Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Nightdive Studios
Publisher: Nightdive Studios

This writer has already extensively covered the original 3DO release-- so how does this remake differ? Primarily, the 3DO quad-based renderer has been completely replaced with the Nightdive "KEX Engine", meaning players are treated to the usual HDR, 16:9, 120 fps visuals-- and by golly do they look exquisite! The original 3DO game was renowned for its high resolution sprites, and this remake follows the same spirit, but according to 2024 standards: every frame of animation, right down to the innumerable FMV sequences, have been retouched, and the way even colored dynamic light plays off of the enemies and pickups is truly astonishing. Even the automap system and menus have received welcome visual and functional overhauls.

The original Bob Vieira soundtrack, with its Big Band live-recorded music, is absolutely aces, and explodes out of the speakers just as it did in the original 3DO release. As before, songs like the main theme, "Assyrian Experience", "Hopscotch on the Rocks", "Byrons Library", and many more are real highlights. Speaking of "Byron", the actor who plays him-- Colin Thomson-- really steals the show with his faux German accent, little circular sunglasses, and wonderful acting. Lise Bruneau, who has gone on to have a wonderful theater career, also does a lot with the material given to her. The game's sound effects are expressive and interesting, such as the clown enemies with their "peekaboo!"-esque noises.

Where the original game worked very well within the constraints of the 3DO button arrangement, this remake has full dual analog stick movement and unabated free look. Weapon and powerup swapping is done with L1 / R1 and the d-pad, respectively, with firing on the right trigger. The player can even do a very small bunny hop in this rendition of the game, and can crouch! To this writer's surprise, the levels in this remake are all lifted from the period PC port of the game, and they are totally different from the 3DO's levels. The "new" stages make for a more coherent island, but there was something to be said about the mazy gameplay of the 3DO originals.

The low framerate from the original game-- oftentimes single digits-- led to a lot of brodies, if you catch this reviewer's drift. Going from 8 fps to 120 is revelatory, and along with the addition of modern controls almost makes the game too easy at the default "medium" difficulty level! The designers also toned down the hitscan enemies-- perhaps too far, as they can barely hit the player now. The modern auto-mapping is really nice as it can be zoomed way in and out, plus there is an overall island map: this writer mapped the original game's area connections on paper, but this wasn't necessary for the remake. All-in-all, even if "Killing Time" isn't quite on par with genre classics such as "Doom", this recreation is typical Nightdive amazement at work.