Retro Review - Exhumed/Powerslave PC & Playstation Game Review
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- Опубліковано 16 тра 2014
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PowerSlave, known as Exhumed in European territories and Seireki 1999: Pharaoh no Fukkatsu in Japan, is a first-person shooter developed by Lobotomy Software and published by Playmates Interactive Entertainment. It was released in the US, Japan, and Europe for the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and PC over the course of a year from late 1996 to late 1997.
PowerSlave is set in an area around the ancient Egyptian city of Karnak in the late 20th century. The city has been seized by unknown forces, with a special crack team of hardened soldiers sent to the valley of Karnak, to uncover the source of this trouble. However on the journey there, the player's helicopter is shot down and the player barely escapes. The player is sent in to the valley as the hero to save Karnak and the World. The player finds himself battling hordes of evil creatures including mummies, Anubis soldiers, scorpions and evil spirits. The player's course of action is directed by the spirit of King Ramses, whose mummy was exhumed from its tomb by these evil creatures. - Ігри
Check out my updated review for the Powerslave remaster:
ua-cam.com/video/EDKrc_OK5EY/v-deo.html
Nice
you know what I noticed? the M60's ammo belt is properly animated here and accurately reflects the amount of ammo left, while high profile, high budget games like call of duty black ops 3 still show the gun having a full belt regardless of the mmo you have, and even shows the character taking out the belt even if you had no bullets left when reloading
Judging from the title, I'd say the good folks at Lobotomy were Iron Maiden fans.
Good on them.
I was thinking the exact same thing.
lol yup!
Is this in any way related to the Iron Maiden album called "Powerslave"? It was released in 1984 and also has an ancient Egyptian theme.
Apparently the game was named Powerslave as a reference to the album, though ti's not directly related in any way
No.. by tell me why they have to be a powerslave.
And unlike ion maiden, they didn’t get sued
@@WyssV but they certainly did with Ion maiden even though Ion and Iron have to completely different meanings. Besides the band name "Iron Made" in itself was torture device so their band name wasn't original either. Petty assholes i tell ya.
Somebody is making a remake of the pc version called "Re-Exhumed" on the Zdoom engine and it looks great! Let's give him our full support! :)
This is still one of my favourite PS1 games.
I remember the PC version bothering other people in the room due to the "Son of a *****!" the protagonist screams if you take too many consecutive hits. I own this game for all 3 systems and I can tell you the Sega Saturn version is, by far, the best version. The lighting affects and 3D controller make it play better than the Playstation version but Lobotomy slipped in Death Tank on the Saturn version, making it an absolute must have! Talk about replay value. You'll spend hours hunting down the team dolls to unlock the best reason to own a 6 player adapter for the Saturn.
So many games I need to revisit, this channel is like a grandiose shopping list
Loving your reviews to death. Refreshing to see someone taking a very objective look at what makes a game good or bad. Are we ever going to see reviews for other ps1 fps games? Disruptor? PO'ed? Alien Resurrection?
Scott Branston is the name of the sound engineer.
Really is a cracking game, finally got round to completing and covering it myself, fingers crossed Nightdive clme through with their remaster!
Any chance the game was named after the Iron Maiden song?
Quite possible, considering the international version is called Exhumed, like the death metal band.
The Iron maiden album powerslave has a cover with an egyptian theme, and some of the enemies look like Eddie, the Iron Maiden mascot. So yeah, i'd say this game is a bit of an blatant homage to their powerslave album :)
@DaNes200581 I know I'm two year late but you can't just say no without a reason.
Remember playing this on PS1! Good times.
Love this game. Have both the PC and the PSX version. Great review
Ah, I remember playing Exhume back on the Sega Saturn and what a damn good game it was from my childhood. I don't remember getting far because I was only 7 or 8 at the time but I remember it being one of the best FPS games I've ever played. I think it's criminally underrated in every aspect, especially the console versions.
Man, back in the day I played the demo of this game and it was a weird but fresh take on the FPS genre when most of the games I played were either Doom or Duke and Shadow Warrior. I never got to play the full game but one way or another this game stuck with me and every now and again I searched info on it on the web as I got older. I think the demo for this game, alongside Stargate movie, was one of the key elements why I became interested in the Egyptian mythology and all that stuff way back when. Good to see it still holds up and that someone actually released a "remastered" version of it.
Didn't know about the differences between the PC and PS version. Through review.
