The Mummy: Demastered (WayForward)

[NegaScott128]

The Mummy Demastered Teaser Trailer - YouTube

Launching this fall on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Steam and Nintendo Switch, The Mummy Demastered in many ways feels like a game unstuck in time. As an adaptation of a major Hollywood film for PC and consoles (rather than a quick free-to-play cash-in on mobile devices), The Mummy Demastered belongs to a vanishing breed. On top of that, it has an unapologetically old-school feel to it, with pixel-based sprite graphics and two-dimensional gameplay. It has the look of an indie game rather than a tie-in to a major studio film with budget of more than $100 million — but all of that works in its favor.

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Besides the moody pixel art and exploratory layouts, The Mummy Demastered also sidesteps the tricky challenge of directly adapting a film and instead exists in its periphery. Rather than assume the role of Tom Cruise’s Sgt. Nick Morton, players step into the anonymous boots of an agent for the Prodigium, the paramilitary organization that Universal Studios hopes to use as a sort of binding narrative thread for the Dark Universe franchise that The Mummy kicked off.

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Death becomes a critical play mechanic in The Mummy Demastered. As in Infestation, the anonymous Prodigium agents replace the standard video game concept of lives or continues; when you fall in battle, Prodigium sends another generic agent to replace the lost fighter.

The Mummy Demastered puts a different spin on the idea than Infestation. Where the Aliens game gave players a limited number of colonial Marines, each with his or her own name and portrait, The Mummy Demastered doesn’t limit the number of continues available to you. Instead, punishment for failure takes a different form: Your fallen comrade becomes corrupted by Ahmanet and joins the armies of the undead, meaning you’ll be forced to destroy him. It’s not that simple, though, because the newly zombified hero literally is you, and possesses all the skills and upgrades your avatar did upon dying.

https://www.polygon.com/features/201...ersal-monsters

Seems neat. WayForward hasn't really disappointed me yet, and it looks like Universal is giving them the time it takes to make a good game, even though it's tied to a pretty lackluster movie.