Why PowerSlave Exhumed is a Damn Near Perfect Remaster
(somber Egyptian themed orchestral music) As was foretold by the Book of the Dead, long long ago… Two mighty brothers once battled for control over the throne of Egypt. They were the gods Osiris and Set, and their legend created not only the religion and myths of ancient Egypt, but also gave rise to all three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The legend of Osiris and Set is a tale of friendship, love, betrayal, death, resurrection, and the promise of a better world to come. It’s a story that, if we squint just hard enough, can serve as a damn fine framing device for an essay on a classic video game.
And hey, what do you know: Turns out I’ve got just the thing for it. MAN, those ancient Egyptians really knew their stuff! Rrrrrright. Classic video games. We all know the legend: The year was 1993. In the months that followed id Software’s release of the original DOOM, dozens upon dozens of developers rushed to flood the market with, back then, so-called “DOOM clones” or “DOOM-likes.”
And alongside this explosion in popularity for the burgeoning action-shooter genre, this period saw the rise of many notable competitors to the DOOM or id-Tech Engine technology that powered id’s masterpiece. LucasArts’ JEDI Engine gave rise to the legendary Star Wars: Dark Forces, as well as the western shooter Outlaws. Both of these are brilliant games, in their own right, that are as good as anything from id’s back catalog.
The “first-person shooter” was uncharted territory at this point in gaming history– -thus, why so many devs cheerfully described their games as belonging to the ‘DOOM clone' genre. It’s also important to keep in mind just how new and groundbreaking these games were. Titles like Heretic, Hexen, System Shock, and Rise of the Triad were revolutionary for their time, and represented a quantum-leap forward in terms of design, technology, and above all sheer creativity. Though the DOOM Engine games became world-eating juggernauts during the 1990s, their reign was always a contested one. And their main rival for shooter dominance was none other than 3D Realms’ Build Engine, designed and developed by Ken Silverman, which powered some equally legendary titles like Blood and Duke Nukem 3D. (gunfire, scream) Of course, the DOOM/Build rivalry wasn’t just down to colorful protagonists and goofy catchphrases.
The Build Engine was also a powerhouse that had several key advantages over DOOM’s tech: - Build had massively expanded capabilities for managing PC memory compared to id-Tech– -thus, why Build game levels are packed with so much interactivity, even if some of it IS a little pointless, granted. - You wanna daaance? - Build’s scripting features were also quite a bit more robust, which allowed for all kinds of excellent set-pieces and environmental destruction. - And probably most famously, Build’s superior tech allowed it to conjure up some very cool smoke- and-mirror tricks with level design, like creating the illusion of having two rooms stacked on top of each other– -something the DOOM Engine just couldn’t handle, at least not back in the mid-90s Now, I’ve covered a legendary Build shooter on my channel before, with Blood. But there are plenty of other titles powered by this engine that are not only extremely important to the history of first-person shooters, they’re also just DAMN great games that are still a ton of fun to play today. - One shithead at a time! - Which makes it even more of a shame that so many of these Build games are just… Which makes it even more of a shame that so many of these Build games are just… BRUTALLY under-appreciated for their contributions to the FPS genre.
One such game that is long overdue for a deep dive is the excellent and hugely under-rated PowerSlave. Or, Exhumed as it was known in Europe. For some reason. (Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills) Oh yeah, we’ll get to Lady Iron and Her Bruce Juice in just a minute. Now, PowerSlave: For a long time, this magnificent classic shooter was only available to play via a source port or emulation.
But just this month, in February of 2022, the irrepressible retro-mongers at Nightdive Studios have put out an enhanced and spiffed-up remaster, PowerSlave Exhumed. So when Nightdive approached me and asked if I was interested in partnering with them to create a video celebrating this game’s legacy and their new release… Well, what could I say except: ♫ ... I had to be a PowerSlave! ♫ And make no mistake: this new version of PowerSlave from Nightdive is quite special indeed. It’s an enhanced remastering of not the PC MS-DOS version, but rather the far superior home console releases that graced the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation in 1996 and '97, respectively.
