While the original X-Out is definitely before my time, that 1989 title has definitely left its mark on the side-scrolling shoot-em-up genre. Now, decades later, developers KRITZELKRATZ 3000 and Rainbow Arts have fully rebuilt the original classic for modern audiences with the same side-scrolling action gaming veterans are sure to love with a few modern flourishes to keep things fresh. Does X-Out: Resurfaced live up to the legacy of its predecessor and reestablish the series in the modern-day? In my opinion, yes.
Just like the original, X-Out: Resurfaced is incredibly light on story. The premise sees aliens attempt to invade earth, prompting the player to take on the role of a fleet of submarines designed to fight the alien horde. Though the aquatic spin is a nice twist on a tired formula, the story isn’t much to write home about, but it never needed to be. For the type of game X-Out: Resurfaced is, the story is only an excuse for the action. Though the story (or lack thereof) remains the same, X-Out: Resurfaced has seen a massive upgrade compared to its predecessor. The new sprites for enemies, player submarines, and the backgrounds are all incredibly detailed and filled with personality. The new score also adds a swashbuckling energy to the game that is greatly appreciated. In all, X-Out: Resurfaced is an incredibly crisp game in the presentation department.
As for gameplay, X-Out: Resurfaced brings back old school side-scrolling difficulty for gamers to enjoy. The game sees players control one of several different submarines, each with their own stats and ways of customization, to blast their way through eight different levels. Enemies are varied enough to give you a decent challenge your first time through the game, but the hit detection on the environment gives the game an air of challenge that feels too tight to be fair. If your submarine so much as grazes a part of the environment, you will die. The hit box feels far too unforgiving, and the game’s old-school nature means that losing all of your ships on a level will have you restart the game from the beginning. It never feels fun or fair to die because you keep grazing a random spike in the middle of a level, and I found that made repeated playthroughs frustrating to start when first getting to grips with the game.
Still, the customization system provides enough incentives to make repeated playthroughs worth it. I mentioned earlier that submarines function as lives. In X-Out: Resurfaced, you aren’t just playing as one submarine. No, you play as an entire fleet, and you get to customize each ship in said fleet. The shop system is what made the original X-Out iconic, and it makes a return in the remake. Doing well in levels will give you points to spend on buying new submarines and customizing them with different weapons. You can utilize different missiles, charge weapons, or drones to maximize the destructive potential of each ship, and there’s a lot of different combinations to explore with each. The difficulty of the game ensures that you won’t have a wealth of ships at your disposal, so it encourages you to get out there and experiment with ship configurations and see what works the best for each level.
X-Out: Resurfaced is a great remake of an Amiga classic. Though the difficulty can, at times, feel unfair, the experience is held together by sharp graphics and an interesting customization system. I give it an 8/10
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Related: Reviews by Josh Freeman
I love games and love talking about games. Some of my favorites include action games (both 2D and 3D), metroidvanias, roguelikes, shooters, and Indies.
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