John Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing is a horror classic, and stands up there with some of the best in the genre like Alien and Evil Dead. The Kurt Russel-led movie is a masterclass in tension building and stunning practical effects that hold up surprisingly well today, unlike its 2011 remake/prequel, that was, as its best, entertaining, as well as pointless. However, the 2002 The Thing video game adaptation was a somewhat successful attempt in bringing those ideas back into gaming form, albeit in a much more action-heavy third-person squad shooter. And I’m going to be honest: the last thing I was expecting was for anyone to remaster this 22 year old licensed game… but here we are.

Nightedive continues to do their… well… thing of remastering and preserving classic games. The Thing: Remastered was not one that I was expecting but I’m glad I finally got the chance to play it. Going into this remaster, I did rewatch the original movie, but I never really had the chance to look into some of the original footage instead. So my perspective here will be from someone who is purely a movie fan and doesn’t have a nostalgic attachment to the game.

You play as Captain Blake, leader of the bravo squad sent to the Antarctica facility to investigate the aftermath of the original movie, but upon arrival, you discover nothing but death and destruction. Naturally. Venturing further in the mission, the squad soon discovers a parasitic infection that takes over hosts. Whilst this game does follow on directly from the movie, it is a mostly standalone effort. There’s plenty of references, and as a follow-up, does answer some lingering questions, though some may argue that the mystery made the original such a great movie in the first place. It also makes some changes to how the transformation work,s but it’s perfectly fine here, and suits the game well.

All the elements of the movie has attempted to be perceived in game form. There’s still a parasitic monster masquerading as your allies, giving that sense of paranoia and distrust. The antarctic setting plays a vital role. You cannot stay outside for too long, otherwise you will freeze to death. Maintaining trust with your squadmates and watching out for infections is the biggest selling point of The Thing, and it drives the entire game forward.

It’s an absolutely fantastic idea, and it keeps a small sense of dread throughout. Staying in stressful situations with your squad will raise their stress gauge, causing them to act more erratically. Their behaviour can range from cowering in the corner, running away, shooting wildly in the room or turning on you completely. It’s a system that was ahead of its time and can create some really dynamic moments. Characters you didn’t notice can get infected and turn dynamically. Though this wasn’t the case in the original release, where infections were more scripted than before.

However, this doesn’t always work as well as it should, and this is due to extremely limited game design. Outside of the opening couple hours, you will spend very little time outside in the cold. The levels themselves are also incredibly short, meaning your actions and how you deal with your squad don’t have any long-term impact. Regardless there’s certainly moments where it does shine, and outside of Aliens: Dark Descent there don’t seem to be any squad shooters that handle the stress mechanic well enough. Levels are often incredibly brief, and before you know it, you move onto the next zone. It rarely sits in the same place for too long to let tension build.

The core gameplay mechanics are also fine, with a combination of the classic lock-on style aiming that was familiar in the PlayStation 2 era, with more modern free aiming style. Aiming at enemies will give you a soft lock-on now, which works reasonably well as you mow down hordes of smaller headcrab-like creatures. Meanwhile, bigger mutations will require you to deal enough damage to put them into a vulnerable state and finish off with a flamethrower. For the most part, they are fun to fight, and you’ll get plenty of enjoyment mowing them down with for the most part competent squad mates (as long as they are kept in high spirit).

As a whole, the gameplay is very much functional. Some effort has been made to improve controls and add a few quality-of-life features to make it feel a touch more modern. I played the game on Hard mode, and it wasn’t challenging at all; the game just showers you with everything you need, bordering on infinite ammo even when dishing it out to your squad. I wish resources had a bit more rare, as I never found myself running low, there was always plenty to go around.

Despite these issues, and as far as licensed games go, this wasn’t bad. I was still able to get some enjoyment out of it Though, for everything it does well, it could have been so much more. There’s something utterly charming about how the game presents itself, and some of the more unique ideas that occasionally shine through the rough squad shooting gameplay and limited-level design. The Thing is truly close to being a great game, but I  feel limitations stemming from 2002 hold it back. I’d say this one is worth a shot but wait for a sale as the asking price is just a little too steep for whats on offer here.

Nightdive Studios has done an excellent job (as always) remastering old this game. Maintaining and preserving classics is their bread and butter, and this is another great example, with some significantly improved texture quality and lighting that really adds to the tension and belivability. This is a remaster done right. Best of all, we see plenty of support for more modern features. Full ultrawide support looks fantastic, though interestingly cutscenes still show horizontal black bars, but this is far from a deal breaker. Sound design however; doesn’t hold up as nicely. The enviromental sound effects are fine and same with the music. But the voice acting doesn’t really sell me on the events that are happening. Characters can flip between panicked and calm at a moment’s notice. It can border on hilarious.

Nightdive has, once again, to no one’s shock, delivered another stellar remastering effort. Whilst The Thing is far from being considered a perfect game (for some, even a straightforward “good” game), or even something I would have personally chosen to get the remaster treatment, it’s still a solid title that did its best to recapture the essence of the movie. If anything, I am glad that Nightdive went the extra mile to remaster something that wasn’t exactly good, but surely needed to become widely available once again; it felt like finally being able to experience a forgotten piece of video game history.

Graphics: 7.5 A wonderful remastering effort, which overhauls lighting effects and textural work to make the game feel a few years less old.	Gameplay: 6.0 There are some novel ideas in this 2002 game, but they never reach their full potential. Still, there’s some solid squad-based gameplay.
Sound: 5.5 Not a lot of work has been done to the sound, and the voice acting doesn’t hold up.	Fun Factor: 6.5 It’s far from perfect. In fact, it’s very flawed. But if you’re a fan of the movie, there’s still a lot to like, considering how this action horror title channels the spirit of the original.
Final Verdict: 6.5

The Thing Remastered is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on PC with an RTX 4070, Ryzen 7 7800x3D and 32GB RAM.

A copy of The Thing Remastered was provided by the publisher.