But WHY were the console versions so superior, not to mention ground-breakingly influential, you might ask? Well, kick back, relax, crack open some embalming fluid, and put on your coziest mummy-wrap, because that’s what this video is all about! Finally, for the first time in more than a quarter-century… This legendary retro-shooter is about to rise from its license grave. - I liiive... again! (Monsters of the Week theme music playing) (Iron Maiden - PowerSlave playing) First things first. Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Yes, the name ‘PowerSlave’ is absolutely a reference to the Iron Maiden album with the same title. Which–hey, just be careful Nightdive! Those grasping boomer-rockers could turn their sights on YOU next and try to sue you into oblivion!! I kid, I kid.
After all, it’s not like Iron Maiden has ever reproduced a trademark without the rights-holder’s permission. Anyways, PowerSlave was developed by Lobotomy Software, and first released on the Sega Saturn on HALLOWEEN of 1996. Our story begins with the legendary movie-trailer-man Don LaFontaine narrating about some dark deeds that are going down in the ancient Egyptian city of Karnak, better known in the modern era as Luxor. Egypt has been invaded by a conquering demon-king... Known only as DIO BRANDO.
Shit, wait- sorry, wrong timeline... Known only as THE KILMAATIKHAN. (Terminator-ripoff percussions) - [Don Lafontaine] In his final moments among the living the villager told horrifying stories of fierce alien creatures that invaded the city, devoured the women and children and made slaves of the men. - [Ragnar] The insectoid army of the Kilmaat are usurping the mystical power of the mummified King Ramses, which will guarantee their dominion over planet Earth.
Only you, a battle-hardened spec-ops warrior sent in by a coalition of allied nations, can hope to recover Ramses’ mummy and stem the tide of destruction. This opener sets the tone for the entire experience: A breezy action-adventure jaunt, that’s something of a cross between Indiana Jones, Stargate, the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies, and one of those Jesse Ventura-hosted documentaries about the Navy SEALs. - PAYBACK TIME! - PowerSlave is also a sterling example of those viscerally crunchy enemy models that are a hallmark of early shooter design. Many of the weapon and enemy models in the game were created painstakingly by hand from clay, and then digitized for use in the game, just like in DOOM.
This game has a gloriously pulpy premise that doesn’t ever get too self-serious, while also allowing for just enough grit and realism that it never veers into the outright camp of other Build games like Duke Nukem or Blood. And again, it’s important to remember that this was all absolutely cutting-edge cinematic presentation for videogames in the mid-90s. This is why Lobotomy hired Mr. LaFontaine to lend his golden pipes
to not just the narrator, but also King Ramses, the man in gauze himself! - [Ramses] Welcome, mortal! I am King Ramses. - But Don’s voiceover work is one of the ONLY things that links the PC and the home console versions of PowerSlave. Actually, if we wanna get super-technical about it, there were THREE separate releases: *First, the Sega Saturn version, released on Halloween of 1996 *Then, the MS DOS version came out in December 1996 *And finally, a Playstation port of the Saturn version emerged from its crypt in March 1997 This means there were effectively two distinct versions of the game developed in tandem: One using the Build Engine for the PC crowd, and another for home consoles that used the devs’ in-house engine, colorfully dubbed the SLAVEDRIVER engine. (quiet chuckle) Lobotomy Software’s initial attempts at getting the Build engine running properly on the Playstation and Saturn hit a brick wall early in development. It was too unstable, and would take far too many work-hours to be feasible. And so, they developed their bespoke and appropriately named SLAVEDRIVER engine entirely from scratch, making use only of the Build Engine version’s art assets and none of its underlying code.
