Hard Reset

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 372 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 211 out of 372
  2. Mixed: 116 out of 372
  3. Negative: 45 out of 372

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  1. metalhead980
    Sep 13, 2011
    8
    Fast, brutal arcade shooter fun. Upgrades weapons, take down waves of mechanical monstrosities.
    Hard Rest pays homage to the old school shooter, if you liked games like Painkiller you will love this game.
    Great graphics, clever upgrade system and brutal difficulty. Only negative would be its extremely short 3-4 hour campaign.
  2. digimortal81
    Sep 17, 2011
    10
    Absolutely beautiful graphics and solid sound. Colors contrast and stand out against the backgrounds, I try to imagine I am running around in Bladerunner. Atmosphere is dark and edgy similar to some Unreal maps from back in the day. Animations have weight and move smoothly. While not as great as Painkiller or other hardcore shooters this game is refreshing to play.
  3. runbmp
    Sep 14, 2011
    9
    Its nice to see such fluidity in the controls back into PC gaming. The fast pace hardcore is also a huge welcome. Hard reset's music queues usually send onslaughts of robots for you to dispose of.

    Robots with range missiles, bowling ball robots, or bad ass robots that resemble the one seen in Judge Dredd The only gripe I have is the story line which clearly wasn't its main focus, and    Its nice to see such fluidity in the controls back into PC gaming. The fast pace hardcore is also a huge welcome. Hard reset's music queues usually send onslaughts of robots for you to dispose of.

    Robots with range missiles, bowling ball robots, or bad ass robots that resemble the one seen in Judge Dredd

    The only gripe I have is the story line which clearly wasn't its main focus, and its easily forgiven given the game play provided. However given I bought it for 26$, the value provided compared to allot of 60$ titles is astounding.

    I look forward to more titles from Wild Flying Hogs, they've done a fantastic job!

