Sitting in solitude, Vasily counts his prayer beads and reflects on the atrocities that were wrought by the very hands thumbing the delicate chain of wishes, wishes to forget and wishes to move on. For 20 years he tried to find peace at a mountain-nestled monastery, only to have his past come like a great flood. Hammer and pistol in hand, Vasily stretches his tired bones prepared for one last shot at redemption. Redeemer, Vasily’s story, is headed to PS4, Xbox One, and Switch after several delays in a new Enhanced Edition with new features.
Redeemer is a top-down action game that puts a bearded hammer fella against the biggest cybernetic weapons manufacturer in the game’s world. According to the description in the press release, Vasily used to do their bidding including murder, extortion, and even torture. Now the pain is being redirected in a rampage of redemption.
Judging by trailers and a demo we played at PAX East 2017, Redeemer is a mix between classic God of War, Diablo, and Hot Line Miami. Quick, deliberate violence with some gunplay sprinkled in. The zoomed in brutality also reminds me of DOOM. Note that their most recent trailer has the wrong release date.
Redeemer did fairly well on Steam after releasing in August of 2017, where it currently sits at a “mostly positive” rating but on OpenCritic it didn’t break a 70% score. There was initially going to be a console release soon after the PC release. Unfortunately, that was delayed and even the June 2019 release has been shifted back. Now Redeemer is scheduled for release on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch on July 12th, 2019.
For those already familiar with the base game, there are quite a few features worth noting. For one, there is a new co-operative mode for two-player carnage. There have also been some changes to the game’s systems; Redeemer: Enhanced Edition features new leveling and perks.
I’ve always enjoyed the game’s artistic presentation. I love the image of Vasily shouldering his heavy hammer; it’s pretty striking and symbolic. With this update and a broader reach of players, Redeemer may find quite the audience come July.
For more information on Redeemer: Enhanced Edition, check out the official website. The game was developed by Sobaka Studio and published by Buka Entertainment. The Steam release was published by Good Shepherd Entertainment.
