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Thursday, September 07, 2006
The Berzerk 3D remake starts off nicely, with an intro and the right sound effects that will please anyone who had fond memories of Stern's arcade classic. At it's heart is a maze game in which you have to keep the main character alive for as long as possible while racking up a sizeable score.

The transition to 3D isn't exactly a smooth process. Movements have been complicated by the need to turn around and face your opponents, plus robots are slightly harder to shoot at due to the new perspective. Rooms also spin around erratically, causing much disorientation. The main character has a rather eccentric walk animation, and entering new rooms usually means random placements.

Pressing the escape key exits the game entirely, instead of bringing up a pause menu. The game is also known to cause display problems when switching windows.

A commendable effort that tried hard to emulate but strayed too far from it's source material. Lofty ambitions from the developers to impress, which would have worked extremely well if a few things were kept simpler instead.

Name: Berzerk 3D
Developer: Binary Agents
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
6 Comments:
Blogger frankyboy123 said at 9/05/2006 01:06:00 PM:  
I believe the point of the competition was to create remakes of old games. Apart from the incredibly updated visuals and sound (the music is awesome by the way) the game itself seems to stick to the originals rules and frantic gameplay really well. As a big fan of the original (and showing my age) I can honestly say this is the best remade version I have come across - so far.
Anonymous Anonymous said at 9/07/2006 01:42:00 PM:  
"The game is also known to cause display problems when switching windows" - this isn't really a fault. The competition rules specified that all games must run and stay full screen. This game was written to do that. If you try to minimize it or switch it to windows mode it understandably will not be a happy bunny. Nobody else during testing or after final release has mentioned a display problem.
Just thought I would point that out ;-)
- Binary Agents
Blogger frankyboy123 said at 9/09/2006 01:52:00 PM:  
Nice to see a proper review now. It did make me laugh though because your original one seemed to say that the game was not different enough from the original, and yet this one says its "strayed too far from it's source material". I guess you couldn't make your mind up.
Oh well, I still love playing it even if I keep getting killed around room 6 every time!
Blogger Tim said at 9/09/2006 03:04:00 PM:  
sorry about the short review. it's hard writing about 70 games in seven days. i'll try my best next time. :~(
Anonymous Anonymous said at 9/13/2006 05:55:00 AM:  
No problem Tim.
Just thought I would let you know that an updated version is now available which addresses the playability aspects mentioned here and on various forums. For example:
>> Player rotating is now much faster (by popular demand). Its a lot less lifelike than the original slower motion but it does improve gameplay a lot.
>> Shooting is now much more accurate. Originally I wrote in a slightly more lifelike spread of shots when you fired. I think this made people think that aiming was flawed by the roaming camera.
>> Floors are better, slightly uneven and now affected by the players torch. This adds to the lighting effect and atmosphere.
>> When you leave a room you will appear in the next room at the opposite end.
>> Explosions are 20% faster and are visible for the entire time they can kill you so there is less of a chance of accidentally walking into a fading one.
>> Player animation improved (less camp!).
>> Blocked exits now appear in red like in the original versions, rather than the same electrified fences as the walls.

The download link is:
http://berzerk.binaryagents.com
If I make any other updates in the future they will always be available from this URL. Thanks.
- Binary Agents
Anonymous Anonymous said at 12/15/2007 11:33:00 AM:  
We love this remake. VERY addicting game. Please do more remakes.