    Do yourself a favor and pick up the title at 30$, you'll be supporting a developer who is dedicated to your platform and focused on value for your $.    … Expand
  4. thesisko
    Sep 14, 2011
    10
    Inccredible fun and great looking. A return to form for fast-paced PC shooters. Buy it so we can get more like this, developers like Flying Wild Hog are all too rare these days.
  5. Kaelor
    Sep 14, 2011
    9
    Even though this is Flying Wild Hog's first game. it made a good impression on me for this company. User clean interface, full throttle action combat, Importance of enviroment usage is unique elements for this game. If youre looking for some good action and avoidance combats you gotta get this. the only bad thing in game ended too soon. I've completed in 4 hours or so. This game surelyEven though this is Flying Wild Hog's first game. it made a good impression on me for this company. User clean interface, full throttle action combat, Importance of enviroment usage is unique elements for this game. If youre looking for some good action and avoidance combats you gotta get this. the only bad thing in game ended too soon. I've completed in 4 hours or so. This game surely deserve some expansions.… Expand
  6. HornyGoblin
    Sep 14, 2011
    10
    - Little indie gem with visuals of AAA titles for millions $$$
    - Great cyberpunk-noir atmosphere.
    - Wonderfully built locations.
    - Incredible weapons upgrade system.
    - Fast gunplay with a bit of tactics.
    - Relentless and fun-to-kill enemies.
    - Good replay value with room for future DLCs
    - Reasonable price/value ratio.
  7. stole38
    Sep 17, 2011
    9
    I never like shooters , but this game i can't take my eye's off ! It's so smooth and the visuals are just outstanding i've played it all Crysis , FarCry they don't have those visuals ! Wonderful Game !
  8. GhostReporting
    Sep 13, 2011
    10
    Just awesome! I've been playing this game non-stop since I got it on steam. Really fun, reminds me of the Doom days, even if the levels are linear. It's still a fun game with upgrades to your guns. Great PC Exclusive. Check it out!
  9. Qwertie
    Mar 30, 2012
    7
    A fun shooter with solid gameplay. It feels old-school like Quake or UT, but upgraded with some very good-looking modern graphics and a few original twists. Why old-school? There are several secret places on each map (Duke Nukem 3D), the weapons are futuristic (UT), you run around faster than in many new shooters and you often have to move around a lot to evade a horde of robots withA fun shooter with solid gameplay. It feels old-school like Quake or UT, but upgraded with some very good-looking modern graphics and a few original twists. Why old-school? There are several secret places on each map (Duke Nukem 3D), the weapons are futuristic (UT), you run around faster than in many new shooters and you often have to move around a lot to evade a horde of robots with circular saws closing in on you. I think the main weakness of this game is not how short it is, but how poorly the story is presented. The comics seem cool, but they don't clearly communicate what the heck is going on. So when I reached the end of the game, I had no idea it was the end because the story left a lot of loose ends and I still didn't really understand what was going on. Another dumb quirk in this game is that your character feels very large and can't crouch. That would be okay except that the game has a lot of fences that are raised 4 feet off the ground (so you could get through IF ONLY you could crouch), and nooks that any normal person could fit through, but you can't because your body is so frickin' big. Kudos to the devs for providing an FOV control (unlike many other games, I won't have to dock this one for prohibiting peripheral vision), and for working well in Stereoscopic 3D. And as many others have mentioned, there are really lots of weapons (2 times 10) although it's hard to earn enough XP to acquire all of them.… Expand
  10. UNr34L
    Apr 27, 2012
    9
    I bought the Extended Edition (retail) and loved it. Nearly all the problems I had with the demo were gone or adjusted. The game also received a significant length boost in the version I played. All in all I had tons of fun. The graphics are AMAZING as well as incredibly optimized...the UI, the controls, the options and the music are all top notch. Flying Wild Hog has managed to do what aI bought the Extended Edition (retail) and loved it. Nearly all the problems I had with the demo were gone or adjusted. The game also received a significant length boost in the version I played. All in all I had tons of fun. The graphics are AMAZING as well as incredibly optimized...the UI, the controls, the options and the music are all top notch. Flying Wild Hog has managed to do what a lot of AAA studios failed. This is a true old school PC shooter. I would recommend getting the retail Extended edition though (same price), as for the time being the extra levels have retail exclusivity and are not available on steam.… Expand
  11. casinostomper
    Sep 22, 2011
    9
    Excellent game. Challenging battles that make you want to upgrade weapons and replay. great environment, and generally has an addictive quality as you try to minimise the amount of times you are killed. Could do with more upgrades for replays, and being a bit longer. not very good on sli systems - patch needed.
  12. Kugeet
    Sep 18, 2011
    10
    Great-looking-fun-to-play game. Don't believe the 4 hrs walkthrough time - it took me good 8 hours of play on normal difficulty to finish this. Yes, you die plenty, but it's a great way of dying :)
  13. omearaee
    Sep 16, 2011
    7
    It's a fun but short FPS. The story is a little underdeveloped and the levels a little too linear. The comics however were interesting and I liked the environments, there is a lot of detail. Overall it's a quick and amusing game, not great but not bad for the money.
  14. Flaw
    Sep 22, 2011
    10
    Have you thought to yourself, "I'm getting sick and tired of these bulky space marines waddling in their corridors filled with waist-high obstacles, I sure wish someone would release an FPS with solid mechanics and an emphasis on the game play." If you have, Hard Reset is the thing you want.

    It's pretty much everything a decent PC shooter should be. It's not going to hold your hand. It's    Have you thought to yourself, "I'm getting sick and tired of these bulky space marines waddling in their corridors filled with waist-high obstacles, I sure wish someone would release an FPS with solid mechanics and an emphasis on the game play." If you have, Hard Reset is the thing you want.

    It's pretty much everything a decent PC shooter should be.
    It's not going to hold your hand. It's not going to play itself for you. It will challenge you, and boy is that refreshing in this endless stream of Gears of Duty: Waddling Space Marine Editions that have been rolling out non-stop for the past few years.

    Sure, there might be 2 weapons. What the negative reviews "forgot" to mention is that each weapon has 10 different fire modes. That's right, 10. Making the total amount of weapons actually well above the average. And even if it didn't, the weapon modes in Hard Reset are SO FUN to use. You have your general array of plasma guns and rail guns and shotguns, but some of the modes are very original. For example the stasis grenade, which can freeze time around the impact point. Or the Smart Gun, which fires homing balls of plasma that can penetrate through walls.