No doubt, this two-pronged approach can be chalked up to the pedigree of Lobotomy Software, which was staffed by ex-Nintendo developers, who struck out on their own as an indie studio. So, it’s no surprise at all that the console release was just as big a priority as PC for Lobotomy. If anything, it may have been MORE of a priority: The SLAVEDRIVER engine is a technical marvel, and represented the absolute bleeding edge of console gaming tech back in 1996. Just like Quake, which beat PowerSlave to shelves by merely a few months, this game features fully polygonal 3D levels and environmental models, as opposed to the Build-engine’s fake 2.5D architecture,
which allowed for some incredibly complex and creative level designs. And the Playstation port is different still from the Saturn version, featuring some drastically altered environments and some completely new levels in parts. That’s down to how PowerSlave was designed for the Saturn first and foremost, in order to be one of the first shooters to market for the console. So, the game was developed around the Saturn’s somewhat-shonky dual-CPU architecture- –one CPU handled the environment, and the other handled everything else.
To get a bit more insight into the console versions, I got in touch with Samuel “Kaiser” Villareal, developer at Nightdive and the programming lead for their PowerSlave: Exhumed remaster. Sam first made a name for himself with some excellent and independently-developed source ports of games like Turok, Doom 64, and yes, PowerSlave. As he explained to me in an email, “Despite the PSX version of Powerslave being a port of the Saturn version, it was a completely different experience. Instead of red spiders, you had blue scorpions, hawk enemies had a different death logic (like feathers floating down slowly after being shot), some levels completely reworked from scratch, some areas redesigned, etc. Additionally, Lobotomy stated in an interview that they also used the PSX version as an opportunity to refine and rebalance the gameplay and polish up some levels. This resulted in the PSX version being a completely different ballpark than the Saturn version.”
By comparison, the MS DOS Build Engine version is just…a lot less impressive. Sorry, PC Master Race; you lost this round. The PC edition plays much more like a classic mid-90s shooter, where you move from linear level to linear level, shooting hordes upon hordes of enemies, scrounging up health chalices, ammunition, the occasional door key, and generally moving from point A to B with few distractions. It’s also got a heaping helping of that classic Build Engine vertical auto-aim, so you only have to line up your shots along the horizontal axis. This was definitely an accommodation to all the Keyboard Warriors who were going mouseless during this period of early PC gaming, which was more common than you might think these days! Both the console and PC versions of PowerSlave are strong examples of the classic “Find the Key” type of early shooter gameplay. It’s the same magic formula pioneered by DOOM, Duke, and all the rest: You’re in a maze, and a switch or locked door blocks your path until you find the key, then insert it, go through, carry on, rinse and repeat.
But beyond this and the shared art assets, that’s where the similarities end between the PC and console releases of PowerSlave. The Saturn and Playstation versions of PowerSlave, which are the basis of the Nightdive remaster, are vastly different beasts in terms of their moment-to-moment gameplay, their mechanics, and, first and foremost, their overall design philosophy. Indeed, this version of PowerSlave was– -and I’m adamant about this point– -a totally ahead-of-its-time and damn near revolutionary game in so many ways, even if it never got quite the attention other beloved boome– ...er-uh... classic shooters got. But to explain exactly why the console version of PowerSlave is so damn special– -well, that’s going to require an appropriately dramatic tableau for the occasion. A reverie in the ice-blue moonlight of an Egyptian evening. You might call it a...
Symphony of the Night. (Wood Carve Partita playing) So, for simplicity’s sake, from this point forward, we’re gonna be talking exclusively about the console versions of PowerSlave, i.e. the basis of the Nightdive remaster PowerSlave Exhumed and, respectively, the remaster itself. So, here's how it flows: After an emergency parachute landing in Karnak, you make your way to the Tomb of Ramses, where you’ll quickly become acquainted with your standard weapons: A machete, a revolver, and a Light Machine Gun. There are no medkits or ammo packs to be found here, just color-coded orbs that refill your health (the red orbs) or your equipped weapon (the blue orbs).
