The Thing: Remastered Review — Assimilating and Replicating a Classic

The Thing: Remastered is, as the name suggests, a remastered version of the critically acclaimed 2002 video game. Set as a sequel to John Carpenter’s movie of the same name, The Thing video game captures the fear, distrust, and bodily horror of one of the greatest horror films of all time. The Thing: Remastered revitalizes this classic game, allowing it to be better appreciated by a modern audience. The game runs smoothly, looks great for its age, and stays faithful to the original, making it another phenomenal classic remaster.

2024 has been a strong year for video game remasters. If you’ve been keeping up with my reviews, you’ll know that I covered a fantastic remaster of 1997’s Riven back in June, as well as the recent Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered. Both of these games were a bit before my time, but I was able to appreciate the soul of the experience preserved after their loving updates for modern audiences. The Thing: Remastered, however, comes from an era of gaming I grew up with, originally releasing on PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles in the early 2000s.

As far as remasters go, The Thing: Remastered is about as good as you can expect. Just short of a full remake, it presents the original experience with updated graphics, some quality-of-life improvements, including bug fixes, and resolution support for modern displays. It’s essentially an enhanced version of the original, delivered incredibly close to what you would have played in 2002.

If you haven’t played the original game, The Thing: Remastered follows Captain J.F. Blake, part of a team of U.S. special forces sent to investigate U.S. Outpost 31 in Antarctica shortly after the film’s events. Soon, Blake and his team discover evidence that the base has been infiltrated by an alien lifeform (our titular Thing) capable of imitating the physical appearance and characteristics of anything it assimilates. After uncovering the fate of Outpost 31 and losing contact with the team sent to the Norwegian camp, Blake sets out to rescue the so-called Alpha team and escape, facing off against the Thing along the way.

Gameplay in The Thing: Remastered is a basic third-person shooter at its heart, with the option to switch to first-person for more accurate firing. You’ll navigate 20 levels, solving simple puzzles to clear the path from start to finish and killing monsters along the way. The monsters, or Things, appear in three basic forms: small, easy-to-kill creatures; larger Things that must be gunned down and then burned to defeat; and boss monsters that function similarly to the larger Things but include added mechanics.

What makes the game truly stand out is its inclusion of NPC characters and the way their presence introduces the same fear and mistrust central to the movie The Thing: Remastered is based on.

While you control Captain Blake, up to four other NPCs can join you at any time. These NPCs fall into one of three classes: Soldier, Engineer, or Medic. Each provides essential functions for surviving the Thing and escaping the base. Soldiers excel in combat. Medics heal injuries. Engineers interact with objects and bypass obstacles Blake can’t handle alone. This makes their presence necessary for progression.

In addition to their health, these squad members have two main resources the player must manage: Trust and Fear. Trust decreases when NPCs suspect Blake and, when low enough, causes them to refuse assistance or to join your squad. Trust can be raised by giving squad members weapons and ammo, making them valuable assets during combat. However, giving weapons to NPCs with low trust can backfire, as they may suspect Blake of being a Thing and turn on you. NPCs that trust you will follow orders and can even help eliminate other NPCs if directed, while those with low trust must be coerced into compliance by aiming your weapon at them.

Fear functions similarly, with NPCs reacting to their environment in ways that directly affect their fear levels. Scared NPCs perform worse in combat or take longer to complete tasks. When utterly terrified, they must be calmed down quickly or risk attacking you, damaging the environment, killing themselves, or suffering heart attacks.

Most intriguingly, The Thing: Remastered features an infection system. To spoil the suspense slightly, any of your teammates can become infected at any time—even those scripted to turn during certain story moments. Infected teammates initially behave normally but will eventually transform into Walkers and attack.

This mechanic perfectly captures the fear central to John Carpenter’s The Thing. You’re never entirely sure who you can trust, as anyone can become a Thing at any time. It’s an incredibly unique horror element that I haven’t seen replicated in other games and one that makes The Thing: Remastered a timeless classic, now improved with modern graphical updates.

Like other remasters, this game left me wanting more—not because of a lack of content but because of the potential it has for a total remake. With a modern engine and enhanced graphics, The Thing could easily become one of the most terrifying horror games ever. As it stands, the remaster is a fantastic experience that both fans of the original and newcomers will enjoy.

Try Hard Guides received a PC review code for this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Deathless. The Thing: Remastered is available on Steam, GoG, Xbox, and PlayStation.