GAMES / REVIEWS
R
emnant:FromtheAshesis a surprisingly
entertainingmashupofTheDivision’scooperative
gunplayandDarkSouls’punishingbossfights. You
playa namelessherotaskedwitheliminatingtheRoot,a
raceofevil,Ent-likecreatureswhohavetakenoverthe
earth.Fromyourbaseinanundergroundresearchfacility
knownasWard13,youventureintotheruinsofthegame
worldeithersoloorwithtwootherplayers.
Remnant’sinitialcoupleofhoursaredeeplyuninspired.
Visually,it’sanassaultofbrownrubbleandbrowner
enemies,whilethethird-personshooting– albeitsolid–
seemsdevoidofpersonality.Afterdefeatingthefirstmajor
boss,however,Remnantsuddenlybecomesmuch
moreexciting.
Suddenlyyou’rejumpingbetweenplanetsviaan
interstellargatewayknownastheLabyrinth,battling
radioactivecavemeninanancientdesertmetropolisand
wading through knee-deep water on a giant insect world.
It’s a delightfully bizarre about-face, and the general
improvement stretches beyond the aesthetic.
Like The Division, Remnant’s progression revolves
around loot. However, Remnant takes a very different
approach to dispensing it. Rather than constantly drip-
feeding incremental upgrades, Remnant has fewer, more
significant loot drops. Most of them revolve around the
bosses who, when killed, drop unique items that can be
used to craft new weapons and weapon mods.
These items are usually closely linked to the boss in
question. For example, Singe – a giant fire-demon – dropsan item that lets you craft a fire-spitting submachine gun.
Some weapons can have their special ability switched out
for a custom mod, such as a power that spawns an allied
creature, or triggers an area-of-effect heal. The further
you progress into the Remnant, the stranger and more
mechanically diverse it becomes.
Remnant is also designed with replayability in mind. Its
campaign is roughly 15 hours long, but it’s also dynamically
generated, so maps and boss encounters can be entirely
different across a campaign. For example, in our second
playthrough, Singe was replaced by the Ent, a giant walking
tree that tries to stomp you into mulch.
Although Remnant improves considerably across its
length, it’s still not perfect. Beyond the tedious opening
hours, the story often feels like it’s being made up on the
hoof, despite borrowing the carefully crafted storytelling
conventions of Dark Souls. Also, while the bosses are
visually impressive, they’re mechanically over-reliant on
swarming you with waves of regular enemies to make them
challenging. It’s not only annoying, but it detracts from the
impact of these encounters, as you’re focused more on not
being overwhelmed than actually fighting the boss.
These issues impact upon Remnant’s quality, but its
locational leaps and colourful arsenal ultimately win out.
If you’re willing to put up with the drab early game, a
challenging and rewarding adventure awaits.
RICK LANE/VERDICT
Despite a tedious
start, Remnant
reveals itself to
be a thoroughly
entertaining
sci-fishooter.
OVERALL SCORE
7
FROM
THE ASHES
+^ Enjoyable planet-
hopping adventure
+^ Increasingly
colourful weapons
+^ Spectacular
boss fights
TO THE DUST
-^ Boring opening
-^ Many bosses
over-reliant on
swarming
-^ Lacklustre story
Remnant:
From the Ashes
/ £30.99 inc VATS
DEVELOPER Gunfire Games / PUBLISHER Perfect World