And as you progress through the game, you’ll amass an arsenal of very creative and often Ancient Egypt-themed implements of destruction: There is a flamethrower, the Amon Bombs (which are grenades, basically), The Cobra Staff (which shoots homing explosives), And the wrath of the gods themselves, called down via the mighty Ring of Ra and the Manacle of Power. There’s also a whole host of equipment items that give you a permanent boost to your traversal and exploration abilities. They’ve all got a classic RPG- adventure kind of flavor to them: Sandals that increase your jump height, a mask for underwater breathing, and so on and so on. But there’s a huge twist to all of this: None of these tantalizing tools are obtained in a straightforward, linear fashion. In order to uncover PowerSlave’s secrets and expand your arsenal to the fullest, and first and foremost progress in the game, you’ll need to visit and revisit levels several different times.
And to do that, you’ll traverse across a beautifully illustrated map that feels like an Egyptian-themed spin on the overworlds of Mario 3 and Super Mario World. During your first time through most of these levels, you’ll notice that you’re unable to access certain sections. They’re too high for you to jump and reach for, or you’re blocked by an impassable swim through deep water, or you lack the proper firepower to blow away those suspiciously crumbly-looking walls blocking your path.
So, in order to proceed, you’ll have to saddle up on your trusty bactrian and make your way to other stages. Where, you’ll find weapons or equipment that grant you new abilities, Where, you’ll find weapons or equipment that grant you new abilities, allowing you to progress through areas that were previously closed off to you. It is true, your eyes and ears are not deceiving you: Before Symphony of the Night was even released, and while Super Metroid was barely two years old, PowerSlave was already pioneering many of the action-adventure mechanics that we love and cherish today as the pillars of the Metroidvania genre. Let’s look at a test case of this premise in action. One of Metroid’s most genius and enduring design choices is to in some way require the player to demonstrate proficiency in a new ability or powerup not long after they acquire it.
This is one of the bedrock standards of the Metroidvania genre, which today is universally considered Good Game Design™. Probably the most platonic example of this principle is the Morph Ball from both Metroid and Super, which allows Samus to fold up into a ball and roll around, making her a little bit smaller. Samus collects the Morph Ball orb, and in order to exit the room where the powerup is located, she must then USE this new ability.
The game teaches you how to play the game WHILE PLAYING IT. What a genius and totally original observation! I’m surely the first person on YouTube who’s ever come up with this notion. RIGHT EVERYONE?!? ANYONE? anyone? - Bueller? - Bueller? So in PowerSlave, we can see the same principle early on in the first levels. There’s a few places in Karnak that you can’t quite jump high enough to reach. So, you camel-caravan to the next level, the Karnak Sanctuary, where you acquire the Sandals of Ikumptet.
And just like in Metroid, in order to exit this room, you’ve gotta first pick up the Sandals to boost your jump height, otherwise, the ledge containing the exit portal is inaccessible. Now you’re jumping twice as high, and a whole bunch of places in the previous level that you couldn’t reach are open for exploration and exploitation. It is the Metroidvania principle in action baby, badda-bing badda-boom gabagool. This test case is also a perfect vertical slice of the entire rest of the game. That is to say, PowerSlave puts heavy emphasis on its puzzles, platforming, and exploration, just as much as it does on straightforward shooting.
For the time, this was a highly unique and compelling twist on the shooter formula. There simply wasn’t anything else like PowerSlave when it first came out, my word in Amun-Ra’s ear. The Nintendo pedigree really shines through in PowerSlave as well, demonstrating quite a bit of savvy on the part of Lobotomy Software.
The more adventure-RPG elements feel perfectly suited to the home console audience, which was ravenous for titles like Super Metroid and Link to the Past. I also want to point out that it's a damn CHALLENGING game at times. Some sections feature absolutely brutal combat encounters and nail-biting platforming challenges, which may take you quite a few attempts. There’s also no quicksaving in either the original or the Nightdive remaster.
