ReCore - Release Day Reviews

As I said, the most disappointing part of ReCore is that it starts so strong. I haven’t spent nearly enough time on what ReCore gets right, so numerous and egregious are its failings. But your robot companions? Adorable. The platforming? Extremely responsive, and as entertaining as anything in Tomb Raider or Uncharted.

But ReCore is a chore. A needless chore, with gates so artificial it ruins what’s otherwise a lovingly crafted universe. Go here, fetch a random collectible—that’s not enough nowadays, and especially not when the game doesn’t even bother to dress it up with a hint of motive. Couple that with the lengthy load times and the overall lack of polish, and I’m going to have to recommend avoiding this one.

Score: 2.5/5

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I didn’t expect ReCore to be quite as big as it is, and from the looks of things, it’s possible its developers didn’t either. Its world, while interesting to explore for a good while, is ultimately too big with too little happening in it to be a totally serviceable housing for the strong combat and platforming gameplay within. It feels like a great, arcadey action platformer spread across too big a canvas, and it asks you to draw back over the same lines a few too many times.

Score: 7.3/10

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ReCore's missteps are a real shame, because it can be quite charming otherwise. It has the heart of a PS2 or Gamecube-era platformer, with its floating lifebars, bright laser beams that fill the screen like a Dreamcast shoot-'em-up, and glowing gems that bounce around. Amongst all the slick, modern day video game productions, it stands out as an endearing throwback.

I wanted to like it more, and had it not overstayed its welcome, I would have. But in the end, like its robots, ReCore is a game with a bright soul encased in parts that are used well past their prime.

Score: 6/10

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What this amounts to is a fundamental misunderstanding of what an open-world game should be. Giving the player the option to scour every nook and cranny for collectibles is a viable method of unstructured game design. But, requiring them to do this to finish the game (with a near-worthless map, to boot) is unforgivable. If you still had good will stored up for ReCore, it will most likely be gone when you get here.

It's all a shame because ReCore shows so much promise in its opening hours. It's easy to envision a way in which all those ideas could manifest into something great. They don't, though. Instead, it's just a jumble of mechanics that never jell, gameplay that grows stale far too quick, and insulting design. System failure.

Score: 4/10

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