
Based onan obscure comic book, Turok came out at a time when a subtitle like ‘Dinosaur Hunter’ alone could sell a game. The game was primarily designed with the Nintendo 64 in mind, and as such has a low draw distance and tank controls. It’s a good game, just one that aged.
The NightDive Studios remaster fixes Turok’s issues without compromising the game’s original design. Distance fog can be reduced, but not eliminated, to hide unfinished areas that players were never meant to see. Modern controls have been implemented, turning the game into a faster, tighter experience.
Powerslave was a fun PC game with a unique premise, but as a Build engine title it often feels like Blood set in ancient Egypt, even if it came out first. The game was originally designed for the Sega Saturn, and there was a PlayStation version with its own differences.
NightDive Studios worked to cohere these three different ports into a singular, definitive version. Powerslave: Exhumed includes updated visuals and all the different content scattered across the PC, Saturn and PlayStation ports.
System Shock is a massively influential FPS that proved storyline could be important in an action game. That is, if you ever managed to figure out all the UI elements. The stiff gameplay made it all but inaccessible to new generations of potential fans, turning them away before they even reachedthe loquacious villain.
NightDive Studios did an excellent job with the enhanced remaster. The developer’s earlier remasters, particularly of adventure games, were simply to make the game run on modern hardware. This, however, is a comprehensive update with widescreen support, mouselook and restored content. While the game is still not as intuitive as a modern FPS, and never will be, System Shock: Enhanced Edition is still the most viable way to play this classic title today. If you really want to pretend it’s 1994 again, the original version also comes included.
If the most influential shooter of all time wasn’t Doom,it would be Quake. The game had fully 3D environments and enemies, and revolutionized online multiplayer. Many aspects of video games we take for granted today were either pioneered or popularized by Quake.
It’s a mark of the positive reputation, and publishers' trust, that NightDive Studios had accumulated by 2021 that the Quake remaster was given to it. They rose to the occasion with better performance, improved multiplayer and new levels developed by Wolfenstein inheritor MachineGames.
Canonically the fourth title in the Doom series, Doom 64 languished in console exclusivity for a surprisingly long time. Unlike many console-exclusive boomer shooters of the nineties, the game was never given a PC port. Fan-made ports were the only way for PC gamers to experience the game.
NightDive Studios finally rectified this matter in 2020, officially remastering Doom 64 with new missions intended to connect the storyline between classic Doom and the 2016 reboot. These guys went a long way just to prove that Doom Slayer and Doomguy are the same person.
