Ashes: Hard Reset
By Vostyok - 14 Maps
Format: UZDoom
[Download]
Started: January 17th 2025
Finished: January 18th 2025
Status: Completed
Hard Reset, while not as ambitious as Afterglow, is an incredible experience with a lot of very well executed new ideas. Walker's unique weapon set is very cool, with reimaginings of previous weapons and a few totally original ones, though the pistol is a little too weak, and the way the weapon upgrade system was redone makes it a bit too limiting compared to Afterglow, since most of the upgrades are done by NPCs in certain maps instead of at a workbench. Swapping the solar powered lantern out for a limited use flashlight is pretty cool, and it works a lot better than the lantern considering its longer range and the fact that Walker can hold it and most weapons out at the same time. It also no longer gets unequipped when you reload or swap weapons which makes it a lot more convenient to use. The return to a linear level structure is fantastic, Afterglow's open world type approach was cool (and definitely has a lot of potential), but I think this series just works better when it's linear. Map variety is high,, with a lot of unique settings, and an emphasis on darker/nighttime maps unlike Afterglow's mostly midday maps. The new enemies are really cool, though a few are either too weak or very similar to each other. Most dialogue is voice acted now, though sometimes the lines either aren't voiced/the lines just didn't play for some reason. The acting is serviceable, most characters don't sound too great but its fine enough, and much appreciated considering the text-fatigue I had by the end of Afterglow. Music once again hits just as hard as always, finally bringing back the more energetic style of 2063's music. The story isn't much, but it works fairly well, though it leads to a pretty meh ending since the game has to abide by the usual prequel curse, though unlike the first game there's at least still a good final boss. It's hard to remember this is only an expansion with just how much new stuff Hard Reset adds to the gameplay. It might at times feel like a retread of 2063, but everything here is done extremely well. Best of luck to the Ashes Dev Group on wherever they take the series next, I'm excited to see where things go from here.
Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
Favorite/Least Favorite Map skipped because this was played before I started doing that system.