With Hollywood busy chundering out remakes of every classic movie and movie franchise you care to think of, it’s no surprise to see game developers doing the same. The difference is that the video game remakes have a fighting chance of actually being good.
With the exception of Dune (chapters 1 and 2), most of Tinseltown’s recent remakes have stunk like feet after a three-day hike. Admittedly, 2024’s Road House was entertaining enough, featuring plenty of Conor McGregor Conor McGregor-ing around the place. But it didn’t need to be made.
Just as Moana doesn’t need a live-action remake, and The Crow doesn’t need to be dug up from its grave and reanimated with one of the Skarsgards at the helm, most of these movie-making endeavors seem creatively pointless at best.
So, why do we love a video game remake? It could be because they contain the one thing that many Hollywood remakes don’t—soul.
Often passion projects for the developers, they tend to be crafted with a level of care and attention to detail that’s sadly lacking from the somewhat cynical remakes offered by the movie industry.
Plus, there’s a genuine thrill among gamers to see a 20+-year-old game rebuilt from the ground up, with modern-day budgets and graphics slapped onto them.
2024 is a big year for gaming remakes, with some real doozies lined up for release, and one or two that are already out in the world, like some of the best PS5 exclusives.
The Last of Us Part 2
Hot on the heels of the current-gen remake of The Last of Us, and getting ahead of the imminent release of season two of HBO’s rather excellent The Last of Us, is this remake of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part Two.
Courting its fair share of controversy upon its initial release owing to the treatment of one of its beloved characters, and a gameplay shift that confounded expectations, The Last of Us Part Two had a bit of a hill to climb.
Arguably overlong, and with a frustrating climax (for many), it was still an incredibly effective slice of post-apocalyptic survival horror. Now that the dust has settled on the original, this gorgeously gory remake has all the right ingredients to wow audiences old and new alike.
The Last of Us Part Two was released on the PlayStation 5 on January 19, 2024.
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered
In recent years we’ve seen an evolution in the Tomb Raider franchise, with a trio of 2000s Tomb Raider games that trod a similar path to the Uncharted series. With a couple of key elements from the original games drastically reduced, and the story elements expanded, gamers have got up close and personal with a less-rounded yet now more-rounded Lara Croft.
The Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered collection goes back to basics. The original games put the gameplay emphasis heavily on the raiding of tombs, rather than the gunplay and crumbling ledge thrills and spills of the reimagined series. And this is a faithful remaking of those fantastic originals, with (slightly) improved graphics.
With this collection, you can experience the classic games once again, with a visual spit and shine, rather than a full-on remastering. Crystal Dynamics has included all expansions and secret levels from the originals with this remake and has chucked in a photo mode too for good measure.
The Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered collection hit virtual shelves on February 14 and is ready and waiting to be discovered.
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster
A long time ago (1995) in a galaxy not so far, far away, Star Wars: Dark Forces was released to a jubilant gaming population. The Force was strong with this one, so strong that now almost 30 years later a remake clone has spawned, to tempt the will of seasoned Jedi Knights and Padawan younglings alike.
Relive the adventures of Kyle Katarn as he joins forces with the Rebel Alliance and attempts to infiltrate the Empire. With support for 4K and 120 FPS, this remake boasts a visual upgrade with enhanced lighting and a slew of gameplay improvements.
The Star Wars: Dark Forces remaster made the jump through hyperspace on February 28 and is available to buy now.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Fans of the Final Fantasy series know that it’s never the Final Fantasy because its global popularity all but guarantees the franchise will keep going and keep evolving, ad infinitum. But some fantasies are worth revisiting and embellishing with sumptuous new detail.
That’s the thought behind the lavish remake of Final Fantasy VII, and 2024 saw the release of this, the second installment of the multi-game-of-a-game remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Focusing on the second act of the 1997 original, Rebirth introduces an expanded open-world environment in the shape of the Forgotten Capital and retains the dazzling real-time combat overhaul first introduced in act one of the remake.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was released by Square Enix on February 29.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Back in the days before every single action-adventure game featured stealth elements, there was only one place to go if you wanted to indulge in some tactical espionage action. From its cinematic 12-hour long cut-scenes to the gut-wrenching “Snake? SNAAAAAAAAAAKKE!!!” of the Codec screen, the Metal Gear Solid series gave good stealth.
Well, now fans of the MGS franchise can rejoice, as Metal Gear Solid 3 (which features the origin story of Big Boss) is getting the remake treatment. Rebuilt and renamed as Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, the 2004 classic is to be spruced up with “cutting-edge graphics and 3D audio” which promises to bring the jungle-based setting vividly to life.
It’s unlikely that this remake will tinker too much with the original story of MGS3. And seeing as the core gameplay of the original was fairly (forgive us) solid, don’t expect this to be changed drastically, if at all. All signs point to this being a faithful recreation of the beloved classic, with a fancy new (Snake?) skin slapped onto it for good measure.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam later this year.
Silent Hill 2
Originally launched on the PlayStation 2 way back in 2001, Silent Hill 2 pushed the boundaries of psychological horror in video games.
Set in gaming’s foggiest town (coal mine fires, tsk!), Silent Hill 2 followed the story of recently widowed Harry Mason. Harry is drawn to the eponymous town in search of his expired spouse, whom he has somehow received a mysterious letter from. The letter asks him to find her there.
Bloober Team, the creative minds behind Layers of Fear, are remaking the survival horror classic from the ground up. With updated graphics and gameplay mechanics, and more reasons to shit yourself over the sound of radio static than we care to count, this remake is a sure-fire hit waiting to happen.
There’s no official launch date for Silent Hill 2 as yet, but it has been heavily tipped for a 2024 release, at some point. Expected to be a PS5 exclusive on launch, it will be heading to PC the year after.
Until Dawn
Playing out like one of the best five-chumps-in-a-creepy-old-cabin slasher movies, Until Dawn was effectively an interactive movie where your every decision carried big implications for each of the principal characters.
Using a combo of decision-making and quick-time events, it was possible to save or sacrifice every character in each playthrough.
Hard to believe but it’s now 10 years since Until Dawn graced our PlayStation 4s, which means it’s long overdue for the remake treatment. Being remade with Unreal Engine 5, you can expect a full graphical overhaul for current-gen, some frame-rate fixes, and (presumably) something to be done about the weird, creepy thing that used to happen with everyone’s teeth during cut scenes.
The Until Dawn remake will be clawing its way onto PS5 and PC later this year.
Splinter Cell
Sam Fisher might sound like the name of a regular Joe who works in Accounts, but he is actually the ultra-cool, super stealthy Black Ops agent from the Splinter Cell series. Originally released way back in 2002, Splinter Cell has been hiding in the shadows for a good few years now, maintaining radio silence.
With the Splinter Cell remake mission having been officially given the green light, Ubisoft has confirmed that it will include a “rewriting and updating of the story for a modern-day audience”. Exactly what that means is anyone’s guess and additional details are still sketchy for now, but it’s hard not to get excited about this one.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed that the core stealth gameplay remains intact, and look forward to performing split jumps, killing the lights with our EMP pistol, and silently suppressing the enemy, when this undercover mission eventually goes live.
Rumored to be released during the latter part of 2024 but with no concrete date, news regarding Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell remake remains as elusive as Mr Fisher himself.
What game are you most looking forward to playing this year? Let us know your favorites below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.
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