    The game is an absolute blast, and if you used to enjoy games like Unreal (or Unreal Tournament for that matter) or Quake, you most surely will enjoy Hard Reset.

    PS. Do take note that I didn't even praise the graphics as that's not what makes this game stand out, but they are absolutely stellar. You'll be hard pressed to find a game that looks better.    … Expand
  15. Mancubus
    Sep 23, 2011
    9
    This game delivers not only the most pretty picture of all shooters at the moment ( I personally was impressed way more than with Crysis 2 or any other FPS), but much more - this is true old school spinal shooter. This is the Quake 2011. And I looove this.

    The only small unimportant annoyances I didn't like were lack of quicksaving (able to be implemented through console bindings    This game delivers not only the most pretty picture of all shooters at the moment ( I personally was impressed way more than with Crysis 2 or any other FPS), but much more - this is true old school spinal shooter. This is the Quake 2011. And I looove this.

    The only small unimportant annoyances I didn't like were lack of quicksaving (able to be implemented through console bindings anyway, and even I'd say not required, as checkpoints are set quite smart not to enrage be after death) and ugly comic strips delivering indistinct story script.

    This team will go far, I believe. Buy game, support the, and we will get another id.    … Expand
  16. RicochetSaw
    Nov 8, 2011
    9
    Fast, Brutal, Massive Hordes of Enemies? This game is for anyone who played Quake, Painkiller, or Serious Same. Minus the bunny hopping, this is a modern adaptation of the same game-play elements. People tent to knock it because it is short, this isn't really a problem if you play on the hardest difficulty as you will spend hours looking for all of the nano so you can upgrade fastFast, Brutal, Massive Hordes of Enemies? This game is for anyone who played Quake, Painkiller, or Serious Same. Minus the bunny hopping, this is a modern adaptation of the same game-play elements. People tent to knock it because it is short, this isn't really a problem if you play on the hardest difficulty as you will spend hours looking for all of the nano so you can upgrade fast enough to survive all of the fights. The engine reminds me of Unreal Engine 3 minus the high amount of Vaseline on everything. The Cyberpunk atmosphere reminds me of Blade Runner. Neon Signs everywhere, amazing lighting. Most recent patch added a survival mode with 2 locations. Please support Indie Developers who make great games like this, they are too rare these days. I'm really looking forward to more DLC or another game by this developer. The lack of Multiplayer, Game length, and the strange and somewhat forgettable story are the only downsides, but honestly, if you are looking for a fast paced shooter and not some gun porn, story is probably a low priority. To be honest, I'm slightly glad the developer spent time on a Singleplayer game, it added to the quality of both the coding, and the actual game-play rather then them focusing on something that would probably feel tacked on. They should try in their next game. Definitely a Flying Wild Hog fan.

    Pros: Painkiller style Fast paced single player

    Cons: No/Difficult Bunny-hopping No Multiplayer Graphics : 10/10
    Sound: 10/10
    Game-play 9/10
    Story 9/10

    Overall 9/10    … Expand
  17. bosmeeuw
    Dec 2, 2011
    9
    I've seen this game compared to Serious Sam, but for me it's a lot deeper than SS. The weapons are pretty diverse, and the game puts you in plenty of unique situations where you really need to think about your tactics and what weaponry to use, and that a furious pace. The graphics are wonderful, especially the weapon effects and the results on your enemies. Great fun!
  18. Magnus005
    Dec 4, 2011
    9
    Very fast paced fps with a decent storyline. I played the demo and was very stoked to buy the full version, but the promises made by the demo fall short for a number of reasons:
    1) As mentioned by metalhead980, the campaign is not much longer then the demo;
    2) The storyline should have been played out more. The demo promised much more cutscenes, but like a lot of movie trailers, all the    Very fast paced fps with a decent storyline. I played the demo and was very stoked to buy the full version, but the promises made by the demo fall short for a number of reasons:
    1) As mentioned by metalhead980, the campaign is not much longer then the demo;
    2) The storyline should have been played out more. The demo promised much more cutscenes, but like a lot of movie trailers, all the best shots are shown in such a way as to be BETTER than the movie itself;
    3) It's fast-paced because playability is VERY simplified; you have barely any jump clearance, a limited sprint and no crouch feature, something rarely omitted from any fps.
    Don't get me wrong, the game itself is very kick-ass and I still replay it from time to time. It just doesn't live up to the hype of the demo, which by itself is almost as kick-ass. And I totally love the cyberpunk genre immersion, which could be better with more interaction with civilians and some NPCs, as there are none. The only targets are rampaging robots. So I give it a 9.    … Expand
  19. CannibalBob
    Jul 2, 2012
    9
    Hard Reset takes a futuristic throwback to brainless, unforgiving shooters of the 90's and blends it with some modern paradigms to give us a polished, enjoyable action-fest!

