The creators of Metroid Prime and Mega Man have teamed up to make ReCore. Check out our thoughts on the new game at Kidzworld!
By: Max Cannon
ReCore is a fun game plagued by bugs, long loading screens, and some bad late game pacing. If you picked up the lead character - Joule - and dropped her and her moves into a better designed world you would have a fantastic game. ReCore isn't a bad game but it's far from the greatness that is expected from the masterful developers who built the game.
ReCore Video Review - Xbox One
The planet of Far Eden is a much less interesting location than it could have been, instead it just feels like Generic Game Location Number 26. You'll either be playing in the stereotypical video game desert or the overused mining levels. The story of ReCore isn't bad but it's not particularly that good, it's mostly inoffensive. Joule is stranded on a desert planet that was going to be terraformed into a habitable setting for humans - a plan that was setup by her dad. Partnering up with her assigned corebot, Mack, Joule sets off to reset the terraforming devices and get the planet back on track. As you explore Far Eden you'll come across other corebots to help you navigate new paths, Spider like robots to climb up mountains, and gorilla-esque machines to smash through walls.
Jumping and Shooting and Jumping and Shooting
Moving along the story in ReCore will require you to collect "Prismatic Cores." Certain doors require a set amount of these special cores to let you progress. Some of these cores are hidden throughout the game's overworld, others are hidden inside "dungeons" which are just short challenge rooms that are either focused on platforming or fighting through enemies. Making your way through each dungeon and checking off certain secondary objectives will net you more of these cores. Regular cores can be acquired by using Joules extractor to yank them right out of enemies in the middle of combat.
Each dungeon's objectives are the same regardless of if it's a platforming room or fighting room, finish in a certain time, shoot all the colored switches, grab the yellow key. It gets repetitive after a while but luckily the game's combat and platforming controls really well. Different enemies will have different colors attached to them and shooting them with the corresponding color of gun will do increased damage. Jumping around, switching guns on the fly, and then yanking out cores feels both chaotic and intense. The platforming feels just as good as the combat. You'll be dashing, double jumping, and gliding through some tight hallways and wide open world spaces. It feels responsive and somewhere between tight and floaty, it definitely allows for some precision.
Joule uses her extractor to open a door.Courtesy of VG 24/7
Stuttering With Bugs and Bad Pacing
My playthrough of ReCore would have probably been around the 6 or 7 hour mark if it hadn't been for the constant crashes and bugs. The game shut down completely around 3 or 4 times and I was totally unable to pass through certain challenge rooms, the ground also gave way a small handful of times as I fell through the world. ReCore's frame rate is also less than ideal on the Xbox One, word around town is that the PC version of ReCore runs much better and there are planned patches to improve Xbox's performance.
And while the opening of the game is well paced it abruptly slows down in the end. Each door you hit will require about 5 Prismatic Cores more than the one before it and at about 25 Prismatic Cores you will have explored every spot in the game, but ReCore is still far from over. You'll need to backtrack and acquire another 20 cores to finally wrap up the story, this backtracking really really slows the game down and stutters the excellent pacing of the intro.
Joule fights through Far Eden with her new corebot Seth.Courtesy of Dualshockers
Final Thoughts
ReCore is a solid foundation for a pretty broken game. If you picked up the lead character and dropped her into a totally different world the game would probably play brilliantly. However, the bugs and bad pacing in the late game really hold back ReCore from excellence.
Pros
- Great Controls
- Fun Combat
Cons
- Poor Pacing
- Bugs, Bugs, Bugs
ReCore Game Rating:
Available for Xbox One and PC
ReCore Cover ArtCourtesy of Xbox
Have Your Say!
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