The Mummy Demastered

1. GBG_Jason

   Oct 24, 2017

   9

   Everyone has a genre that is a sort of comfort food. Something that you can jump into no matter how bad or campy it may be – mine is JRPGs.Everyone has a genre that is a sort of comfort food. Something that you can jump into no matter how bad or campy it may be – mine is JRPGs. Whether it’s a AAA title, or an indie game emulating what worked well in the 90s, I can always appreciate a JRPG to some extent. But there’s a “genre” that is defined by two series that I may love as much, if not more: metroidvanias.
   
   WayForward started making games back in the 90s, and before they had a chance to release their big IP Shantae, they would create licensed games. When you think of games based off of movies or television shows, your feelings are probably mediocre at best. And to be honest, those feelings would be valid for most games that were released. The difference is, WayForward puts their all into everything they create. I’m not say Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses was the best game of 2006, but it is likely the best Barbie game you can play. When I heard that the most recent Mummy movie was getting a game, I was cautiously optimistic based on the initial screens I saw. After I heard who was developing it, I knew there was no reason to fear.
   
   The Mummy Demastered is a classic metroidvania title in the style of WayForward. You have a map with waypoints of where to go, different colored rooms based on what they contain, and secrets galore, often hiding upgrades to health or weaponry. You’ll also gain new abilities as you progress, allowing you access to previously unreachable areas. The first is given very early on in the form of a grenade, which opens up boarded off rooms. After the first boss, you’re given the ability to climb along ceilings, stopping to shoot if need be. For each ability you gain, a new obstacle will keep you from progressing, meaning you’ll have to come back when you have the right artifact.
   
   Having never seen the recent movie, I can’t speak to how much of a crossover there is in content. I know that Princess Ahmanet is in both, but that’s about it. While I haven’t seen Tom Cruise battle one of the Universal monsters in their new expanded movie universe, I can tell you that it’s not needed for the enjoyment of this game. While some tie-in games like to reference the movie and make you go “oh yeah, we’re at this part,” this is fantastic without any context. For me, the characters could have been anyone else and it would’ve been just as good.
   
   The basic controls of the game involve moving, shooting in 8 directions, rolling, and jumping. As stated previously, you will gain new abilities as you progress, but these are what you’ll use most. Weapons have limited ammunition outside of your initial machine gun, although picking up ammo is as easy as killing an enemy or shooting a lantern or any other breakable objects. It wasn’t until the first boss that I even bothered to use my secondary weapon. It’s also here that you see the game’s way of telling you where a boss is with its life – they gradually turn red. For those of us that played a lot of games in the 90s, this will be familiar. You know how some developers you loved as a child have gone in directions you disagree with? WayForward is the developer that has stayed true to themselves after almost 30 years. If you took 90s Capcom or Konami and dropped them in present day, this is what they’d be making.
   
   If you’re familiar with Castlevania or Metroid, you should be right at home here. Enemies will throw their bones at you, projectiles will pass through the ground or the walls that would protect you otherwise, and the enemies are never-ending. Wall crawling foes will drop on you if they happen to see you below. Winged beasts will fly up and down in your general direction; shooting balls of plasma every chance they get, hoping to knock you off that platform you strove to reach only to fall in some acid (quite honestly, this is what upset me the most while playing – the knock back from damage did elicit several choice words throughout). Enemies will also flood the screen, and you’ll have to time your jumps and shoot with precision to avoid death. But don’t worry; there are plenty of save points around the map. And you can always farm health from enemies by leaving a room and coming back, or by using spawn areas for certain mobs. The game even has collectibles for you to find if you fancy yourself a completionist. Finding them all may or may not affect the endgame.
   
   This is very much the type of game that brought me into this field of entertainment. This is what a solid 90s game looks and feels like when made today. This is the type of the thing that WayForward is known for, and another reason you should care about what they develop and publish. The Mummy Demastered is the type of game you show someone that says they miss the “good ol’ days” of video games. If you dislike 2D shooters with upgrades, secrets, and bosses, stay away. For everyone else, welcome home.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful
2. skohl

   Mar 20, 2020

   7

   There are a lot of games that could be called 'love letters to Super Metroid', this is another one but is it good? Yes, but it's short. IThere are a lot of games that could be called 'love letters to Super Metroid', this is another one but is it good? Yes, but it's short. I blazed through it in 3.5 hours with 85% map completion. While everything about it is a metroidvania, the map/level design is like a linear piece of a full-length metroidvania. However it's otherwise an above-average one. The music and graphics are on point. The developers made the Shantae games and their experience and knowledge of the genre shows in the controls, and in the enemy design. While there aren't many bosses, there are a satisfying number of different guns for such a short game. In terms of difficulty, it's no problem for experienced players. There's a dark souls death mechanic where you have to retrieve your gear from an undead version of your previous avatar, but they don't put up much of a fight.
   So I'm not sure why this game exists, like why Universal Pictures went out of their way to get the creators of Shantae to make a licensed The Mummy game. It's cool though, and good quality, if you're in the mood for another metroidvania.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
4. ylnylmn