    I especially enjoyed the visually spectacular graphics, specifically its detailed environments, bright, colourful effects, discernible enemies and plenty of explosions! Throw in some fast-paced music and bassy    Hard Reset takes a futuristic throwback to brainless, unforgiving shooters of the 90's and blends it with some modern paradigms to give us a polished, enjoyable action-fest!

    I especially enjoyed the visually spectacular graphics, specifically its detailed environments, bright, colourful effects, discernible enemies and plenty of explosions! Throw in some fast-paced music and bassy sound effects and explosions, and you get a very visceral and satisfying FPS.

    Being an indie game, I was surprised to enjoy such a smooth and beautiful engine. Some of the modern paradigms worked really well, including the leveling system coupled with nostalgic secret-hunting. Find more secrets, and you're rewarded with better weapons and skills via the leveling system! The only drawback was the checkpoint save system was too restrictive, inhibiting the player from "messing around", and the interface can be laggy, especially when one wants to switch weapons or jump. It took me 7.4 hours to beat Hard Reset on Hard Mode, and was excited that I can replay the campaign to max out my level with an "Ex" mode!

    Overall, I loved the experience, and really liked the game's design, but felt that it could've been perfect with a smoother interface and less restrict save system.    … Expand
  20. Alkemic
    Sep 22, 2011
    9
    When they said, that this game is going to be like old-school fps, I thought it's some cheap buzz, but they succeed. It's fun, and fast-paced game. There is TEN guns, with few types of ammo. Campaign is rather short, about 7h, but it's really enjoyable.
    And the best in this game is really good graphics, I hope more developers make pc exclusives, because playing some horrible looking games    When they said, that this game is going to be like old-school fps, I thought it's some cheap buzz, but they succeed. It's fun, and fast-paced game. There is TEN guns, with few types of ammo. Campaign is rather short, about 7h, but it's really enjoyable.
    And the best in this game is really good graphics, I hope more developers make pc exclusives, because playing some horrible looking games on FHD just burn my eyes.
    Sound effects should be tweaked, but if don't mind few glitches it's ok.    … Expand
  21. HyperMetal3000
    Sep 19, 2011
    10
    Its pretty, fast-paced and fun as hell. Hard Reset is an inexpensive indie video game made by people who love old shooters. Its deceptive because the game looks and feels so good that you think that you're in a full-blown main stream video game but hopefully anyone with a brain will realize that anything that is lacking in this game is because there really wasn't a big corporate budget toIts pretty, fast-paced and fun as hell. Hard Reset is an inexpensive indie video game made by people who love old shooters. Its deceptive because the game looks and feels so good that you think that you're in a full-blown main stream video game but hopefully anyone with a brain will realize that anything that is lacking in this game is because there really wasn't a big corporate budget to back it. Look up the company that made the game, Flying Wild Hog and you'll see that they've never made anything else. As soon as people started talking about this game I dove right into looking up information about it and when I found out that it was made by developers pretty much on their free time I knew the game wasn't going to be Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I've never had so much fun on a brand-new $30 PC game. Don't let some of these knuckle draggers bring you down, its good mindless fun, just don't go in expecting Call of Duty, its a 30 dollar video game.… Expand
  22. Nirkbirk
    Sep 27, 2011
    9
    A gorgeous looking, amazingly fun, fast and addictive game, it's a must-have for any fans of the Painkiller series. The only downside is it's quite short.
  23. pelotron
    Sep 22, 2011
    10
    Imagine "Michael Bay's Blade Runner". Now imagine yourself at the controls. That's what this game is like: non-stop explosive action in a gorgeous and compelling cyberpunk game environment from start to finish. From the moment you suck your first group of 10 robots together with a gravity grenade then blow them all into the sky with an adjacent explosive barrel, or disable them with anImagine "Michael Bay's Blade Runner". Now imagine yourself at the controls. That's what this game is like: non-stop explosive action in a gorgeous and compelling cyberpunk game environment from start to finish. From the moment you suck your first group of 10 robots together with a gravity grenade then blow them all into the sky with an adjacent explosive barrel, or disable them with an EMP pulse and then electrocute them with the NRG Blaster, you will be in love.

