Enclave HD, the third particular person motion sport which initially graced Xbox and PC, has been ported and remastered for contemporary consoles. Now obtainable with trophies, and a brand new, remastered soundtrack, you’ll be able to bounce into the Gentle or Darkish marketing campaign and begin hacking and slashing. If that sounds enjoyable, you are in luck; you’ll be able to seize a replica of the Nintendo Change model proper now as a part of IGN Plus.
Plus members – get your Nintendo Change key for Enclave HD right here on its IGN Rewards Web page. Not a Plus member? You possibly can simply change into one by testing the IGN Rewards web page.
What’s Enclave HD?
Enclave was initially developed by Starbreeze Studios (the makers of The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, The Darkness, Payday 2, Brothers: A Story Of Two Sons, & others) and got here to the unique Xbox within the early 2000s with twin campaigns; Gentle and Darkish, which pit gamers on reverse sides of the warfare. It went to PC the next yr, however that is the primary time this floppy, old-school 3D (or first-person) slash-em-up is obtainable on Nintendo or PlayStation consoles in any respect.
Set on the planet of Celenheim, Enclave HD is remastered with up-rezzed textures and FMVs, but it surely’s nonetheless completely the identical sport. Swing your sword wildly at little goblins, snotlings (sure, you learn that proper), orcs, and extra as you battle to defend your self in opposition to the armies of the Dreg’Atar within the Gentle marketing campaign, and battle to overcome Celenheim within the Darkish marketing campaign. Sadly you’ll be able to’t bounce into the Darkish marketing campaign with out beating the Gentle one first, however you will collect gold and select between totally different unlocked characters earlier than every quick stage, equipping weapons, armor, and even potions by utilizing that gold.
It is a real throwback to make sure, so beware when you have no urge for food for bugs or sixth-generation design choices, however when you have an affection for gaming historical past or retro experiences, give it a spin.
Enclave HD Developer Interview
Q: How did the event crew get entangled with Enclave, & what fueled the choice to deliver again this Xbox sport?
A: The thought to deliver an upgraded model of the unique Enclave to fashionable consoles took place by means of Ziggurat’s conversations with licensor TopWare Interactive. It was mutually agreed that Enclave could be a fantastic match for Ziggurat’s targets of preserving and enhancing timeless video games from the previous, because it has continued to have an lively group of gamers on PC however has been absent from consoles for a number of generations. Ziggurat reached out to the trusted and skilled porting builders at Sickhead Video games, who had beforehand labored with Ziggurat to deliver the definitive variations of Actual Heroes: Firefighter to PC and Xbox as Actual Heroes: Firefighter HD.
Q: Video games like this are a uncommon breed these days. What does the crew take into consideration what Enclave brings to the desk, in comparison with extra fashionable sport construction & mechanics?
A: Enclave is a 3D third-person motion RPG, with a lot emphasis on the motion that it will probably even be thought of a hack-and-slash sport. It was a uncommon breed in its personal time, as most different motion RPGs from this period had been both top-down isometric video games within the vein of Diablo, or first-person video games within the vein of Ultima Underworld, Darkish Messiah of May and Magic, and the Elder Scrolls sequence. It was not frequent to see a 3D RPG with a third-person perspective with ranges designed to permit for positioning, crouching, and leaping as helpful instruments in traversal and fight. There are additionally few motion RPGs from that period which increment gameplay in a stage-based reasonably than quest-based construction (Odin Sphere on PS2 involves thoughts, which was launched 5 years later than Enclave on Xbox).
Enclave got here out almost a decade earlier than third-person 3D motion RPGs like Demon’s Souls, Kingdom of Amalur, and Dragon’s Dogma. FromSoftware video games within the vein of Demon’s Souls might be seen to have extra in frequent with Enclave than different Motion RPG video games from the time of Enclave’s launch, since Enclave locations better emphasis on stage design, 3D area (quick and long-range fight, verticality, platforming, and many others.), set items, and brutal issue than most early 2000s Western RPGs. The fight in Enclave has far more of a hack-and-slash really feel than Darkish Souls, but it surely nonetheless affords a satisfying expertise to these trying to make their means by means of menacing however stunning environments with a darkish medieval fantasy theme.