Here's some cool trivia from wikipedia as a bonus:
At one point, the PC version was to be released by 3D Realms as one of their games to show off the power of the Build engine. During this time, the game was known by its working title Ruins: Return of the Gods. Apogee Software released screenshots of the early working version with a slideshow of another of its published titles, Mystic Towers. 3D Realms eventually dropped the title, which was then picked up by Playmates Interactive Entertainment and published.
The US release title Powerslave is a reference to the Iron Maiden album of the same name, which also features an Egyptian-themed cover.
Voice narration in the game was performed by Don LaFontaine, also known as "The Voice-Over Guy".
The composer of the music is Scott Branston he has a page on last.fm
Never heard of this game, but it looks pretty cool! Good review man!
Wow looks pretty cool! Weird to see a 90s shooter being better on a console. I was really impressed by that underwater Parana death animation.
I have nothing relevant to say about this particular game, but just wanted to let you know how awesome and interesting all your reviews are.
I loved this game on the saturn :)
Undeniably the best version, and he doesn't even show it in this video... What a degenerate.
I played the PC version of Powerslave about halfway through and really liked the Egyptian aesthetics, the music and the focus on exploration in the level design. All that combined with the old school shooter mechanics really do make it one of the most underrated first person shooters of the 90s
Digging through the comments very briefly, I didn't notice the mention of a very particularly important tidbit about this game: the PC version is basically a dolled-up installment. 3D Realms was working on their own Egyptian-themed FPS that was to be known as Ruins: Return of the Gods. It's a bit unclear what happened in the ensuing years, but I do know that the rights were sold to Playmates Interactive Entertainment. Presumably the half-finished prototype they were working on was then completed for the PC version, while Lobotomy used their Slavedriver engine they created to make the console versions.
I remember this one, this and doom 2 became my favourites
Looks awesome to the max! It needs a remaster, I think.
This game is awesome and very underrated.
got this on the Saturn, damn its a hard game but oh so satisfying!
I just bought this game again. I owned back in the day and loved it on the psx. I have bought for pc also. I want to try some mods.
I just played this recently, I have a modded PS1 that runs burned games and was absolutely blown away by how much I enjoyed it. I just finished playing Dark Forces and Parasite Eve, friend suggested this to me as a great example of a PS1 FPS game that still holds up, I have to agree with them. It's loads of fun.
I didn't realised Exhumed was different on the PC. Recently picked up the port for the Vita to find it's not the game I loved from back in the day.
So definitely interesting.
I finished the saturn version man it was awesome game for its time.
I had the demo off a PC Zone disk in 96/97 and only played the PC version, I found it amazing as a 9 year old. The burned up arm on death always used to gross me out and i swear I could smell burning flesh whenever I died.
Nowadays it's a shame such simple graphics can't produce the same effect.
cool video thanks for sharing :-)
Hey!
Thought you might wanna know that the music in the game is composed by scott branston a lobotomy employee.
Can't wait til I get off work to play this
Powerslave in the US but I loved this game!!! I loved the idea very new for then and its not even an idea now! The Anubis enemies scared me as a kid :P
Hey Ggg, ever think of reviewing the Army Men series for the PC?
A lot of the strafing and movement issues for the PC version of the game can probably be attributed to Lobotomy Software developing the game using a fairly older version of the BUILD engine, while I can't remember exactly which numbered version it was I do know that it was one before proper slope support
Excellent review! I'm a huge fan of all versions of this game, heck, I have full playthroughs on my channel for the PC, Playstation and Saturn versions.
Regarding the PC's strafe speed, this seems to be a bug that's in the CD version of the game. the diskette version has an alternate last level (you don't have to destroy the pillars), lower resolution, and no strafing bug. The CD version looks better, but has the strafing bug.
On the CD version, however, strafing with Alt (or whatever you set strafe on to) works right, but the individual strafe left and right buttons are really slow. Don't know why. It's natural once you get used to it, like playing Wolfenstein 3D.
You forgot to mention the cobra staff works underwater, very well. :)
Though I watched everything you had to say about Exhumed yet, mate but I hear of this Strafing Bug for the first time. Everytime I start a session of the game I install it straight from my floppies and copy savegames in. So this CD versions strafing sucks. Guess strafing there feels like as if you push a button but nothing happens, right?
Anyways, great (for me a long anticipated) Review from him. Basically I play and enjoy lots of 90s shooters. When I think of shooters then Exhumed is one of them that always slips straight to my mind quickly after doom or hexxen crossed my mind. The reason is that it's a pretty memorable and very original game. It doesn't lose its charm of being fun, no matter how many times one played it. Yes, I even consider it a game, which is worth being played annualy and whenever one feels like it.