If you die, you’re either sent back to the beginning of the level, or the most recent scarab-beetle checkpoint you’ve discovered. And like the Build Engine iteration, the original console version of PowerSlave just absolutely slathers itself with that sweet, sweet vertical auto-aim. Clearly, this was a game designed to be played with a controller.
Which, bringing things full- circle to Nightdive’s remaster, is part of what makes PowerSlave Exhumed such an interesting beast. In the remaster, auto-aim is disabled with the exception of a very small area directly around the player’s crosshair. So, there is no more vertical auto-aim here, no matter whether you’re playing with a controller or mouse & keyboard. You actually have to aim fairly accurately to hit your enemies now. And even with the precision of mouse aiming, you still have to play tactically in order to compensate for the strengths and weaknesses of your arsenal.
Simple early example is, you can easily pick off spiders and scorpions with a few well-placed revolver shots. But the delay between shots means you can’t afford to miss; their constant hopping means you gotta be precise and rhythmical even, or these hoppy little bastards are gonna get RIGHT up on you! By limiting the auto-aim and putting slightly more emphasis on the gunplay, PowerSlave: Exhumed strikes a damn fine balance between its adventure-RPG roots and the more straightforward boommr- I-I mean retro-shooter sensibilities we see in other Nightdive releases. I’ve also talked with Nighdive CEO Stephen Kick for this video, and according to him, PowerSlave is, “One of the only games to be released across multiple platforms that bear no resemblance to one another. On top of that, PowerSlave is an incredibly rare game and getting to experience any of its incarnations is a challenge that we aimed to remedy [with this remaster]." And as a “best of both worlds” remaster of the Saturn and Playstation versions, Nightdive was uniquely positioned to pick- and-choose the best elements of both. What results is a game that is derived from a classic shooter, yet still feels incredibly fresh and polished even when compared against the game-design standards of The Year of the Lord 2022.
As Sam Villareal told me, “I ended up taking the best parts of both versions that benefited the most and made the best sense. For example, areas from the Saturn version that were cut on the PSX for performance reasons were retained, and new areas added for gameplay or rebalancing [on PSX] were brought over. Levels that were completely redesigned on the PSX are now an entirely separate level, in addition to the original Saturn counterparts.”
Which is exactly why this remaster is such important and NECESSARY work when it comes to the preservation of retro games. PowerSlave wasn’t just a totally original retro shooter that attempted to push the FPS genre in a bold new direction- -it also served as a warm-up act for absolutely groundbreaking titles like Metroid Prime that would arrive in the years to come. I mean honestly, let’s stop tip-toeing around and just come out and say it: PowerSlave WAS Metroid Prime before “Metroid Prime” existed! And it accomplished all this in late 1996, while Half-Life was still just a glimmer in Gabe Newell’s eye. Underneath this merging of shooter mechanics with RPG-adventure-style progression systems was an absolute technical powerhouse of an engine, one that pushed the Saturn and Playstation beyond the limits of what people thought the hardware was capable of at the time. PowerSlave is, no hype or exaggeration, simply one of the most avant-garde and criminally overlooked retro shooters ever made. PowerSlave: Exhumed is overall an incredibly solid release from Nightdive, which may not surprise anyone who has played their games before.
And hey, if you’re interested, I’ve got some video essays on this very topic that will make for some excellent viewing after you’re finished with this one! Also I want to mention, for anyone who’s thinking of picking the game up after this video, I’ve talked with GOG and arranged for anyone interested to get the game within the first 10 days of the launch of this video, for 10% off, over on GOG.com, if you use the hilariously worded Promo-Code “RagnarExhumed.” Or just follow the link I’ve put in the description of this video. But back to PowerSlave: Exhumed: The shooting is satisfyingly impactful and crunchy, bolstered by rock-solid music and sound design, as well as some spiffed-up special effects, modern shaders and lighting. And the game’s progression systems are compulsive in the best possible way, making it an absolute joy to experience, even 25 years later. Nightdive has managed to preserve the core essence of PowerSlave without in any way having to pasteurize, homogenize, or otherwise “streamline” the experience to bring it in line with “modern best practices.”
