Redeemer: Enhanced Edition – PS4 | Review

By Charles Oakley
| 19th July 2019
| PS4, Review
| 0

Redeemer’s main character, Vasily, may just be the most underrated bad-ass in the world of gaming; imagine God of War’s Kratos crossed with a monk and that’s essentially who Vasily is. Vasily is a man with a dark past but also a man that managed to escape that life. He found sanctuary in a monastery. Vasily has resided at this monastery for twenty years when finally, his past catches up with him. The corporation he previously worked for has come to hunt Vasily down and there is collateral damage in the process. All it took was the sound of a gun being fired for Vasily to stop resisting his lust for violence – he now has one last shot at redemption.

Redeemer: Enhanced Edition is a top down action brawler. The biggest draw here is the sheer brutality of the combat system. Playing as Vasily, you will punch, kick, stab, and dismember those who get in the way of your redemption. When your fists get tired there is always the option of butchering your enemies with fire arms and melee weapons including combat knives, batons, fire axes, hammers and much more. Butchering is an extreme term but it is appropriate – the dismemberment system allows Vasily to dismember certain enemies with a unique combat move and use their limbs as melee weapons.

Dismemberment is not your only option however, Redeemer: Enhanced Edition features a unique kill system that allows you to flexibly choose from three kill styles. Firstly, is the brute force of just your fists, kicks, and any weapon you acquire to mercilessly dispatch of your enemies. Secondly, you can instead choose to adopt a stealthy approach that will see you silently approach your enemies and dispatch of them quietly. This style is supported by the ability to extend your camera range whilst standing still, thus allowing you to plan out your method. Finally, Vasily can use certain environmental objects to kill his enemies in a brutally stylistic fashion.

As you progress through the story you will unlock abilities and skills, which will only enhance the brutality of your kills. You gain proficiency with each weapon at your disposal, which gradually makes that weapon more powerful the more frequently you use it. This means if you have a few select favourite weapons, you can prioritise these and level them up to their maximum power. Redeemer: Enhanced Edition also packs a perks system which will unlock access to unique, more powerful perks. For instance, through the perk system you can unlock electro punches, dragon breath kicks, explosive plasma and flame bullets, and much more. Both these systems provide a sense of progression as you go through the story and overall makes your time playing as Vasily a whole lot more engaging as you somehow make this bad-ass even cooler.

The story serves more as a backdrop, with most of it being laid out in an opening cutscene. The real attraction of Redeemer: Enhanced Edition is most certainly the gameplay. The various and increasingly brutal ways in which you can obliterate Vasily’s enemies never gets tiresome, in fact, it gets more enjoyable as you progress through the game and unlock powerful skills and perks.

In a somewhat surprising inclusion, Redeemer: Enhanced Edition also features a co-op mode. Local co-op for two players mean you and a friend can dismember enemies side-by-side… how sweet. The co-op works well and is actually a surprisingly welcome feature as the gameplay is fun to share and mould how two players may take different approaches – or just double down on a merciless approach and double the brutality of the single player mode.

Once you are done playing through the game, there is the arena mode waiting for you. As the name suggests, Vasily is dropped into an arena and must face waves of enemies in a horde-like arena mode. This is a nice addition to the story mode, but does not quite live up to its potential. There are no new enemies and frankly it does not feel all that different from the regular story mode, so whilst a nice addition for those who crave more of the brutal gameplay, it is not a mode I spent much time in.

Final Impressions

All in all, Redeemer: Enhanced Edition is certainly an enjoyable game, that is, if dismembering somebody’s limb and then using that limb to kill their colleagues with is enjoyable to you. If it is, then you really cannot go wrong with Redeemer: Enhanced Edition.

The main character Vasily is an underrated badass and I hope this version of the game gives him more attention. The story is lacklustre and it is a bit short, but the sheer brutality and stylistic gameplay, alongside co-op and arena mode will keep you coming back for more.

If you played the original Redeemer then there is more than enough reason to come back and play the enhanced edition, thanks to the new content and combat changes.

*Code kindly provided by the publisher for review*

Developer: Sobaka / Publisher: Buka Entertainment
Release date: 19/07/2019
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Platform Reviewed on: PS4