ReCore: Definitive Edition

The improved edition of the game has been developed by the creators of the original – Comcept in cooperation with Armture. The game is a part of the Xbox Play Anywhere program – upon buying the digital version of the game (Windows 10 or Xbox One), a player receives one more digital copy for free, and all the saves and achievements are shared between the two copies of the game.

Plot

The story of the game shows a quite grim vision of the direction the human race is headed and depicts how the human history might end. During the game, a player assumes the role of Joule Adams – one of the last humans – who, after the cataclysm hit Earth, has been sent to a remote planet called Far Eden to prepare a new home for the human race. After years spent in cryogenic sleep, the main protagonist wakes up and discovers that not everything went according to plan. The colony has been taken over by hostile robots whose objective is to completely exterminate all humans. It turns out however that not all the machines are aggressive towards the colonists, and one of the machines – the amiable robot called Mack – wants to work with them. He quickly becomes Joule’s companion. The duo is tasked with finding a way to restore the former order to the world and save the human race from extinction.

Mechanics

The gameplay of the PC and XONE release of ReCore: Definitive Edition revolves around the exploration of the enormous planet composed mostly of sand deserts. Player's main objective is to fix the terraforming machines and discover the secrets hidden all over Far Eden – it comes down to solving multiple puzzles that require a player to prove his agility and perceptivity, as well as fighting hostile robots. Among the mechanical adversaries, one can find easy to defeat minor machines as well as gigantic bosses – in order to defeat them, a player has to employ various strategies. During the game, Joule can use her carbine loaded with colorful bullets, which deals damage to enemies based on their color – the more it fits the color of the bullet, the grater the damage. A player can also use to his advantage the special abilities featured by the robotic companions.

One of the most important aspects of the gameplay mechanics of ReCore: Definitive Edition, and at the same time the key to success in the game is the option to use the abilities of the encountered robots. Each one features its own unique set of skills necessary to discover consecutive locations in the game and a special consciousness core – the device can be placed in a body of another machine. This way, a player does not switch between their companion's skills, but rather accumulates them.

Additionally, apart from the aforementioned Mack, during the game a player gets to encounter two more benign machines – a spider-like Seth, and Duncan who resembles a monkey. The former one is extremely agile; an MVP during the exploration, while the latter one is extremely powerful and useful in combat. Interestingly enough, in ReCore: Definitive Edition, robots are presented not as mindless machines, but intelligent 'creatures' that can think and their experiences. Because of that, as the story progresses they become stronger and learn new and useful abilities.

Technical aspects

The PC and XONE release of ReCore: Definitive Edition features high-quality visuals following the post-apocalyptic convention. A player is bound to appreciate the sand storms, which are much more than only an element of aesthetics. With each storm the in-game world changes, which makes it more difficult for a player to find himself on the map and allows him to access previously unavailable locations hiding precious and useful items.

Definitive Edition does not vary much from the original release, however, it offers higher resolution, and the PC Windows and Xbox One releases of the game allow a player to use the High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology. Moreover, the developers have improved balance of the game.