The sequencing of the sport into dozens of missions permits the story to unfold in a compelling means for first-time gamers and for handy revisiting of particular person missions to replay them with a special playable character (or for the completionist trying to choose up each bag of gold they may have missed on their first playthrough). Fairly than the participant controlling a single character with a talent tree that unfolds over time, you’ll be able to swap at will between six totally different playable characters with distinct skills and equip them with the gear of your alternative between missions. Development comes within the type of incomes extra gold that unlocks higher gear for every character, reasonably than within the type of leveling character attribute factors or expertise on a talent tree.
Q: What are among the crew’s favourite sport parts?
A: The sport contains a mild marketing campaign and a darkish marketing campaign which overlap in methods which might be enjoyable to find. There’s a large number of playable characters, not solely permitting for a number of playstyles but additionally for replay of missions with a special set of skills. Starbreeze clearly put plenty of love and energy into the lore and backdrop of the sport. The artwork route, detailed environments, and general ambiance are even richer for it.
There’s all kinds of challenges current within the sport’s enemies and environments, in addition to bonus missions with distinctive challenges that recall sieges on castles such as you’d see in a Lord of the Rings movie. There are easter eggs all through the sport to find, plus overpowered unlockable characters to earn whenever you beat the sport that allow you to bulldoze your means by means of the sport’s missions whenever you replay them.
Q: What are among the crew’s favourite tales from improvement?
A: Essentially the most memorable and rewarding elements of engaged on this sport have been in collaborating with passionate people in search of to make the perfect model of the sport attainable a actuality. TopWare Interactive offered a wealth of sources to assist us result in the absolute best bodily launch in collaboration with Restricted Run Video games.
The builders at Sickhead had been diligent in making customized extensions to the sport’s authentic lighting instruments to render larger decision mild maps and did a number of passes to seek out the absolute best methodology for up-resing the textures and person interface for constancy and readability. Speedrunner Landon Rivers consulted with us to repair among the legacy bugs which had been identified by the group for years, and gave his insights to assist guarantee all the perfect elements of the unique come by means of in Enclave HD.
Q: Did the crew embrace something distinctive to this remaster?
A: All of the textures – together with person interface – are upscaled for a greater look on fashionable shows in Enclave HD. The unique sport made heavy use of full movement video not just for story cinematics, but additionally in its beautiful menus. These full-motion movies have been upscaled as nicely, retaining their eerie really feel at a constancy appropriate for right now’s screens.
Prior to now we’ve added voice performing to a sport that didn’t initially have it (in BloodRayne Betrayal: Contemporary Bites, wherein Laura Bailey reprised the position of Rayne, and in American Hero wherein Timothy Bottoms reprised his position as Jack), however that is the primary sport Ziggurat has up to date the place a completely new soundtrack (not only a remake or enhancement of the unique OST) was added. You possibly can play Enclave HD with the sport’s epic authentic rating, however you even have the choice to play with completely new music all through the sport. We’ve additionally added a “Combined” mode which performs a hand-picked monitor from the unique or new soundtrack, relying on which mission you’re taking part in.
An enormous quantity of Trophies and Achievements are included on supporting consoles. For those who’re a trophy hunter, there might be loads so that you can do in unlocking all of them.
Q: What would you inform potential gamers, who’re fascinated by leaping in?
A: Whereas Enclave could seem to be a linear sport, it does reward exploring its aspect paths, nooks, and crannies as a result of choosing up the gold you’ll discover there may be what permits for equipping higher gear on future ranges. For those who get caught on a selected stage, attempt utilizing a special character or revisiting older ranges to choose up extra gold so you need to use higher gear.
Though it might seem to be a contemporary motion RPG at first look, as a result of there is no such thing as a roll and the protect will not be a assured block from the entrance, in melee fight it’s greatest to bodily keep away from assaults by shifting your character again. Crossbows have a partial aim-assist mechanic with the big circle that seems over targets. Firing whereas aiming in that circle will mechanically intention bolts on the goal immediately. Bows haven’t any aim-assist however many arrow varieties assist you to nock a number of arrows, or have an space of impact, to make them simpler to make use of in shut vary.
We hope that longtime followers of Enclave get pleasure from this new model and we hope that new gamers get to dive into the perfect model of a real gaming basic.
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Brian Barnett writes opinions, guides, options, & extra for IGN & GameSpot. You may get your repair of his antics on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Bluesky, & Backloggd, & take a look at his incredible online game discuss present, The Platformers, on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.
