Tim Schafer and LucasArts made a bunch of great graphical point-and-click adventure games in the ’90s, and two of them have already been remastered and released for PS4. Grim Fandango and Day of the Tentacle were both amazing recreations, taking old pixelated imagery and updating them with stunning art. I had the opportunity to run through a short demo of Full Throttle Remastered with Tim Schafer himself standing at shoulder to shoulder with me.
He casually explained that the demo we were playing was actually an old PC Magazine demo from a demo disc (yes, there was once a time when physical magazines came with physical demo discs so that people could try out games!) that was remastered on par with the Full Throttle Remaster quality. It’s actually an awesome throwback, the kind of little facts that most will never know, but add a special little spark to the story of the creation of these games, from its birth over 20 years ago to it’s mirrored remaster today. Even the original demo is being used to get player’s hands on the remaster, albeit at PSX and not on a demo disc.
Click Everything
Full Throttle Remaster looks incredible. The animations look hand drawn, but fit neatly over the original game, which can be toggled to on the fly to show how far the game has come. Signature Tim Schafer humor is here in spades, and made me want to click on every possible object to hear what hilarious thing Ben would say next in the search for the keys to his bike, especially because you can try each object with hand, mouth, or foot, each of which lead to funny interactions. “I’m not puttin’ my lips on that!” “I can’t kick that high!” Ben’s gruff voice is reminiscent of Duke Nukem in a way, but way cooler and far less of a womanizing douche. He’s just a biker looking to keep motorcycle riding pure, which is a cause that I can definitely get behind.
These point-and-click adventures are classics that set the stage for much of Tim Schafer’s career, so this housekeeping to bring them up to current standards feels like a natural way to study up for the future. Games like Psychonauts and Brutal Legend were spawned from the ideas that came before, and it’s important to keep a good hold on our past. The demo was a short ride and didn’t show much except to confirm that Full Throttle is back with a beautiful new coat of paint, like a restored 1948 panhead that is road ready once again. I’m eager to see if Full Throttle Remastered can keep the rubber on the road when it releases next year, but the demo shows promise that they’ll keep things at…yeah, full throttle.
Read the latest PSX 2016 news and hands-on previews on PlayStation LifeStyle.
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Now Loading...PlayStation Experience 2016 Predictions
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Zarmena Khan
I'm guessing some PSVR titles, some games we won't see until another 5 years, and a justification of a ton of hardware in the market with not enough software to go with it. Sounds cynical but nearly all of Sony's recent press events have been just that.
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Stephen Bitto
Sony has revealed so much this year that I have a hard time believing they have much more up their sleeve. I'd like to see Days Gone and Detroit: Become Human. There will probably be some Horizon although I wish the rest of that would remain a mystery until I can play it for myself. Pretty sure that Yoshinori Ono will be there so I expect a big Street Fighter V content update. Hopefully some PSVR numbers with an announcement that PSVR games will be included in PS Plus for 2017. Sony didn't reveal anything huge last year and this year will likely be the same. Perhaps Bloodborne 2? Resistance Collection? The Order: 1887?
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Cameron Teague
Suikoden VI or I just don't care!
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Michael Briers
Horizon will surely be the big showcase, and I think Stephen is right in saying that Sony will focus on a lot of titles that have already been revealed (God of War, Detroit and possibly Death Stranding). Perhaps Sucker Punch will shed some light on what they've been cooking up? What about how that PS Plus price hike will impact the 2017 lineup, if at all? Last and certainly not least, those mooted reports claiming that the ability to change your PSN name is on the horizon have to mean something, right?
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Chandler Wood
I'm excited for this year, mostly because I think Sony always has an ace for their showcase. This is a fan event, and as such, they want to make it memorable. The fans love being part of something, especially when something new is announced or revealed, so I firmly believe that there's a card Sony hasn't played that will make itself known on that stage.
Other than at least one bombshell announcement, I have a feeling they'll be showing off a lot of cool footage from announced games, particularly things we haven't seen much of it. There's also a big opportunity to talk more about the PlayStation ecosystem, and maybe detail some changes to Plus or upcoming firmware update changes that will make the PS4 even better.
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Alex Co
I think PlayStation fans will be in for a treat! Based on what I've heard, there's a few surprises that might just be in the "megaton" level in terms of impact.
I was really hoping we were going to see the new God of War game. Either that or Spider-Man. Kinda makes me sad that both won't be there.
What I do want to be touched on by Sony during its keynote, but most likely won't, is PlayStation Plus. I mean, they really ought to relay some sort of message telling people that big, retail games will eventually be available on it. Doubt a mention will happen, but who knows.
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Mack Ashworth
I imagine we'll see a bunch of promising VR titles, to help push PSVR demand leading up to the holidays.
I'm looking forward to hearing more from Naughty Dog. As cool as Uncharted 4: Survival looks, I'm hoping we get a tease at the upcoming single-player expansion. Or, you know, they could confirm that The Last of Us 2 is in development! That sure would be nice!
