Enclave HD Review

The fad for remastering old games and shovelling them out of the door shows no sign of slowing down. You’ll either be pleased or distressed to hear that, and please feel free to delete as appropriate depending on your outlook. 

Coming from developers Sickhead Games / Starbreeze Studios and publishers Topware Interactive / Ziggurat Interactive is another; a remake of a game that released on the original Xbox way back in 2002. The game in question was Enclave, now known by the much snappier title of Enclave HD.

Let’s have a peep at what has been done to drag it kicking and screaming up to date, shall we?

Well, it isn’t the graphics, that is for sure. Although everything has been given a smack with the shiny HD stick in Enclave HD, the actual graphics for the characters we play as, the enemies we fight and the backdrops to the levels are all very early 2000’s. Enemies are blocky, the backdrops are dark and hard to navigate, and all in all, this is a properly retro experience. Remember when Tomb Raider was the pinnacle of gaming? Well, this is pretty much the same style and standard of presentation. The controls are also seemingly stuck in a time loop, but I’ll talk about those later. 

Sound is pretty good, to be honest, and the voiced characters are all understandable at least. The pounding of war and combat, of monsters roaring and dying, are all very nice and work well. All in all, this looks and sounds like a game from 2002, just shinier. 

What about a story then, why are we doing all this running about and fighting? Well, it turns out that a long time ago the world was at peace. Until that is a demon called Vatar arose and decided that he’d quite like to rule the world. Of course, not everyone thought this was a good idea, and so a war was joined. Eventually, after much fighting, Vatar was about to seize the Enclave, the last bastion of the light, when the wizard Zale sacrificed himself to open vast chasms between the Enclave and the rest of the world, keeping it safe from Vatar. 

Now centuries have passed and the land is beginning to knit itself back together. That means the Enclave is under threat once again. We play as a fighter who starts in jail at the beginning of the tale, and as we break out and escape, we are pressed into service for the Light to save the world. However, the story here is double-sided – we can play as a soldier of the Light, or we can choose to play as a soldier of the Dark, so there is a good amount of replayability built into the  game. 

So, with the way the game looks (old) and the story (not bad) examined, I guess the time has come to have a look at the actual gameplay. First off and the story is split into discrete chapters, each of which take place in entirely separate areas. Each mission has a series of tasks to complete, and the way that this is explained is via a text screen at the start of the mission. Once in the mission, don’t expect any creature comforts like a mini map or indications of where the enemies are – Enclave HD is proper old school adventuring, and dying is all part of the learning curve. 

Starting each level, we have to choose which class we want to be first of all. Different classes are awarded after certain missions, and while I have stayed true to the Knight, the starting class, others such as Halfling and Engineer have their own charms. Once decided, you then have to pick a loadout, with more powerful weapons and armour costing gold, which is picked up in the missions. You can also have a secondary weapon and some health potions if you are feeling flush enough! Suitably tooled up, it is time to get cracking. 

We generally start at one side of an area, have to explore the place, find or kill some things, then either reach the other side, or, every now and then, make our way back to the start. Which is fun when the levels all appear to have been modelled on a hedge maze designed by Satan himself! There are checkpoints to find as you explore, and you will want to make sure to activate these, as there is no respawning. If you haven’t found one, it will see you going all the way back to the start of the level. Difficulty is certainly right on the nose for sure. 

What is a big let down though comes in the controls, sadly, and the combat in general. Never has there been a game where a simple lock-on function would have made such a huge difference to the overall gameplay as Enclave HD. The enemies run around wildly, the camera lurches about as you try to keep them in front of you, and the delay between pressing the attack button and it actually happening, is a fraction too long. Every fight I have taken in, whether it be a tiny Goblin archer or a big boss, devolves into a button mashing contest, with the winner being the one who stays upright longest. There is no feel to the attacks, no heft, and likewise no feel to you receiving damage. If you aren’t watching your health bar like a hawk, you will pop your clogs before you know it. 

In certain missions the respawn point is right where the boss is too, so it is entertaining to spawn in to a big enemy hitting you. Many naughty words were uttered before I learned to run away after spawning, if only to give myself a chance. The combat really is poor, there is no other word for it. 

It means that Enclave HD is a hard one to score. Objectively it isn’t great, but there is a certain charm about it; a charm that will keep you playing, despite the issues. The combat is rubbish, the game looks dated and plays poorly, but that X factor keeps you trying. 

Enclave HD is by no means an essential purchase, but temper your expectations and you may still have fun.