Play Station Official Magazine - UK (2019-12)

082

INFO

FORMATPS4

ETAOUTNOW

PUBSONY

DEVOTHEROCEAN

INTERACTIVE

MEDIEVIL

Dead and loving it?

D

igging up the past doesn’t always

guarantee a good time, but some

games can surprise you. I have fond

but cloudy memories of the original

MediEvil on PS1 (as I do about much of my

early 20s). This remake brings into crisp

clarity what’s good and bad about this classic.

The original devs were clearly drinking from the

same potions as Terry Pratchett and Tim Burton

when they conceived MediEvil. The game follows

the trials of the gangly Sir Daniel Fortesque as

he’s accidentally reanimated by the evil wizard,

Zarok, who killed him in the first place... along

with every other corpse and ghoul in the

kingdom of Gallowmere. Sir Dan, you see, wasn’t

good at the knight stuff. More Mr Bean than

Sean, he died seconds into his first battle from an

arrow in the eye. (Well, on some level, he’s a little

like Sean Bean.) Now Sir Dan has a chance to set

the historical record straight by single-handedly

putting an end to Zarok.

What impresses us about MediEvil, even

playing this spruced-up remake today, is the

enthusiastic imagination of it all. Every stage

wholeheartedly embraces its particular theme:

you smush angry living pumpkins, crack open the

eggs of a giant condor, avoid being belly-bounced

into a swamp by flabby, ghoulish knights, get

shrunk to battle inside an ants’ nest by helpful

witches, and save cockney

fairies modelled after Bob

Hoskins. This game represents

the random quirks of a past

developer unrestricted by

modern pretensions.

CHIN UP

Is MediEvil shallow by today’s

earnest standards? Absolutely.

This game just wants you to

enjoy the ride and is willing to

constantly shift focus to keep

things fresh for you. Some

areas are pure combat, others

are more platform-focussed,

and some rely on puzzles to

keep you in the moment. Most

levels have a light metroidvania

appeal, expecting you to hold

particular items to unlock the

exit or even uncover hidden

bossesandlocations.

This variety is necessary

because the core combat is

simplistic and relies on you

mashing the attack button.

Things have been revamped

a little in this remake: you’re

able to hot-swap between

two weapons, whereas in the

original you had to open the

inventory. This means you can

lean into some light tactics to

take on enemies, particularly in

the Smash-TV-styled Asylum

stage – did we mention each

level is unique? – where

constant cycling of melee and

ranged weapons is a must.

What really holds things

together is the need to seek

out Chalices hidden in each

level. These golden cups are

filled with the souls of defeated

enemies,andonceoverflowing

CHINLESS WONDER

“SOME AREAS ARE PURE

COMBAT, OTHERS ARE MORE

PLATFORM-FOCUSSED.”

@IanDean74

Combat is limited

but the character

designs are full

of charm.