Redeemer was originally released on Windows in 2017; an enhanced edition has now come out on console and PC (With a free upgrade on Steam for those who purchased the original) – I was actually intrigued by this game as it looked like some cheap, simple, action-based fun which combines weapon play with hand to hand melee and melee weapons. I read the plot over, and unfortunately it just sounded like something written by a child who’s imagination had gone a bit crazy… But I wasn’t going to let that deter me. It’s not that often that a random PC game gets a remaster for all consoles, so I definitely thought there must be something to this game!
Redeemer focuses on Vasily, a cybernetics worker that gets screwed over by his company, attacked, and then escapes to a monastery (Told you it was odd), where he gets trained to fight – Now I only knew this because I read up on it, as the game itself opens up in the monastery with these guys attacking and killing monks and drip feeds the story in, but overall it’s unsurprisingly not about the story, it’s all about that sweet action, which to be fair is fun.
Redeemer is a kind of top down, isometric-like game, with a similar camera angle to the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games; there were definitely times it doesn’t quite work, but for the most part it lends itself for the cheap silly fun I THINK the game is aiming for. You can kick, punch, counter, melee and shoot your way through enemies with various upgrades along the way, mix this lot up with some bloody violence and you’ve got yourself something which isn’t awful – But more on my thoughts later… You immediately get taught the hand to hand which essentially revolves around hitting 2 buttons to spam the same combo with occasionally countering enemies when they glow red – However I did find quite often this didn’t work amazingly smoothly when too much was going on, and also enemies can still attack you when you’re countering or executing which is unfair as it’s unavoidable (I thought anyway).
Then you have the weapons of which there are many, but really there are 2 types of ways of attacking with these; fast or slow, thats it, I was a little miffed that when i picked up the bo staff there was no fancy martial arts twirling going on and some fancy moves put in, it was just a slow attack. Thirdly the guns are fun to use and bullets are limited so you do have to be smart, but there are loads to pick up. Lastly there are lots of opportunities to use environmental attacks such as throwing chairs, impaling enemies in spikes or smashing their heads into smelters/fires, these usually result in a one hit kill. (and you can also stealth kill)..
The whole idea really is to combine these elements to drive your way through hordes of enemies, of which I’ve encountered soldiers and mutants. When the game works smoothly, it’s definitely fun to play; you can try planning a stealthy attack around as many enemies as possible by stealth killing them one by one before getting caught and smashing out melee attacks to keep them away, and firing at enemies running in, and it really is a fun game to mess around on and survive. At times the game is hard and you can’t necessarily run in aimlessly; you’re forced to counter and choose your method of attack and who you attack first, but it really isn’t that deep of a game. You’ll sometimes manage to pull off a string of combos, from punching, to weapons, to guns, and it does feel really great… But the issue is a lot of the time, that doesn’t happen, and you either end up using the same 3 or 4 hit combo over and over, or you’re struggling to parry with the game’s slightly broken mechanics. There isn’t a lot more to say about it as that’s what you’ll experience; the environmental kills are kinda cool, but really basic and only add a slight variation.
I’ve not played a hell of a lot of this game, but I don’t think it’ll change much past adding a charge attack to your combo, and I can see that the game is short. This game is not a bad game, but it’s also not fantastic. I will probably complete it due to it being so short and easy to pick up. I may update this review if my feelings strongly change, but I doubt they will. If you like smashing the same 2 buttons and aren’t too fussed with big variations on gameplay then you’ll enjoy this, and it is dumb fun. I can’t help but feel it just misses the mark and would have worked a lot better in a 3rd person aspect with a slightly better combat system. It’s currently retailing for £24.99 on the PS Store, which it definitely isn’t worth. It has a 2 player mode which I’m unsure is coop or versus, but I hope to try out.
I think this game would have been amazing on the PS2, or PS3, and I’d liken it to Splatterhouse, except that game is incredible. I think this game is a little after it’s time, and needs a bit more TLC before it’s worth it’s price tag – I wouldn’t have liked to of played the unenhanced version, that’s for sure.
For me Redeemer gets a: