The Thing: Remastered Steam Charts & Stats

75/100 "The Thing the Game" awnsers the age old question: "What if one of the best remakes of all time got a cheesy B-movie action sequel?" (wich is also canon according to Carpenter) Fun gameplay, interesting/ experimental mechanics and solid atmosphere makes this one of the better tie-in games of the early 2000s, wich I can especially recommend to fans of Carpenters classic. Overall another solid Nightdive remaster. Steamdeck Experience: Played through the entire game in 1080p with (99%) solid 60FPS on the highest settings.

Rating: 7/10 I stumbled across The Thing: Remastered thanks to Digital Foundry, and I’m glad I did. Going in without any nostalgia for the original, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I walked away pleasantly surprised. This remaster does a great job of modernizing the gameplay while keeping that old-school vibe intact. The mechanics are genuinely fun to mess around with. There’s a good amount of depth without feeling overwhelming, and it’s just satisfying to play. What I really appreciated was the pacing—The Thing knows exactly when to end. It never drags or pads out its runtime, which kept the experience feeling tight and focused. That said, I don’t think it’s worth the full price. It’s a good time, but it’s not breaking any new ground. It feels more like a well-executed nostalgia trip than a must-have modern classic. But if you catch it on sale, it’s a no-brainer for a weekend of fun. This was my first taste of Night Dive’s work, and now I’m genuinely curious to see more of what they’ve remastered. They clearly understand how to breathe new life into older games without losing what made them special in the first place. Overall, The Thing: Remastered is a solid, enjoyable experience that’s worth checking out—especially at a discount. It might not be revolutionary, but it’s a fun, satisfying ride that knows exactly what it wants to be.

I never played the original but love the move. The first half of the game captures it pretty well (for a 2002 game) , the second half, they took some creative liberties and it's definitely not as good for their creative choices. Regardless , it's a very well done remake.

Really enjoyed this. Well worth the asking price if you were ever interested in this or wanted to scratch that nostalgia itch. It's a really short game clocking in at around 5-6 hours play but there's no filler here. What you get is a story with a beginning, middle and an end while also tidying up the end of the movie(Which may officially be cannon?). The gameplay holds up surprisingly well at least to the point you would say it's a bit more than "tollerable" and certainly not annoying or clunky. The mouse and keyboard controls are fluid and there is zero input lag or mouse smoothing. Performance is great and I had zero crashes. The story is a bit detached from the movie but links into it a bit while also shedding light on what may have been happening during the events of the movie when this all unfolded. It's a fateful remaster that sticks true to it's original design with modern updates such as support for super ultra wide monitors and various different resolutions as well as pretty good updates to the textures, effects, shadows, lighting and graphics in general. It's not a complete overhaul of how it looked originally but enough to justify it being a remaster. It's probably 5-6 hours in gameplay max if you take your time, 100% it and backtrack a bit to explore the more open areas so if you wanted to play an oldie but don't want to spend dozens of hours in playing it this is perfect. Really enjoyed this and glad I got it. I don't think I ever beat it back when it was on PS2 but got quite far enough. Was nice to see it through finally and not have to wade through a lot of fluff as is the case with games being made these days.

Fantastic remaster of a cult classic! I'll admit I never played it through to completion back in the day, having only rented the game, but this time around, I made sure to enjoy every minute of it! Much better sequel to The Thing than that terrible remake!

Game feels good coming into the 21st century. (not literally). Outstanding remaster matched by the quirkiness of this being a ps2/OGxbox game. Honestly dont know how id go back to playing it on controller after this.

Really impressive work! They really put clear care into this. The game itself was flawed when it came out but it's still fun and has really interesting systems that just couldn't be realized.

The Thing: Remastered is basically a remastered version of the 2002 video game The Thing thanks to Nightdive Studios making it more relevant again. It acts like a faithful but somewhat dark comedic sequel to the 1982 film of the same name. It has the similar premise to Aliens in a way. You play as Blake, a soldier who is assigned to investigate the remains of Outpost 31 and rescue survivors in the science and military bases in Antarctica but on your way, it is revealed that your commanding officer is the mastermind of the insidious experiments with extracted parts of the shape-shifting organism. You need to rely on engineers, medics and soldiers to help you fix doors, heal you when you're injured or assist you in combat. The game is very straightforward, the graphics were nice, the weapons are incredibly reliable, the NPC's can at least help you if they trust you and lastly, the enemies are typical but easy to dispatch (e.g. the bosses). I understand that the game is far from perfect but it is still fun to play despite all of the nostalgia hype it gets. Overall Rating: 9/10

Pros: -Cool Squad management system. The game seems to boast that it is deeper than it is, but it can be fun to manage stress levels through inventory management and testing. -I think it's great that this game is a canon sequel to the film. Re-watching the movie after playing adds a whole new sinister layer to the film, and that's thanks to the surprisingly interesting story and plot you uncover. It was surprisingly intriguing for what was a throwaway movie tie-in upon its original release. -The gun-play is pretty good. There is an auto lock-on feature that makes shooting a little bit easier. The game claims that the first-person aim is more accurate, but since it locks you in place I seldom used this feature. Other than the small fodder enemies, larger enemies need to be killed with fire. It can be fun to shoot some rounds into them until they're vulnerable and then have a teammate finish them off with fire. -The levels can get pretty spooky. I found the first few especially eerie, but once you are well-armed and have a feel for the game the suspense wanes. -Although I do have a copy of The Thing for the PS2 I did not compare the original to the remake. I assume the gameplay doesn't vary much, and it was notable how well the controls held up. Cons: -There is ZERO incentive to play on higher difficulties. There are no unlocks or bonuses for completing the game on anything higher than easy. -I felt like I got lucky by finding a way to progress sometimes. I recall a few times where I had to backtrack through areas multiple times before I found what switch or door needed to be activated. This is especially frustrating on the early levels but oddly became less frequent as the game progressed. Conclusion: If it sounds like I'm reaching to find things wrong with this game it's because I am. For what it is, a survival horror shooter from 2003, this is a gem. The narrative and its pacing are pretty solid, the gameplay is basic but engaging, and the upgraded textures and models look more stylistic than they do dated. At the time of my review, I have about 7 hours played. That's the time it takes for my singular playthrough on easy, although you may not find yourself wandering aimlessly in search of how to progress as much as I did. That being said, the $30.00 price point is a bit high for a 7ish hour game with little to no replayability. If you're searching for an interactive horror experience inside "The Thing" universe, look no further. This is the only one so there's quite literally nothing else to look for beyond it. And for that, I give it a thumbs up.

Read the book, watched the prequels, and I played this back when I was 14 in 2003. This is a wonderful game, full of great gameplay & tension.