Is Nightdive studios working on a remaster of EXHUMED / POWERSLAVE?


Exhumed / Powerslave
 
  Exhumed is one of the best - yet underrated and sadly forgotten - FPS of the 90s. 
You played an archeologist in Egypt, just going about his own business, but as it's often the case in such games, you awakened a very evil force which was sleeping in the depths of hell since thousands of years...

  Well, since you're a tired middle-aged archeologist , it means you feel very comfortable using heavy machine guns, so you know what you have to do! Just kill anything that moves on the screen! lol

Anyway, the whole thing was extremely fun shooting, and it had more platforming than any FPS released at the same period, to a point that it was almost frustrating in the end.


Exhumed / Powerslave - Sega Saturn cover
This is the version I actually played back in winter 1996! I didn't even a computer back then, so I was ok playing FPS with a gamepad... Oh god... lol As you can see, Powerslave was called "Exhumed" in Europe, which is better in my opinion, because it least it doesn't create confusion with Iron Maiden's masterful album, "Powerslave". lol


Exhumed / Powerslave - Powerslave EX port
Powerslave EX actually looked AND felt pretty good!
  Unfortunately, this game has been lost in time for some reason, and it seems that nobody even knows who owns the rights of the game anymore.

  The game isn't abandonware either (legally, keep in mind that NOTHING is ever considered "abandonware" though! lol), and it's a bit difficult to play the old DOS game on modern computers, even using emulators.

Finally, even projects like "Powerslave EX", a semi-illegal recreation of Exhumed in a modern engine, has been shut down due to legal/copyright issues!

Note!

Exhumed / Powerslave - Re-Exhumed, a stand-alone mod for GzdoomI personally think that "Re-Exhumed"(a stand-alone mod for Gzdoom!) is at the moment the best choice, since it's based on the PC version of Exhumed, unlike Powerslave Ex, which is based on the PS1 version! 

What a shame that it's seemingly an abandoned project!

Well, GREAT NEWS!
Ever heard of Nightdive studios? They're the great guys responsible for countless re-releases of old games, and more importantly, even REMASTERS of classics like Turok 1/2 or Strife: Veteran Edition!

Nightdive Studios has trademarked both Exhumed and Powerslave, which could hint at a possible remaster, but we can't be certain yet!

On the other hand, when you consider that Kaiser himself (Powerslave EX creator, who is now an employee of Nightdive Studios!) is saying that "Powerslave EX Revival is not far", you're starting to be hopeful.

Tweet of Samuel Villarreal about Powerslave EX RevivalAs you can see from the comments on Twitter, lots of people ask on what version the game will be based.

But Kaiser didn't reply to any of the comments, apparently. 😄

Like I said before, I really loved the Saturn version, but there's no question that the PC version was vastly superior to Saturn/PS1 versions. 

It had the most complex, artistic and immersive level design, while the console versions were much more simple, using the aging boxy corridor level style.

Keeping in mind that the original Powerslave EX was based on PS1 version though...😉

For now, just enjoy this incredible speedrun!




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