Regarding strafing, I've found that setting the right mouse button as the strafe modifier works really well. Gets around the bugged dedicated strafe keys quite nicely. One thing that can't seem to be helped (maybe it's a dosbox thing) is the strange turning when using the mouse (X axis), doesn't feel smooth at all, not quite like mouse acceleration... Very hard to describe. Very herky jerky.
Still a great game! A shame the game only saves between levels. Why couldn't it save what level you were on AND what checkpoint you were up to in that level... But noooooo.... You start at the beginning of the level when loading a save game.
elbryan42 I've been watching your playthroughs. They're great! The only problem is, you go so fast that it affects my eyes & turns my stomach, which the game will easily do if I don't slow down. I would have liked to see more hiding places for items. I know some people like to race through games but it seems a waste of the money you spend, to me. As it is basically a shoot 'em up, I like to kill all enemies & that requires more Ammo. Again, great video & great info Gggmanlives
***** Thanks!
For the PC version, the reason for rushing through the levels is a technical one. UA-cam at the time had a cap on the length of videos at the time of 15 mins, and the later levels (taking your time, showing hidden rooms, etc) would have far exceeded that. Also, at the time, videos recorded with DOSBox turned the quality to mush if you edited them when recorded with FRAPS (not a problem now)_ So my only option was recording with DOSBox itself, which made the videos in a format that my video editing program at the time (I think it was Sony Vegas) refused to work with.
For the console versions, since I was revisiting levels a lot, I (somewhat) rushed to avoid fighting the same enemies over and over.
I usually don't rush through games, but made an exception for Powerslave. Besides the actual speedruns I've done (Jurassic Park, plus others not published).
elbryan42
***** Well, this shows us that old youtube wasn't the best place if it comes down to playthroughs & lets plays tough.
One example is the amount of parts for specific games. (54 parts for quake4 cuz of 11minute limitation back then, oh man!) If I would play it today it won't be more than maybe 20x 30 minute parts cuz unlimited video lengths is the default today). Today you can present more content with less amount of time IMO.
Editing content & videos through different file formats is easier today too. Back in the day you had to experiment a lot and dig deep into forums to find the best settings for your videos to use. Today everybody can create good content in no time with the sheer amount of tutorials, faqs, etc.
okay, this was slightly off topic. But I felt like sharing ;)
Check out Powerslave EX for a port of the PS1 version for modern PCs. The definition of an underrated gem.
now available on GOG btw
From the research I've done on Exhumed/Powerslave, of which I have PlayStation, Saturn & PC versions, the PC game came first & is totally different to the console games: Saturn & PlayStation. They improved the game as they went along, so when it was ported to Saturn, the gameplay changed & only the story & enemies were similar. The scenery & places changed. Emphasis was more on overcoming difficult leaps etc. You found permanent Artefacts, which were abilities you gained instead of having to find Objects that you used up & had to find more. Apart from Sobek Mask, these objects were different to PC version. Weapons were the same except for Manacle of Ra (similar to Sacred Manacle in Console games but not the same) & Ring of Ra, which wasn't in PC game. You didn't find Ammo for Weapons like PC game, you collected Weapon Power for each weapon. You also had 23 Team Dolls to find that weren't in the PC game. Apparently, Lobotomy Software made the Saturn do things it wasn't designed to do & they used a revolutionary game engine. When they ported it to PlayStation, water, which wasn't realistic in Saturn (looked like a net) became real again & Team Dolls were found in different places to some of Saturn's. There were slight changes in the scenery. PlayStation version was the first I played & I think it had the higher degree of difficulty but they're all fun.
Even though I doubt it'll be there, I'll have to give this game a try if I can grab it on PSN. It looks pretty fun, but I'd certainly need the PS1 version as I'd go crazy in a 90's shooter without strafing.
PC version have the most awesome level design and exploration I have seen in a video game (with BLOOD and Hexen).
I don't talk about hub or others, i talk about the way the maps are made, especially with the relief.
Also the item system in the PC version is very cool, weapon boost is badass, invincibility helpful, Eyes for invisibility ect....
Classic and wonderful anyway, i had so much emotion when i have finished the PC version..never did it when i was a teen...
Replaying it is really fun :)
Just put "mouseview"/"run" on "capslock ", but when you walk forward/backward and strafe speed, it block the mouselook but still very playable anyway.
