PO'ed: Definitive Edition (2024)
This is somehow stranger than Chex Quest series that's actually real licensed Doom clones. There's even a remake of the original Chex Quest. Yes a series of an licensed cereal video games that plays like classic Doom games. I know some of you are probably wondering how is this stranger than those? PO'ed was originally an 3DO FPS game like Killing Time.
Which also ended up getting remastered the same year. A notable delay occurred regarding it's newer campaigns. Don't worry the extra time I'll try to put to better use than if I rush it out right now. PO'ed you play as a chef on around alien locations. This was meant to be somewhat comical like UnMetal. The team was inspired by Doom and Quake 1.
Before I forget I loved the trailers Nightdive released for this game. I especially loved the part someone didn't think it would get an remastered version. Well you bet it somehow gotten one. PO'ed trailers helped gotten me interested into wanting to play this game. It was just so out there I kept hesitating until I finally decided to give it a try.
The actual levels are in mind blowing 3D. Some of them are either quite massive or surprisingly more complex than expected. In rare cases, it's a good mix of both like Puzzle being a good example. In the level Puzzle, you have two exits. But if you want to play the hardest to find exit to enter a secret level. It's not easy trying to find something solid enough online.
I did find a great YouTube video properly solving the puzzle giving you access to that exit. You have to follow a particular path or you won't be able to get that exit. You can't cheat it by default except making saves at times. The game doesn't really do boss fights. But there's a good variety of enemies. Some are quite tanky taking a lot of damage.
Especially the final enemies introduced in this game, these annoying spider enemies. Just when you thought no one more would get introduced by that point no less. I actually like this unique map screen you get. Which also shows switch locations to a degree. This also helps gives you an idea how massive some of the levels are.
Once again being an 3DO game pulling off such ambitious level designs I'm impressed!!! You get a good variety of weapons that plays just like classic Doom weapons. But among them gets a bit weird. You could find a driller that's similar to Doom's chainsaw. You also get a meat clever you either throw at enemies with no limit how many throws or chop em up close.
You even could eat some of the enemies after they die to get some health back. There's a few health methods with the usual health items being the most common. There's a password system that's a little weird to access. First you got to make a save then exit out the game. Not turn it off to clarify just select exit the game option.
Then among accessing load your saves is a password system. There's also a level select code that seems to be the only cheat method to get around no using cheats for achievements/trophies thing. Yes you also get access to the secret levels. I also couldn't believe there's so many enemies within levels as well. It may not get final levels within Serious Sam games amount of enemies.
This was more like the newer Doom campaigns in Doom 1 + Doom 2 respectively. Which also came out the same year as a shadow dropped remastered version of those classic Doom games. PO'ed has a decent soundtrack with some amazing sound effects. PO'ed does allow exploring for the most part. It's the most fun to explore with a jetpack.
Outside Garry's Mod, the most fun I had with a jetpack in a game. This really made the game play rememberable. Some of the later levels throws some huge curve balls. Usually when levels this bad in the style of a boomer shooter it doesn't work well. Somehow for the most part it's among the most fun FPS games I played in a long time.
It's not often I get low on ammo I loved that. None of the levels are alike except the first levels within a set. There's three sets of levels you play in the entire game. Every first level of a set is at the same location with the same exit. But you also can explore other locations to a degree. By exploring you also get more of an idea how massive some of these levels going to be.
For a remastered version I wasn't even sure if I'm going to like or not. PO'ed quickly grew on me the more I played of it. I would even dare to say easily among my favorite Nightdive remasters I played. PO'ed was among their most unexpected remasters to date. Of course, parts of the game can get repetitive.
Either by trying to survive while low on ammo or constantly get loss. The later ended up being more common for me. I can't express how massive some of these levels truly are. A lot of them you can keep going up or down. At times I kept getting surprised there's more of those sections that's showing up. Being a Doom clone, majority of the enemies similar to Doom enemies.
PO'ed can easily differ in length depending how you play. Some levels you could run or fly through while others takes more time to figure out to get to the exits. Along with the switches, heavily inspired by the original Quake. Somehow this felt like the missing link between them or possibly the next thing. You know as in evolution of classic boomer shooters.
PO'ed also does funny transmissions that plays out like letters to his mom I'm not kidding. These ended up being among my favorite aspects of the game. This may felt like those games to a degree. At the same time, PO'ed felt just enough to be it's own unique experience. I am not even sure which games I played is similar enough to this!!!
I still felt Killing Time: Resurrected is a little better. Mostly in terms of getting more notable improvements. But unlike that, PO'ed already made the cheats available from the start. Achievement/trophy hunting can differ depending on methods. I will say it's still a fun hunt to do. PO'ed was truly mind blowing in everything it brought to the table.
This was like Serious Sam to Duke Nukem but to Doom I loved it!!! The secrets are well hidden with some you may not even known was there. Until you watch a few video walkthroughs. There's even a weird Elvis cameo leading to another secret level that's an achievement/trophy. Somehow Elvis was in a meat locker at an alien location.
I guess Agent K couldn't rescue him in time. This was more properly balanced than Redneck Rampage series. Which also involved aliens in a similar style FPS game series. Still vastly different in many ways though. Don't go in comparing it to Doom or Serious Sam. Instead go in with curiosity wanting to experience something different.
Trust me, it differs so much from all the other boomer shooters I played I couldn't believe it!!! PO'ed is a game that doesn't take itself seriously. For an 3DO game, I didn't expect to be this blown away. It's obviously better than the original Gex. PO'ed went in with such a chaotic game play design. Honestly, this made the game incredibly fun.
Even in huge areas flying around with a jetpack with a lot of enemies surrounding you. The more reason to go wild on them. PO'ed is perfect for getting out your frustrations. The level names are strangely unexpected as well as interesting. I personally wished there was more levels than this. I actually was having a lot of fun I didn't want it to end.
Killing Time is more directly about finding stuff. PO'ed is more about taking out enemies with more fun to use weapons. Killing Time may used digitized actors with good voice overs. What PO'ed does in the few areas it falls a bit short in greatly made up for. There isn't much of an actual story. I actually felt that indirectly plays into the chaos allowing players to have more fun.
Let's be honest, a lot of people back then didn't have the patience for stories within video games. Technically Killing Time has more maze level designs. But PO'ed overall has much bigger in size levels. Killing Time is another famous Doom clone. Ultimately, PO'ed rather unexpected freedom within the game play is it's greatness strength.
I did have some notable issues like the game kept crashing on the final level. I even had to use the auto save to start over at one point. I don't know if Nightdive going to fix that or not in the near future. I also felt melee weapons aren't as accurate to the rest of them you fire at enemies. Some levels you might actually need to clarify follow a guide to get through.
There's a particular level with a rather ambitious design that took me a good while to finish. Lattice allows you to go through walls. There's a lot of switches you'll need to active. A lot of them took some time to find. I don't know if there's a set order for these or not. But you just need enough of them activated to get access to the portals.
The main section of it actually fully circles around. Each parts of that section is quite huge. Of course, a lot of enemies through out them. This was quite impress to pull off on the 3DO. Just in case you might not notice it's among the last levels you play in the game. PO'ed may not look much at first. Just give it a chance you could end up loving it like I did.
For such an unexpected game to get remastered. Suddenly my expectations for Nightdive went even higher. No really they even made such a weird FPS game stand out like this!!! I don't know how long the actual development was. Although you can tell a lot of care went into this remastered version. Where it stands PO'ed should be among must own games within your gaming collections.
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