The Mummy Demastered Review: Walk Like An Egyptian

Everyone has a genre that is a sort of comfort food. Something that you can jump into no matter how bad or campy it may be – mine is JRPGs. Whether it’s a AAA title, or an indie game emulating what worked well in the 90s, I can always appreciate a JRPG to some extent. But there’s a “genre” that is defined by two series that I may love as much, if not more: metroidvanias.

WayForward started making games back in the 90s, and before they had a chance to release their big IP Shantae, they would create licensed games. When you think of games based off of movies or television shows, your feelings are probably mediocre at best. And to be honest, those feelings would be valid for most games that were released. The difference is, WayForward puts their all into everything they create. I’m not say Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses was the best game of 2006, but it is likely the best Barbie game you can play. When I heard that the most recent Mummy movie was getting a game, I was cautiously optimistic based on the initial screens I saw. After I heard who was developing it, I knew there was no reason to fear.

The Mummy Demastered is a classic metroidvania title in the style of WayForward. You have a map with waypoints of where to go, different colored rooms based on what they contain, and secrets galore, often hiding upgrades to health or weaponry. You’ll also gain new abilities as you progress, allowing you access to previously unreachable areas. The first is given very early on in the form of a grenade, which opens up boarded off rooms. After the first boss, you’re given the ability to climb along ceilings, stopping to shoot if need be. For each ability you gain, a new obstacle will keep you from progressing, meaning you’ll have to come back when you have the right artifact.

Having never seen the recent movie, I can’t speak to how much of a crossover there is in content. I know that Princess Ahmanet is in both, but that’s about it. While I haven’t seen Tom Cruise battle one of the Universal monsters in their new expanded movie universe, I can tell you that it’s not needed for the enjoyment of this game. While some tie-in games like to reference the movie and make you go “oh yeah, we’re at this part,” this is fantastic without any context. For me, the characters could have been anyone else and it would’ve been just as good.

The basic controls of the game involve moving, shooting in 8 directions, rolling, and jumping. As stated previously, you will gain new abilities as you progress, but these are what you’ll use most. Weapons have limited ammunition outside of your initial machine gun, although picking up ammo is as easy as killing an enemy or shooting a lantern or any other breakable objects. It wasn’t until the first boss that I even bothered to use my secondary weapon. It’s also here that you see the game’s way of telling you where a boss is with its life – they gradually turn red. For those of us that played a lot of games in the 90s, this will be familiar. You know how some developers you loved as a child have gone in directions you disagree with? WayForward is the developer that has stayed true to themselves after almost 30 years. If you took 90s Capcom or Konami and dropped them in present day, this is what they’d be making.

If you’re familiar with Castlevania or Metroid, you should be right at home here. Enemies will throw their bones at you, projectiles will pass through the ground or the walls that would protect you otherwise, and the enemies are never-ending. Wall crawling foes will drop on you if they happen to see you below. Winged beasts will fly up and down in your general direction; shooting balls of plasma every chance they get, hoping to knock you off that platform you strove to reach only to fall in some acid (quite honestly, this is what upset me the most while playing – the knock back from damage did elicit several choice words throughout). Enemies will also flood the screen, and you’ll have to time your jumps and shoot with precision to avoid death. But don’t worry; there are plenty of save points around the map. And you can always farm health from enemies by leaving a room and coming back, or by using spawn areas for certain mobs. The game even has collectibles for you to find if you fancy yourself a completionist. Finding them all may or may not affect the endgame.

This is very much the type of game that brought me into this field of entertainment. This is what a solid 90s game looks and feels like when made today. This is the type of the thing that WayForward is known for, and another reason you should care about what they develop and publish. The Mummy Demastered is the type of game you show someone that says they miss the “good ol’ days” of video games. If you dislike 2D shooters with upgrades, secrets, and bosses, stay away. For everyone else, welcome home.

9 out of 10

Pros

  • Solid Controls/Gameplay
  • Enemy Types/Bosses
  • So Many Secrets

Cons

  • Some Cheap Enemy Mob Spawns

The Mummy Demastered was developed and published by WayForward. It was released on PS4, X1, NS, and PC October 24th, 2017 for $19.99. The game was provided to us for review on NS and PC. For more on The Mummy Demastered, visit its official site.

 

Here at GBG we use a rating method that you are more than likely familiar with – a scale of 1 to 10. For clarification, we intend on using the entire scale: 1-4 is something you should probably avoid paying for; 5-7 is something that is worth playing, but probably not at full price; 8-10 is a great title that you can feel confident about buying. If you have any questions or comments about how we rate a game, please let us know.

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