I liked a lot the ps1 version but i was a bit bored, the ps1 version is really easier and the relief was a bit too much simple for me.....Could be nice to have a "hard" mod for this version, i remember the enemies are easier to kill in the ps1 version, like more reactive or just have more HP but the magic powers make it awesome (big jump and others!), i suppose, they have made map like that because a big relief with big power jump could be useless x)
Anyway, this game serie have 2 very awesome version....i would like a new port for this one too, and especially a map maker
i recognize that grenade sprite from brutal doom
I loved this game when I was 10 years old
I have been meaning to play the PC version as I have only played (and still own) the PSX version which has to be one of my all time favourite console games. Also, it looks like the PC version has a reload mechanism. I don't remember the PSX version having that at all.
Hey man a great review as always, but im interested in what you know of Redline for the pc.
It recently released on GOG and im wondering whether you recommend it?
Haven't played that in years, so I couldn't tell you.
remember wether it was good or not?
The coolest game, I never heard of.
I love this game and I have all 3 versions.
The Saturn and Playstation versions had several key differences including level design, placement of the developer dolls, and the rewards for collecting the dolls.
I have the european Saturn version and for me is the best FPS on the system. In fact, due to nostalgia as well, is the best FPS I ever played. It controls great with the gamepad, great ambient (I love the egyptian ambient), great soundtrack (unfortunally very few tracks) and great secrets to discover. The teamdolls were really hard to find and some of them hard to get. Very underrated game that deserves a magnificent remake. Oh and....it shows what the Saturn could REALLY do in the right hands.
Looks like this game was influence for some games (Karnak, Egypt setting for Serious Sam and using the Souls of fallen enemies for Painkiller). Also it took influence from some classics (the giant lava-insect-thing reminds me of the first boss of Quake and the Cyclops boss looks a lot like the Cyclops boss from Duke Nukem 3D). Combinig all those elements makes it a pretty good game - a remastered version would be great, with better textures, a bigger weapon roster and, of course, improved character motion.
This was in development way before Quake came out, it was in development by 3D realms at the same time as Duke Nukem 3D.
I believe the engine that powers the playstation and saturn versions is called the Slave Driver engine. I know its powered the Saturn port, but im not sure about the playstation port. Interestingly enough, the Slave Driver engine also powered Duke Nukem 3d, and Quake on the sega saturn. Although those ports had issues with framerate and choppiness of the animation. You will have to play those versions for yourself.
my first 1st person shooter i got into
PS1 game looks great visually with higher resolution 3d characters. But I have to say that it would be even better if the health and water bars were the same on console as they are on PC. I just like the blood liquid IV bag on the side compared to the standard red line health bar.
I played this a lot on the PS1.
Powerslave sounds like a pretty good band name.
Do you use the analog sticks to look around? I'd love to know which buttons do what so I know if I'll be ok with the controls
I heard that the Saturn version is the best one.
Joey JoeJoe Jr Shabadoo Saturn and PS1 are pretty much the same.
123doomdoom It has more ambient lightning. But the playstation emulator is a bit more stable.
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exhumarion of a s s s l queen marys
exhumarion of a s s s l queen marysbob
Personally, My favorite is the PC version because, 1: It had death animations for the monsters while in the console versions, the monsters exploded into gibs when you killed them. 2: And the PC version was the first version I played.
the Saturn version is the best with the 3d Saturn controller. it has analogue triggers for strafing
You can actually use the grenade and cobra staff underwater.
Composer: Scott Branston
I had planned to get this last christmas, but the price of the Saturn version is insane.
*****
Yeah, I checked that out after my comment. Hopefully it stays like that until I have enough money for an AR Plus cart.
For those of you who would love to play the console version on your pc without using an emulator. Kaiser is re-creating the console version of the game from the ground up for the PC. It's called Powerslave EX. powerslaveex.wordpress.com/
Awww yeah, remember playing this on the Sega Saturn in Myers Melbourne store :P
Woooo! Exhumed! though when i played the Demo it was called Powerslave. But anyway. apart from the decent games including decent freespace games i really cant think of anything else that hasnt been requested by others.
Can you review Magic Carpet 2?
Only played the PC demo but really enjoyed it. This was a blink and you'll miss it game unfortunately.
Counting the life you start with, you can have 6 lives by acquiring more from Meditating Guru, which is seen floating in lotus position throughout the game.
