ReCore Reviews
A slick, compelling adventure only let down by a glut of technical issues that really should have been polished out.
ReCore is fun game betrayed by technical woes. I love the combination of shooting and platforming, but it just doesn't have enough polish to back up its solid mechanics. It could have used some extra time in development to smooth the experience out.
Eden isn't as big as No Man's Sky's universe or even Far Cry 4's mountainous terrain, but it's got far more compelling reasons to stick around.
Strategic combat and innovative platforming suffer at the hands of ridiculous load times and buggy boss fights
ReCore is a competent shooter and platformer, but long load screens and brutally short play-through weigh it down.
ReCore is the framework of an incredible game with some truly unforgivable technical issues, which greatly deter from the overall experience. You'll enjoy the challenging platforming, and awesome robotic action…in between aggravatingly long loading screens, and deaths via falling through solid surfaces.
ReCore will be a welcome blast from the past for some, but others will struggle to come to terms with the more archaic components of the experience.
Despite its imperfections, ReCore is exactly the type of game I want Microsoft Studios to take seriously. ReCore leans on some beloved gameplay conventions while injecting injected some of its own, gloriously unique and fulfilling elements. The RPG layer provides boatloads of additional gameplay and the setting, story and characters are just something I want to see more of.
You wouldn't be making a terrible mistake picking ReCore up now, but I know I wish I waited for these load times to be fixed.
Recore is one of those games that sounds better than it is. It's an interesting fusion of genres, the story is well written and the world is beautiful. But the gameplay gets a bit monotonous after a couple of hours and the level design feels uninspired. Still, with the price tag in mind, its might be worth a closer look if you looking for a solid action adventure game.
Review in Swedish | Read full review
ReCore was exactly what I wanted from a game like this. The action is fun and the exploration kept me interested. I just wish the pacing towards the end was better. While it mimicked the parts I love about classic adventure titles, it also copied the poor padding practices as well. Still, ReCore is a game that I would recommend to anyone that just enjoys playing games. It bypasses all the services and forced multiplayer we have come to expect, not to mention it is a heck of a lot of fun to play.
With Metroid fans only getting Federation Force this year, it was up to other studios to give fans their fix, and Armature Studio & Comcept did deliver with ReCore. With a well written (albeit not exactly original) story and a nicely crafted gameplay experience featuring plenty of content, ReCore is the game to get for those looking for an involving action adventure title. Sadly, the experience is a bit lessened by the generally low challenge level, which makes Corebots mechanics almost superfluous, slightly repetitive combat, disappointing boss battles and a variety of technical issues. ReCore is not Super Metroid at all, that's for sure, but it's definitely a very good starting point for a franchise that might even become big with the right tweaks.
If ever a game felt like it was rushed to release, it is this one.
ReCore is plagued with horrible load times. The average length during my playthrough was close to two minutes and even surpassed that on a couple occasions.
Like a robot that's been cobbled together from spare parts, ReCore has a complicated identity. It's often a platformer and a third-person shooter, but it sometimes feels like a shoot 'em up or a character action game, and it's all underpinned by RPG systems. Because of this muddled personality, it never fully delivers on anything, leaving us with an enjoyable experience, albeit one with a few issues at its core.
Recore ultimately fails to set itself apart from the many TPS that exist on the market and its "unfinished" look won't help it stay in gamers' memory as it should. The title manages to grab the player in the first few minutes, but quickly becomes frustrating and redundant. It is to be hoped that patches will arrive quickly to correct the concerns present at the release. Not everything is tossed in Recore, however, and TPS arcade fans will be delighted to have taken part in an adventure that deserves to be available at a low price from launch.
Review in French | Read full review
Despite all of its flaws, ReCore isn't inherently bad, it's just not gripping or polished. The combat, while dull, is enjoyable in that you can zone out and still succeed. You're not going to get frustrated by not being able to perform, or annoyed if you lack a certain level of skill. Any area you're struggling with will quickly become easy after your Corebot levels up enough to drag you through. Overall, the narrative is predictable while set in an interesting world, and the movement is slick and enjoyable, but the constant back-tracking to collect more keys weighs down the experience. It's unfortunate that the game couldn't be tightened up under Microsoft's tutelage, because ReCore has nuggets of good ideas buried beneath the monotony and tedium of its primary activities.
ReCore is an interesting robotic Frankenstein of various game parts. They don't always work well together, but when they do the collective whole is a rather wonderful creation. However as not all parts were created equal expect some frustration and the occasional fumble.
ReCore is a title that, ultimately, rises and falls in crafting an experience that we don't normally see too often on Xbox (and frankly, in this generation of gaming). Harkening back to platformers like Jak and Daxter with a little bit of the flavor from Metroid titles, ReCore's strong aesthetic and style give way to some technical flaws and repetitive design. Much like the design of Joule's band of Corebots, the exterior of ReCore and its gameplay show signs of age and may not be the most appealing from a first glance, but inside there's still a core of unique qualities to make it stand out as one of Microsoft's most interesting (though flawed) exclusives.
Victories in ReCore, whether they were rooted in platforming or combat skill always felt satisfyingly earned, and that for me was enough to balance all the frustration along the way. But if I hadn't enjoyed the Disney-like tone of ReCore's story and had not genuinely liked the game's characters, my patience for ReCore's shortcomings would probably have strained to the breaking point.