Yeah, I’m looking at YOU, checkpoint system. You’re a GOD-damn pain in the ass, but the struggle only makes the victory that much sweeter! (bling!) For this re-release, Nightdive has remastered PowerSlave: Exhumed via their in-house KEX Engine, which has been used as the raw material for many a retro-remaster already. Thanks to KEX, we can enjoy resurrections of Turok 1 and 2, Blood, DOOM 64, the first System Shock, Shadow Man, even Quake and a good deal more.
And now PowerSlave will be joining the roster. It’s also highly appropriate that PowerSlave is finally getting the remaster treatment. And that’s because it was in fact Sam Villareal’s work on creating source ports for Turok, DOOM 64, and PowerSlave that led to him eventually joining Team Nightdive and creating the KEX Engine. As he, himself, explained it to me: “[Nightdive’s remastering work] was really up my alley, as I preferred older games.
And being able to reverse engineer and restore these games on newer platforms was something that I had a huge passion for. Being able to work on the same games that inspired my love for level design was something I always wanted to do, so I joined without hesitation.” It’s a very exciting time to be a fan of these retro-revivals, and it’s hard not to get your imagination racing when you think of all the amazing classic games that could benefit from the KEX Engine treatment. Like, sayyy… No One Lives Forever? (Pretty please?) And oh yeah, Ultima Underworld! (Please, PLEASE!) How about Strife, maybe? (No, wait, they already did that one.)
Oooh ooh, how about the Marathon Trilogy?! (Hmmm, someone better do a wellness check on Bungie though; I hear Sony is really cracking the whip in the Destiny mines). What about the undisputed king of all the Build shooters: William Shatner's TekWar! [William Shatner in William Shatner's Tek-War] Tek-Chip! Tek-Headset! Death! Simple enough!? When I was around 14-15 years old, I started a little, uh... business venture, you could say.
First, I worked my ass off after school, with like lawn mowing, car washing, delivering newspapers, that kind of stuff, and saved up for months to purchase one of the very first Single Speed CD-Burners in my small town. This gadget quickly became the crown jewel of my enterprise. I'd rent new PC releases as well as PlayStation and Saturn games from the video rental store as they came in, and make archival copies of them. And then, I’d serve these copies up as part of an ever expanding menu of choices to my schoolmates, all available for a very reasonable fee, I assure you. People would come in droves to get games from me. It went so well that I eventually motored around town, delivering games on my little 25cc moped after school in order to earn some extra milk-money.
And even though I didn't care for making any profit, it was a well-oiled machinery and my moped was my Queen Anne’s Revenge. See, back in those days, this quote-unquote “bootlegging” was still very much a peccadillo, a trivial offense nobody actually considered to be illegal. Like, two employees from the same video rental I sourced my games from, and even a god damn police officer, became regulars over time. I'm not kidding! Anyway, I'm digressing, in those days, games like Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior were all-the-rage, and people were generally ravenous for shooter games. Long story short, this is how I discovered Exhumed, as it was called in my longitudes.
I stumbled upon the PC version first, and then later I discovered how drastically different and better the console versions were. And so, in short order I became absolutely obsessed with how incredibly forward thinking this game was, to the point where I tried to convince every one of my buyers, who showed the slightest interest in first person shooters, to play this fucking game. I even gave them out for free because I so badly wanted people to experience it. And I don't know what it was– -maybe my ever-excited ADD gushing was off-putting or something, but it was rather hard to actually get people to show true interest. "Nah, just Shadow Warrior, I'm fine." Philistines, all of them, I say! And may Anubis have mercy on their souls! So, in a way, making this video feels a bit like my redemption arc- -quarter of a century later, now with an audience that puts a modicum of trust in my overexcited video game ramblings- -to finally Make. People. Play. PowerSlave!
