Ubisoft Announce Flashback HD Remake

There are few games that get my nostalgia juices flowing more than Flashback. I was twelve years old when I first played it, and now, twenty one years later, Ubisoft are going to regress many of us by making an HD version.

The original 1992 version saw the protagonist, named Conrad B. Hart, waking up on the planet Titan. He initially has no memory, but soon discovers a plot to destroy the world via some holocubes. I remember it being told brilliantly and I can only hope Ubisoft is going to do the game justice this time around.

According to information gathered by the good people at IGN, the game will be rendered in 3D using the Unreal engine but it will still play in 2D.

To my eyes the trailer looks great. The voice work seemed a little hammy, but I can live with it if the gameplay remains faithful. Although that is something of an oddity with remade games – being faithful to the core material, I mean. Just think back to how many older games have evolved over the years. Metroid, for example. The difference between the first one and Metroid Prime is staggering.

So ask yourself, would you still play the oldest version of it today? Would the gameplay seem too simplistic? Now I’m sure there are some retro gamers out there that would happily do so, but I’m betting there are many who would struggle. Personally I like to leave the glory days where they are. I’ve retread old gaming ground and come up disappointed.

That’s not to say that it can’t be a good thing. I personally could not get on with the original Deus Ex. The new one didn’t exactly endear me to the franchise, but I felt it was the better game. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is another good example. Twenty six years after the first one was released, there were huge changes all round and I would say it is by far the superior game. There may be people throwing their retro gaming pads at their PC monitors from reading the last few paragraphs; some others may agree with me, but I feel it’s a valid point to think about.

Would you rather the game remained true to its source material? Graphics aside, I mean.

Or are you in the camp that wants progress regardless of the “damage” to your nostalgic former gaming self?

Honestly, with Flashback I’m not really sure. I want to believe that the game can hold up after so long, but part of me wants some new mechanics to play with. Either way, it’s something I will be picking up later in the year for PSN or Xbox Live.

I promised myself I wouldn’t make a flashback related joke to end, so I will just say I hope the game is as good as I remember.

Sorry, couldn’t help it.

Various images taken from www.neoseeker.com, ffffound.com and repo.openpandora.org.