    While the game is full of these adrenaline-fueled scenes of chaos (where seemingly everything in the environment can blow up and kill your enemies--or you), you will also experience moments of meditative peace as you explore the beautifully crafted city while being moved by a sublime soundtrack. When was the last time you played a game that encouraged you to find the secrets and presented you with a scoreboard at the end of each level? Hard Reset brings back mechanics like that to make a game that stands in stark contrast to the cutscene-filled "interactive movies" that modern FPS games have become.

    Add to all this a dev team that has been implementing gameplay suggestions from the community and you have a winner that should get way more attention than it has. Buy this game.    … Expand
  24. caiusmisus
    Jan 12, 2012
    8
    Good graphics and atmosphere. Great shooter, better than most of FPSs in these years, but I wouldn't say that it is 100 % oldschool. The thing i most hated during my playthrough was that after you entered an area, the exit behind you got blocked, so the game was presented to you just by running through closed arenas. The second thing was that there were invisible barriers everywhere. TheGood graphics and atmosphere. Great shooter, better than most of FPSs in these years, but I wouldn't say that it is 100 % oldschool. The thing i most hated during my playthrough was that after you entered an area, the exit behind you got blocked, so the game was presented to you just by running through closed arenas. The second thing was that there were invisible barriers everywhere. The game was open, but still, very linear. No autoheal was the main reason i bought this game and it showed how the cover system is absolutely not needed for a good FPS. But great gameplay made me to forget about these things and i enjoyed the game extremely. Very simple story, but who cares? This game is about shooting and its a thing this game's good at. Could have been done better, but still : a very good game.… Expand
  25. Elsingo
    Nov 11, 2011
    7
    A realy fun FPS game with fun to find secret areas, upgrade system is a nice touch but i would have liked more kinds of enemies. Thanks to the game being dark it actualy managed to get me scared a few times.
  26. lunaticneko
    Dec 29, 2011
    7
    Upgrades, actions, explosions, what you can expect from a modern action game. Story is illustrated by comic transitions, which I find to be quite artistic. However, the major downfall is that the story is not prominent enough. It does not stand out.

    While the game has great, simple upgrade mechanics, which is similar to what you would find in casual and Flash games, the game suffers from    Upgrades, actions, explosions, what you can expect from a modern action game. Story is illustrated by comic transitions, which I find to be quite artistic. However, the major downfall is that the story is not prominent enough. It does not stand out.

    While the game has great, simple upgrade mechanics, which is similar to what you would find in casual and Flash games, the game suffers from uneven difficulty. I mean, the lower enemies and cannon fodders can be easily dispatched with shotguns while standing still, but when the bigger enemies come, they come charging as pairs, drive you into a corner and kill you instantly with no means of escape.