Usually, this ending part of my video-essays is where we read the riot act to various publishers and megacorps for doing such a piss-poor job of preserving gaming history. But today, I’m happy to report that this was the furthest thing from the case where PowerSlave is concerned. And so, dear viewers, I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to join me in a moment of prayer.
(organnnnn) The reports of PowerSlave’s demise may have been greatly exaggerated, but it’s time to lay a different soul to rest. (Requiem Intensifies) Let us bid a not-so-fond farewell to the term and meme of the “boomer shooter,” long may it Rest In Pieces. (explosions and screams) You were always a dumb, dodo-brained turn of the phrase, and your legacy as a brain- worm has only made it that much harder to talk about the merits of retro shooters.
(Requiem and very loud gunshots) So it’s fittingly ironic that you were done in by one of your own: PowerSlave, the boomer shooter that plays nothing like a “boomer shooter.” Goodnight, sweet prince. You will not be missed. [whispers] PLAY POWERSLAVE! Hey everyone, thank you so much for watching! For those who discovered me with this video, hey, I'm Ragnar and on this channel I cover old games, indie games, horror games and...
combinations thereof and try bringing attention to titles that I strongly feel shouldn't become forgotten and obscured! Which, hey, I've got some exciting news for long- time followers and hopefully also for new viewers: over the next couple of months, I'm going to bring back both the Games from Underground series, which has a heavy focus on games by smaller/ indie creators, whatever that really means, and the Forgotten Gems series, which is exclusively about older games whose memories I want to try to uphold. I've put both series on hiatus well over a year ago, since they had been performing somewhat erratically and I needed some time to figure out how to bring them back in style and make them work with the rest of the channel. I tried to keep the soul of these series alive in my regular "Monsters of the Week" titled, generally more horror-themed videos, but with the resurgence of these two series, I want to give a stronger focus on non-horror/macabre focused titles and dig harder into small productions by tiny developer teams and give them what little spotlight I can offer, through my channel. Ironically, I had PowerSlave, long before this remaster came out, on my list of games to cover in Forgotten Gems for a long time, and had even started writing a script roughly at the time I decided to put the series on ice.
Which made Nightdive reaching out, recently, and saying "Hey, by the way, we're releasing PowerSlave Exhumed very soon" and giving me early access to the game a perfect fit. Now full disclosure: Nightdive also offered to sponsor my production of this video, which is great for me because I don't need to rely on non-gaming brands to cover the production costs. I genuinely value the trust I’ve earned from my audience when it comes to my opinions and criticism, which is why Nightdive’s been the first and only game dev sponsor I’ve ever agreed to for a video on my channel, so far. And I was excited to partner with them for two reasons: #1: PowerSlave was a game I had already planned to cover on my channel at some point, regardless of this sponsorship and #2: Nightdive wholeheartedly agreed that this video would be 100% editorially independent- –no mandatory talking points, watered-down criticisms, or anything else of the sort. And hey, considering that I’ve been a fan of their work for many years already, and I’ve already covered multiple of their releases on this channel before, this was a VERY easy decision to make! What I care most about with my work on this channel is preserving the memory of great games, and working together with Nightdive is more than a perfect fit for this, since they've been doing the lord's work when it comes to video game preservation, for a long time now.
- I think this is the beginning of a beautiful cheese pizza, just for me! (music swelling up) Aside from that, this channel would not be where it is today without the support of my Patrons. Crowdfunding is what kept the lights on for, wow, over seven years now, and I'm eternally grateful for every contribution by you guys. If you'd like to help us out- -that is, me and everyone who partakes in making these videos- -then I highly appreciate your consideration to donate a monthly pledge, within your comfort levels, over on Patreon! It makes a tremendous difference. So, as always, a big thank you to all my Patrons who already support me and a special shout-out to these top-tier supporters: patreon.com/RagnarRoxShow Until next time... ta ta!
2022-02-28 03:31
