While the Xbox One may not have had system-selling exclusive games on the same level as anything from Sony, the few it did have are really interesting. Sunset Overdrive was a huge surprise when it was announced to be exclusive to Xbox One and was being developed by Insomniac Games, who was widely known for developing PlayStation exclusives like Spyro, Ratchet & Clank, and the Resistance series. There was even Rare Replay, a compilation of classic games created by beloved developer Rare that included Banjo-Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Viva Pinata, and more.
Along came E3 2015 and with it, a gigantic slew Xbox One exclusives arriving in 2016 or later, like Crackdown 3, Scalebound (RIP, ugh I wish that wasn't cancelled), Quantum Break, and many more. One of the biggest announcements Xbox had loaded into their chamber was ReCore - a post-apocalyptic shooter/platformer that grabbed my attention as soon as the teaser was shown.
ReCore E3 Announcement Trailer
ReCore had everything going for it - both Armature Studio and Comcept were developing the game, with Microsoft providing the big bucks to publish it - and the reveal trailer was stunning. Showcasing the third-person shooter combat, unique core-snagging mechanic after defeating an enemy, the slick and snappy character moveset, and even the fun ways you’d interact with your robot companions. This looked liked it was going to be one of the biggest Xbox exclusives in 2016 and I couldn’t have been more excited for it.
Unfortunately the final product wasn't as great as I'd hoped. Before we get into the disappointing bits, let me tell you about the game and some of the cool ideas it had - because there are LOADS of unique and interesting things that this game tries and I think it deserves some credit for them.
What is ReCore?
Image Source: https://www.trueachievements.com/game/ReCore/screenshots
In a nutshell, ReCore is a third-person shooter Metroidvania with some very light RPG mechanics (more on that later). The main protagonist, Joule, is one of the first few humans sent to colonize a new planet by the name of Far Eden. Joule and a number of other humans are sent to colonize the new planet. Because of how far away Far Eden is, the colonists are put into cryosleep for their incredibly long voyage and corebots are sent there to terraform the planet while the colonists sleep.
After the 200 year long cryosleep, the colonists awaken to find that the corebots have been corrupted and are not following orders, and the planet is still a desert wasteland. It’s up to Joule and her corebot companions to figure out what’s going and get the planet ready for the rest of the colonists. The whole story feels like something straight out of an 80s sci-fi movie, and I love it.
Gameplay
ReCore is a 3D platformer fused with a third-person shooter that is then fused with a Metroidvania. The majority of the game has you playing as Joule, navigating the gigantic world of Far Eden to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and collect cores in order to progress. Joule has rocket boosters on her shoes and back, allowing her to double-jump and perform a small boost forward. She also has a grappling hook that you’ll use for traversing environments and snagging cores from enemies. You’ll be collecting those cores to unlock doors to dungeons, which will provide blueprints for new gun parts, new armor for her corebots, and more.
The final tool in Joule’s arsenal is her gun, which can be loaded with one of three different colors of ammo: red, blue, or yellow. Enemies will have cores of one of the three colors, and shooting that enemy with ammo of matching color will do extra damage, with repeated hits of that same color increasing your combo and damage multiplier, allowing for even more damage. After an enemy has taken enough damage, you can use your grappling hook to remove the enemy’s core after a very brief tug-of-war, destroying the enemy immediately after the core is removed.
Image source: https://thegamehoard.com/2019/05/14/recore-definitive-edition-xbox-one/
Earlier I mentioned the game being part Metroidvania, and that comes from the corebots. While they do assist you in combat, you’ll also need new bots in order to reach new areas and progress the game. There are 5 corebot companions in total:
K-9: It’s a dog bot that can sniff out buried treasure.
SP-DR: A spider bot that can attach to magnetic rails, with Joule riding along using her grappling hook.
AP-3: A big ol’ ape bot that can use its immense strength to smash breakable objects or terrain.
FL-1R: A hover bot that allows you to travel upward using steam vents or gusts of wind.
T8-NK: A tank that Joule can ride on, allowing her to traverse the world much faster.
Each bot can also be upgraded with different parts and cores, allowing you to fine-tune your playstyle. You’ll eventually come across enemies that have dual-color cores - purple, green, or orange - giving you the potential to do even more damage if you’ve built your team just right. Purple cores take more damage from red or blue, green takes more damage from blue or yellow, and orange takes more damage from either yellow or red. If you set your gun to one color and your corebot to another color, you can set yourself up for some easy combos and obliterate any enemies that you cross paths with.
So Why Did it Flop?
When ReCore was released, its review scores were very middle of the road, if not low. The biggest criticism I have with this game is ironic, considering it’s one of my favorite parts of the game: the world of Far Eden. First things first, there’s too much brown and sandy-yellow. I get that Far Eden has regressed into a desert planet due to the unsuccessful terraforming, but there are gigantic chunks of the world that are literally just sand and nothing else. There quite a few awesome set pieces, like rundown factories or abandoned buildings, but those are very, very few and far between. Not to mention the fact that Joule can only run so fast, so getting anywhere without fast travel can take a while. There is a fast travel in the game, but you have to have reached an area first in order to fast travel to it. And the combat, while I really enjoy it, can get pretty repetitive. Some enemies take quite a few shots to kill, and that can wear on you when you just want to platform to the top of an old oil rig to get a core without being interrupted.
Image Source: https://thepcgames.net/recore-definitive-edition-download/
Another big complaint I have about this game is the grind. Around the end point of the story, you’re required to have a certain amount of cores in order to enter the final dungeon and have your showdown with the final boss. Because of how unfinished and poorly designed the game felt at times, you’d ignore pretty much any core on the world map and head right to the dungeons to progress the story as soon as possible. The problem with that is that you will not get enough cores to enter the final dungeon if you do not explore, making the game feel wildly tedious. On top of that, some dungeons or areas have parts that require a certain corebot in order to proceed, and if you don’t have that corebot with you inside of the dungeon (because you can only have two corebots with you at a time) you would have to leave the dungeon and forgo any progress you’ve made up to that point, travel back to your hub, swap corebots, travel back to the dungeon and redo the whole thing, basically wasting your time.
Image Source: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/09/recore-a-laser-shooting-robot-dog-cant-save-this-half-baked-adventure/
My final complaint is that the game feels unfinished. Not just from a lack of polish that could’ve fixed a lot of the issues that I have with the game, but straight-up unfinished or like things were cut from the game at the last minute. There are lots of sections in the game that required a tank bot in order to proceed, but you’re unable to get the tank bot in the original release of the game. There was even an empty fifth slot in the corebot companions screen for that specific bot, as well as icons that would show up in the world, letting you know that you need that bot in order to go there or do this. On top of that, the load times could sometimes take up to 4 minutes and even just crash the game. To pile even more on top, the platforming sometimes did not work. You would either fall through platforms, not grab ledges, or you’d be completely unable to reach a certain area without breaking the game or pulling some shenanigans.
Overall
ReCore has so many awesome ideas and mechanics going for it that are all mired by the lack of polish, feeling like the thing was rushed out the door to meet deadlines. This game could’ve been something really great, possibly being one of the best games of that year, had it had just a little more time in the oven. It’s frustrating seeing all of these obvious flaws that the devs totally could’ve hammered out in a few months, especially considering the definitive edition launched nearly one year later and feels like what ReCore should’ve been.
That’s all for now. PEACE.
Chill VGM of the Day