   Jul 23, 2021

   7

   The game is over in 5 hours. I collected 73% items. I've completed 96% maps. I died 25 times.
   The first half of the game was very difficult,The game is over in 5 hours. I collected 73% items. I've completed 96% maps. I died 25 times.
   The first half of the game was very difficult, it was like I was playing ghost and goblins. You only play with a machine gun and limited abilities. But after half the game it gets incredibly easy. Especially when you get the overpowered plasma gun. You get stronger with various abilities, etc.
   One of the bad game mechanics is the death mechanic. When you die, you have to be very careful and you have to constantly farm health.
   Platforming can be frustrating at times. (Turning wheels, broken platforms which are too many).
   Enemy spam is too much. Some enemies die hard.
   The story of the game is told simply, they didn't feel the need to tell anything.
   Bosses are well designed but take too long.
   The music is very nice.
   The graphics are very nice.
   Animations are nice.
   It could have been a better game, Short gameplay, some mechanics problems, difficulty balance is not good. For these reasons, the score of the game has dropped.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
5. Za_Uvek

   Feb 13, 2022

   6

   Ok, I get why a lot of people see this one as a hidden gem. Great retro 16 bit graphics, fantastic music, responsive game-play. It's a veryOk, I get why a lot of people see this one as a hidden gem. Great retro 16 bit graphics, fantastic music, responsive game-play. It's a very satisfying metroid-vania. But it really doesn't add anything to the genre. Run and shoot and backtrack and explore, it's everything we are already use too. I love that people say that this game is better than the movie, however, that alone shouldn't make it stand out.
   
   If you love love love metroid-vanias, it is worth a go. But if you are expecting something that rewrites the formula or improves on it, you're better off looking elsewhere as there are a lot better titles out there.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. Shake31

   Oct 27, 2017

   5

   Despite doing a great job in atmosphere, soundtrack and gameplay, the game mistake the difference between difficulty and annoyance in a wayDespite doing a great job in atmosphere, soundtrack and gameplay, the game mistake the difference between difficulty and annoyance in a way that makes the game playable only by truth masochists.
   
   To summarize, when you save the game your health is not replenished, enemies barely drop any health and they do a lot more damage than they will drop as health. To make it worst, whenever you die, your old self becomes a zombie that you must destroy to recover your gear. Which honestly sounds like a cool thing to do BUT, you lose all your weapons and health upgrades, meaning you have to go to the spot where you died, fight your overpowered self and when you do finally win, you'll pretty much have the same health you did before, meaning it will be easy to die again and repeat the whole process. Its extremely annoying.
   
   And its not a matter of difficulty, I love difficulty when its justified, when its just there to be annoying then its just bad design. There is no sense of victory after overcoming a challenge here, just
   pure frustration.
   
   Its always sad to see such minor things destroy something with so much potential.… Expand

   • 3 of 3 users found this helpful
7. kuehnau

   Feb 12, 2018

   5

   The Mummy Demastered is a retro styleized "Metroidvania" that takes the idea of the Mummy movies into an action adventure game.
   
   The gameThe Mummy Demastered is a retro styleized "Metroidvania" that takes the idea of the Mummy movies into an action adventure game.
   
   The game looks great, the music sounds great. Everything about this game would be great if the developer hadn't made so many stupid mistakes.
   
   1. Monster Spam - Way too many monsters. Every screen is just FULL of monsters, many of them re-spawn constantly and quickly so it's impossible to clear a room out. Trying to make a series of very complicated jumps? Well how about having 300 birds flying in your face when you are doing it? What makes this even worse is the monsters never seem to drop what you want or need at any given time.
   
   2. The Monsters themselves - All of them are bullet sponges, flying ones can go through almost all walls and lets not forget to let the monsters shoot through walls and platforms while you can't. Completely unfair.
   
   3. The game only has a very few ways to fill up on health. You either collect it when it drops or you pick up a health pack that increases your health and fills it up. Why don't save points restore your health? The ammo caches restore all your ammo.
   
   4. Forcing players to only carry a few weapons at a time. This is a video game, not real life. I don't want to have to run to a ammo cache every time I want to use a different gun. Terrible design.
   
   5. Player Death - This one just sucks, you die, you drop everything and you have to go find the corpse of the last "agent" and kill them to get all your gear back. What in the WORLD were they thinking? You can't pull this kind of crap in a Metroidvania game. All you have to do is search online to see that there's TONS of complaints about this.
   
   6. Bosses - Not only are the bosses super tough, most of the encounters won't give you the oppertunity to restock health, ammo or gernades during the fight. Many times I find myself running out of everything and being forced to use the crappy starter gun you begin with. If you somehow managed to defeat a boss, they never drop enough to fill everything up.
   
   Bad design after bad design took what should have been an amazing game and turned it into one giant dog turd.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
8. goodterling

   Apr 4, 2018

   0

   After 8 hours, my game is broken and I can't finish it. When you die, you turn into a zombie that your next life must kill to re-acquire allAfter 8 hours, my game is broken and I can't finish it. When you die, you turn into a zombie that your next life must kill to re-acquire all your power-ups and health. That sounds fine until you're deep into the game and your corpse is far away. I'm 80% through the game, and it's impossible for me to get back to the place where my power-ups are WITHOUT the use of those same power-ups. I have one-sixth of my health, minimal abilities, and a pea shooter against screens full of high-level, re-spawning monsters. The game was easy for me up to this point. This isn't a difficulty spike, so much as a difficulty black hole. Had I known I was destroying my game just by dying where I did, I would've copied my save file. I feel like I'm being punished for NOT DYING ENOUGH to learn this stupid mechanic they threw at me from nowhere. So let that be a lesson if you're going to play this. Copy your save on the title screen or risk bricking you game.… Expand

   • 1 of 1 users found this helpful

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