The Thing Remaster Will Fulfill The Devs' "Original Vision"

Summary

• The Thing, a cult classic from 2002, is getting a remaster by Nightdive Studios for modern consoles & PC.
• Nightdive Studios is utilizing modern technology to help bring about the original developer's vision for the game.
• The game is an important piece of media as it is a direct sequel to the movie and not a traditional movie tie-in retelling of things.

In case you missed it, 2002 cult classic The Thing is getting a remaster. Nightdive Studios, which has helped bring several other classics to modern consoles, like System Shock and Star Wars: Dark Forces, will be handling the remaster. No release date has been announced, though when the game does come out, it'll be on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

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That said, Nightdive Studios will be fully taking advantage of modern tools to help bring the video game to current gen hardware. The original video game launched on PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC over two decades ago, so its assets are fairly dated. In an interview with GamesRadar, Nightdive's Larry Kuperman explained in great detail how the team is approaching the fan favorite title.

For starters, while the game is a remaster and not a remake, there will be new assets. Kuperman noted that an "enormous amount" of the original game's assets and framework will be used alongside new things. Those new things will bring the remaster closer in line with the original vision that Computer Artworks, the 2002 development team, had in mind. That original vision was limited by technological limitations, which is now being rectified all these years later.

"[Computer Artworks was] really, really pretty happy, and justifiably so, with the game that they produced, but they were also aware of limitations, of things that they could not do simply because the technology, the game engine, did not support it," Kuperman told GamesRadar. "And, without going into too much detail, without providing any spoilers, there are some things that, we were able to fulfill the original vision of the developers. That's something that's really important to us."

Not only is Nightdive making use of modern technology to bring about the original vision, but they've also brought on two of the original developers as well. Those original developers are helping to ensure that the remaster is in line with the original.

Why is The Thing So Beloved?

To date, there are dozens of games that have received the remaster treatment. Some have been warranted, like the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane trilogy, while others have been puzzling, like the God of War 3 remaster. That said, The Thing is in a rare place with it not only being a cult classic, but also a major piece of media.

Indeed, The Thing video game is a direct sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 horror film. Whereas other movie-based video games retell the movie's events, The Thing actually continues the storyline set forth in the movie. It was a novel idea at the time, and one that was emulated by other games, like Enter the Matrix, which told a story concurrent with the movies.

Per the game's Steam page, it'll boast 4K resolution and 120 FPS across its 20 levels. More so, the trust and fear mechanic that was part of the original title has been updated among other features. In other words, The Thing Remastered appears to be everything the original set out to be and more.

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