Sci-fi and space horror Horror shooters and action horror Body horror

The Thing: Remastered

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Lead a squad through Outpost 31, never sure who is still human.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (90% of 1,446 reviews); OpenCritic top critic average 72; Metacritic 67
Length: about 6 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Nightdive Studios, Computer Artworks (original)
Released: 2024

No. 24 of the soldier horror games · No. 17 of the alien horror games · No. 11 of the parasite horror games · No. 8 of the tentacle horror games · No. 29 of the laboratory horror games

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What frightens Sent to Outpost 31 after the events of John Carpenter's 1982 film, a rescue team finds the shape-shifting alien still loose in the Antarctic ice: it can become anyone it kills, so every teammate may be a monster, and head-spiders, walkers and tentacled masses burst out of the dead.
Content: gore, blood, body horror, violence, strong language.

The Thing: Remastered is Nightdive Studios' 2024 remaster of the 2002 third-person horror shooter that continues John Carpenter's film. As Captain Blake you lead a rescue team through frozen Antarctic stations, managing their fear and trust while the shape-shifting Thing hides among the living. A main run takes about six hours.

About The Thing: Remastered

The Thing was released in 2002 by Computer Artworks as a sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film. Nightdive Studios remastered it for PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch in December 2024 with new lighting, improved models and textures, 4K support, quality-of-life changes and achievements, published with Atari.

You are Captain J.F. Blake of a U.S. Special Forces team sent to Outpost 31 to find out what happened to the American scientists there. What you find is the film's alien: a life-form that kills, absorbs and imitates its victims, and that is still alive in the ice. Over twenty levels it comes at you as scuttling head-spiders, human-like walkers and huge tentacled beasts.

The game's best idea is its trust and fear system. Your squad mates each have their own state of mind: horror and gore make them panic, suspicion makes them turn on you, and a blood test can prove who is still human, until someone isn't. You need their skills to get through, so you have to keep them calm and armed, and decide whom to believe when one of them starts acting strangely.

It is an action game at heart, with machine guns, grenades and flamethrowers, more like a squad shooter than Resident Evil. Critics were mixed: the OpenCritic top critic average is 72. GameSpot called it flawed but fascinating and praised the overhauled visuals, while Nintendo Life found that the tension gives way to sloppy gunfights for much of the running time. Players on Steam rate it Very Positive. A main run takes about six hours, according to HowLongToBeat. It suits fans of the film and players who want a horror shooter built on paranoia.

How to play The Thing: Remastered

Lead your squad through each station, giving orders and handing out weapons and ammunition.
Watch your teammates' fear and trust; give them reasons to trust you and keep them away from horrors that make them panic.
Use blood tests to prove who is human, and be ready when someone is not.
Burn the Thing's creatures with fire; bullets alone do not finish them.

Screenshots

The Thing: Remastered screenshot: a snow-buried Antarctic research station with a toppled United States National Science Institute Station 4 sign

The Thing: Remastered screenshot: a bald man in a blue parka shines a flashlight on a glistening red alien mass in a dark kitchen

The Thing: Remastered screenshot: over the shoulder of a soldier firing a pistol at a tall spider-legged creature and small red crawling creatures in a dim storeroom

The Thing: Remastered screenshot: a tall burning creature bursts through a hole in a riveted metal wall in front of a soldier

The Thing: Remastered screenshot: two soldiers aim rifles at a third crouched by a blood-spattered wall in a dim room of metal crates

The Thing: Remastered screenshot: a huge glistening dark-red creature with a toothed, spider-legged head on a long neck in a wooden-walled room

The Thing: Remastered screenshot: a blue-lit laboratory corridor lined with glass tanks holding alien specimens

Tips

Keep a flamethrower or grenades for the larger creatures.
Arm the teammates who trust you; a frightened one may waste ammo or flee.
Use the medics' and engineers' skills; some doors and wounds need them.
Expect more gunfights than slow tension in the later levels; critics such as Nintendo Life note the game leans on combat for much of its length.

Questions

Is The Thing: Remastered connected to the movie?

Yes. It is a sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film, set at Outpost 31 after the events of the movie.

What is new in the remaster?

Nightdive added new dynamic lighting, improved models and textures, higher resolutions and frame rates, quality-of-life gameplay changes and achievements.

How long is The Thing: Remastered?

HowLongToBeat lists about 6 hours for the main story and about 7 and a half hours to complete everything.

What platforms is it on?

It is on Windows PC through Steam and GOG, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. It is single-player only.

Is it very scary?

It is more tense and gory than frightening. It is a squad shooter with plenty of weapons, and its horror comes from gruesome creatures and the worry that a teammate is the Thing. It is rated M by the ESRB and PEGI 18 for blood, gore, violence and language.