Wanted to say the composer is Scott Branston as well, but apparently I'm two hours late.
slavedriver engine wasssss used on saturn quake... sure you know that by now though. XD
also saturn's version is the definitive port, ps1 had lots of instances of simpler level design.
every game needs a remake some time. cheat codes on and go 4 IT. hexen 1 2 doom 1 2 rott and so on. YEAH just gotta love them,even they are a little difficult witout cheat codes on.
Awesome game in pretty much every version available. The PC version has more graphical detail, such as various unique death animations for your character, and is an overall faster and more action-packed game. The console versions on the other hand have more platforming and puzzle elements and generally more intricate level design, and boast some impressive lighting and transparency effects in the graphics department. Also, both the PSX and Saturn version are entirely different, so there's a reason to play the game on every platform.
Yeah, im so bored because people need to bash the PC version to make the ps1 version "greater", they think anti-classic fps people bash Exhumed because the PC version, then they say "it's not the PC version !!! Ps1 version is really better!" It doesnt change anything, the 2 versions (especially between PC and ps1/saturn gamepaly) are really different and awesome anyway.
For the PC version, the big problem was the strafe control but its fixed now with a patch :)
Yeah, the strafe is pretty slow, and take me some time to deal without them. But i enjoyed the game overall. You don't see egyptian themes FPS games these days.
“Tell me why I had to be a powerslave. I don’t want to die, I’m a God, why can’t I live on? When the life giver dies, all around is laid waste, and in my last hour, I’m a slave to the power of death. Slave to the power of death... Slave to the power of death....”
FOUND IT!
As well as a version for the PC version as well..
First grenade i threw landed a couple feet in front of me
when will the first ps2 game review arrive?
Soon.
03:23 Can't you use grenades as well while swimming ?
I believe in the PS1 version you could.
Going to be redone by Night Dive on the KEX engine, I honestly can't wait!
I can’t either! Only 9 more days now!!! 👏👏👏
I was just wondering why is there so much tearing with the PS version considering you're using an emulator?
Can someone tell me can you mouselook in the PS version with the ePsxe emulator ?
I'm not sure. Although I do have a PS1 copy of Powerslave, which is the American version of Exhumed... I believe it does run pretty well on the PS3 (considering that the earlier versions of that console did quite well with PS1 gaming).
PowerSlave - The ORIGINAL Metroid Prime.
there was also powerslave ex
"I couldn't find the composer's name anywhere online, but the guy really deserves a pat on the back, whoever he is."
Scott Branston. That's the chap who composed the music. Was right in the credits sequence, actually. Anyhow, maybe now you'll finally be able to send him some kind words?
can you use the mouse in a PS emulator ?
If every emulator had mouse support, can i use the mouse on say, an N64 emulator (the biggest issue that has kept me from playing Goldeneye & Perfect Dark is that the keyboard controls that the emulator gives you are very unwieldy)
I like your reviews but:
- you should increase your voice volume over the game's sound effects.
- it's a pity that you can only review FPS games!
- (I found Powerslave on DOS clunky, frustrating and difficult)
Poor enemies, and their blue balls.
whats with the little breathing lungs on the hud?
Rudimentary breathe meter for under-water sections
ok cheers weird that its there all the time lol
Man I wish there was a way to play this game on PC aside from emulators cause that's still a thing but that Fan made port you talk about in another video I wish that was still a thing
+MP2066 take this, my friend : www.dropbox.com/s/j6kw4vjmd5xh7w2/powerslave_ex_public_beta_1_0_1.zip?dl=0
+MaitreMechant My god you are a savior.
+MaitreMechant You are a gentleman and a scholar. Thanks.
Could this be the first (and only) game ever created which is superior on console?
Any chance to make a review of Requiem - Avenging Angel ?
Can't get it running on Windows 7 atm
you're using 64bit version ?
are you going to review the new wolfenstein ?
Yeah
Gggmanlives
Are you pumped for it ? or are you just like "yeah i'll pick it up on a sale maybe" ?
dude he already reviewed it
Brutal Powerslave when??
if some1 know how to find this game pls reply cuz i greww up with this game and i want to play it again
Theres a patch for the PC version that fixes the controls
www.dukertcm.com/knowledge-base/downloads-rtcm/powerslave-patchs/
Thank you very much ! I have hosted a Exhumed PC LAN in a festival, but people had troubles with the controls x)
I used mouseview/run on capslock, but it didnt work well....
Ah, must install the file in the "C" folder of Exhumed. :)
The Sega Saturn version is different again.