    The upgrade system is funded by a kind of non-currency that accumulates into upgrade points, similar to how you earn experience and gain a level. This game suffers from another pit that it tries too hard to hide those "exp" pickups in extremely hard-to-reach places, staggering the game by minutes each time it happens. It also rewards player wrongly: being an action game, players should be more substantially rewarded by killing enemies faster, more brutally, or many at a time, etc. However, it rewards pickup scroungers like I said earlier too much.    … Expand
  27. dawgman67
    Apr 15, 2012
    7
    Ok I just finished this game after 16 hours of gameplay on the normal difficulty. It wasn't too bad of a game. Pretty much what I expected after playing the demo. The visuals are great. It's a very colorful game. The action for the most part if fast paced though can get repetitive after awhile. There are 2 major bosses that take a while to beat. There are 2 major bad points in theOk I just finished this game after 16 hours of gameplay on the normal difficulty. It wasn't too bad of a game. Pretty much what I expected after playing the demo. The visuals are great. It's a very colorful game. The action for the most part if fast paced though can get repetitive after awhile. There are 2 major bosses that take a while to beat. There are 2 major bad points in the game. 1 the storyline sucks. Doesn't make much sense and I found myself just daydreaming why the story was being told between levels. 2 the ending leaves a lot to be desired.

    All in all a decent game and for what I paid $5 on steam it was a nice stop in between more advanced games like Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3.    … Expand
  28. corder299
    May 6, 2012
    7
    It's a good FPS with decent gameplay and nice graphics, and good ideas like the weapon / stuff upgrade system. 6 hours to finish it (normal difficulty) can seems a bit fast, but as levels / enemies tends to be a a little repetitive it is enough.
  29. sh4dow
    Sep 19, 2011
    9
    the incompetence in reviewing this game and the way in which gamers approach this are mindboggling to me. excuse me but did ANYONE throw away modern warfare after running through the single player campaign on easy after 5 hours or so?!
    it is simply moronic to say a game is short that is designed with a) exploration and b) multiple playthroughs in mind! if you don't want to explore and    the incompetence in reviewing this game and the way in which gamers approach this are mindboggling to me. excuse me but did ANYONE throw away modern warfare after running through the single player campaign on easy after 5 hours or so?!
    it is simply moronic to say a game is short that is designed with a) exploration and b) multiple playthroughs in mind! if you don't want to explore and don't want to try to upgrade your weapons and don't want to finish it in "ex game" mode - that's YOUR issue, not the game's. if you don't like it... fine. don't play the game. but it pisses me off to no end that these things (summed up as replayability) are barely even mentioned anywhere. everywhere, it's the same dumb "it's short".
    don't let that fool you and consider that these morons are often comparing hard reset to full price games! (i would also recommend reading the thread "4 hours my @ss, no way!" in the steam forum...)

    aside from the fact that the length is perfectly fine for the price, the only things i would criticize about it is that the graphics are "just" good but nothing groundbreaking (which many comments made it sound like), that there is no quick save and the cut scenes feel pretty chaotic at times. i respect innovative story telling but it just feels like a bit sluggish writing to me. the look and atmosphere of them is great though.
    between that and the fun gameplay and the insane amount of upgrades (again - if you only run through it once, you probably won't even see all weapons!), this is a must have for any old school shooter (as in: quake, unreal, duke nukem 3d) fan!    … Expand
  30. daveyy12
    Jan 3, 2012
    10
    Surprisingly good game. Good choice of weapons and system for acquiring more health/ammo was somewhat unique and worth checking out. Not much of a plot line and very hard to follow. However, this is an excellent shooter with plenty of challenging enemies. Give this one a try. It's a good value for the price.
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Awards & Rankings

99
#99 Best PC Game of 2011
52
#52 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
35
#35 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 49 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 49
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 49
  3. Negative: 1 out of 49
  1. Armchair Empire
    Apr 27, 2012
    65
    Hard Reset isn't a bad game, but it's rote old school sensibility has passed me by. I don't have the same kind of reflexes I did 5 or 10 years ago to properly appreciate the twitch elements, so maybe I have to take some responsibility on that front. For me, Hard Reset is unremarkable because it seems about 5 years too late for me.
    Read full review
  2. Gaming Age
    Nov 17, 2011
    75
    Hard Reset also does a lot of cool things in games that I wish we'd see more of, and it does them well. Interfacing with fictional computer terminals is fun, and scoping the strong art direction does a lot to set the game in a fairly original virtual setting.
    Read full review
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 15, 2011
    70
    Short life span but budget price – this science-fiction inspired first person shooter has a lot to offer with stunning visuals and perfect old-school playability. Pity there's not a multiplayer option. [Nov 2011]
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