Remaster master Nightdive Studios revealed in June that it's turning its attention to The Thing, the 2002 survival horror shooter that follows the events of the 1982 cult classic film. No release date was provided at the time, but Nightdive put in an appearance at the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted today to drop a new trailer and, more importantly, give us the surprise announcement that it's out right now.
The Thing: Remastered sets players off as the head of a US special forces team dispatched to Antarctica to investigate the events of the film, which—spoiler alert here—did not go well for the scientific team on the scene. Shockingly, it's not a particularly smooth operation for the soldiers either, as they have to deal with not only a variety of horrific, multi-tentacled creatures set on their deaths, but also their own psychological fragility. How you treat your fellows in this admittedly stressful situation has a direct impact on how effectively they'll work with you.
The game was well-received when it launched but it wasn't a massive hit, and a planned sequel was ultimately cancelled when original developer Computer Artworks went under in 2003. Nightdive's Larry Kuperman is a fan, saying The Thing is a great game based on a great property, but that's not the only reason the studio opted to bring it back.
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go back and redo something now that you are older and, presumably, wiser?" Kuperman told PC Gamer. "We had this opportunity. We had the source code to start, really important. But with The Thing we had the opportunity to work with the original team, to ask what they would have done differently, and to address those concerns. I think fans are going to be delighted and that this will be considered an important step in game preservation."
Nightdive's selection of games has definitely been eclectic: Over the last couple years it's released big names like System Shock, Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, and Doom + Doom 2, and more niche games like Killing Time: Resurrected and PO'ed: Definitive Edition. Kuperman said the mix reflects Nightdive's mission statement, "Bring lost and forgotten gaming treasures back from the depths," and that doesn't mean just the biggies that people easily remember.
"Games that have not received all the praise they deserved, or games that were held back because of technology limitations of their era, can be important to fans who remember them and can find new life through our remasters," Kuperman said. He added that Killing Time and PO'ed "have exceeded expectations both in terms of fan response and in terms of revenues."
The Thing: Remastered is built on Nightdive's Kex Engine, and will support 4K resolutions at up to 120 fps, with improved character models, textures, animations, and lighting effects. One thing that hasn't changed to any great extent is the trust/fear system, nominally a central element of the experience but one that many reviewers of the original release found underwhelming. "We’ve done what we can," Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick said. "But the truth is that this mechanic is so baked into the gameplay and progression that making significant changes would have required a number of other systems to be overhauled as well."
As for today's no-notice launch, Kuperman said it was partly a business decision—"when the PC Gaming Show offered us this opportunity, and the timing aligned with our partners at Nvidia GeForce Now and Alienware, we decided to go for it"—but it was also just a fun thing to do. "I like to think that our relationship with our fans is special and I really hope they enjoy the [surprise] release," he said.
The Thing: Remastered is available now on Steam.
