MediEvil review: Faithful remake of fan favourite

The original released before the turn of the millennium but now it’s been fully remade from the ground up for a modern experience.

For old school PlayStation gamers, 2019 has been a great year with remasters of classics Crash Team Racing and Resident Evil 2.

And now just in time for Halloween is another fan favourite, MediEvil.

After recent remakes of the Spyro and Crash Bandicoot trilogies, it feels right that MediEvil is the next PS1 classic to be brought back more than 21 years after its first release. (Sony, can the next one please, please, please be Crash Bash).

The game and its protagonist are both back from the dead.

In this 3D gothic action hack and slash, developed and published by Other Ocean and Sony, protagonist and faux hero of legend Sir Daniel Fortesque comes back from the dead after 100 years.

Evil sorcerer Zarok has raised an undead army to once again attempt to conquer the land of Gallowmere and while Sir Daniel went down in history as a hero after his death, he was actually the first casualty in the original battle against Zarok, so now he must defeat the sorcerer to become a true hero.

Fully remade from the ground up from the original 1998, MediEvil is extremely faithful to the original, while making some necessary changes to make it playable on modern consoles. Thankfully, most of the changes are cosmetic or technical, and core gameplay is more or less the same as the original game.

MediEvil retains the same core gameplay as the original.

Speaking of gameplay, MediEvil definitely does not hold back in its difficulty and can be quite punishing at times. There are no checkpoints in game and levels must be completed in one go, so if you die near the end of a mission you’ll have to go back to the beginning and try again, which is extremely frustrating.

Defeating more enemies in missions will unlock chalices that rewards players with new weapons and items, so you are encouraged to actually play the game properly to progress and make things easier.

There are more than 50 unique different enemies in the game with Sir Dan fighting zombies, scarecrows, evil pumpkins and even ants.

The biggest change is probably to the in-game camera, as the original was quite clunky and added to the difficulty, but hey it was 1998.

In my experience the updated camera mechanics still aren’t perfect, occasionally feeling out of position and actually making it harder for players.

The camera mechanics have been improved from the original but still present some problems.

Some of the detail of the game, clearly show that a lot of love has gone into the development, like bringing back the original composers and voice actors to re-record the original score and reprise their roles.

Compared to the 1998 release, the game is visually stunning, with a completely overhauled and vibrant colour scheme, replacing the somewhat bland palette of the original, while still keeping the comical style and Tim Burton-esque personality of the game.

VERDICT

MediEvil is an extremely faithful remake of the 1998 classic PlayStation title, and fans of the original will be glad that the core of the game has been left unchanged. Compared to the original, the graphics are astoundingly different, but not all changes are perfect, particularly the camera mechanics which can be a big drawback at times.

It’s clear that a lot of love has gone into this remake, and as a fan of the original it does induce a sense of nostalgia. MediEvil isn’t perfect, but it is still a lot of fun, especially for longtime fans of the series.

Score: 3.5/5

MediEvil on the PlayStation 4 is available in stores now with a regular retail price of just $39, which is an absolute bargain for this cult classic!

Wilson Smith is a games writer for News.com.au. Continue the conversation with him on Twitter at @wilson_smithdt

Originally published as MediEvil review: Faithful remake of fan favourite