Who needs new games when you can apply a bit of spit and polish and a coat of new paint to old ones?
OK, so a healthy games industry does need new content, current ideas, and fresh mechanics. But a remake isn’t half handy for the more seasoned player.
It lets you revisit titles from your youth, memories of which may have aged better than the games themselves. And it lets you introduce those stories to a new generation without it feeling like quite so much of a lesson in ancient history.
Carry on reading for info on 10 upcoming game remakes, some of which are due to arrive in the first few months of 2024.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered
Refreshed versions of the original trilogy of Tomb Raider games are on our doorstep. These aren’t dramatic remakes. They still look like older games, but have a higher polygon count Lara Croft and higher-resolution textures, which the hardware at the time wouldn’t have had a hope of handling. There’s also a new control method, which is handy as the original Lara would have felt too stilted and tricky for modern gamers accustomed to the feel of Assassin’s Creed titles and the most recent Lara Croft games.
Release date: February 14
Coming to PlayStation, Xbox and Switch consoles, plus PC
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered
Back in 1995, Dark Forces was the coolest thing in first-person shooting, at least for nerds. It was a bit like Doom, released around a year-and-a-half earlier, but felt more advanced and more story-driven. This remake stays largely true to the original. And that’s no surprise as this is a Nightdive remaster, a studio that specialises in making old games more palatable to the modern audience without ruining the original vibe.
Release date: February 28
Coming to PlayStation, Xbox and Switch consoles, plus PC
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Does this game really need a remake? Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons was a 2013 game in which you played as a pair of brothers, solving puzzles in order to find the “water of life” to save their father. The original still holds up well today, thanks to its stylised look. But if a remaster can bring a new generation of fans to this charming three- to four-hour adventure, we’re game.
Release date: February 28
Coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles and PC
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
The whole Final Fantasy VII pantheon can seem impenetrable to non-fans. Back in 1997, the original was released for PS1 and 2020’s Final Fantasy VII remake was a sort-of alternate reality re-do of roughly the first third of the original game. Rebirth, as far as we can tell, tackles the middle chapter - we got a look at the game earlier this month. At this rate, we’ll have the whole thing finished in… 2028. Yikes.
Release date: February 29
Coming to PlayStation 5
Metal Gear Solid Delta 3: Snake Eater
Last year, in 2023, Konami released a pack of remastered versions of the first three Metal Gear Solid games, the Master Collection Vol 1. It was panned as a lazy release. However, we are getting a much more substantial remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 in Snake Eater Delta, some time in 2024. Early gameplay footage suggests this remake won’t mess with what happens in the game much, but it sure does look glossier.
Release date: 2024
Coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles and PC
Braid: Anniversary Edition
Braid brought the concept of “indie games” to a much wider audience in 2008. It’s a puzzle platformer in which you can rewind time, to help solve those puzzles and avoid getting your character bumped off by enemies. This refreshed version includes redrawn graphics, “new puzzles” and a massive 15 hours of commentary. Whether anyone really wants that much chat when developer Jonathan Blow is generally regarded as not the nicest chap is another question.
Release date: April 30
Coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox consoles, PC and mobile via Netflix
Until Dawn
2015’s horror-movie-as-video-game Until Dawn still looks pretty good today, but runs pretty poorly on a base PS4 by today’s standards. The remake should not only avoid those frame-rate issues but will also significantly upgrade visual fidelity for PS5 and PC. It’s being rebuilt in a new engine, Unreal Engine 5, and apparently will have a “more nuanced” story. Let’s hope this doesn’t include any AI voice actors as the original cast, which included Remi Malek and Hayden Panettiere, did a great job in the original.
Release date: 2024
Coming to PlayStation 5 and PC
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill publisher Konami has seen the magic Capcom has weaved with its Resident Evil remakes and wants to do the same with Silent Hill. A remake of the most-loved game in the series, Silent Hill 2, is coming this year. Some alarm bells are ringing for this one, as early trailers focus on combat, which is not one of the key appeals of the original. And, well, it’s in development at Bloober Team, whose games almost always receive a middling response. Fingers crossed.
Release date: 2024
Coming to PlayStation 5 and PC
Gothic
Remember Gothic? It was a 2001 role-playing fantasy game that arrived the year before The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. Gothic never made anywhere near as much of an impact. But with the “next Skyrim” not due until god-knows-when, we’re more than up for a trip down swords ’n’ spells memory lane. This one has been swilling around for years, but it has finally gone up for pre-order on Amazon, pencilled in for the end of 2024.
Release date: H2 2024 (unconfirmed)
Coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles and PC
The Witcher
CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher series only became truly massive in 2015 with the release of the third game. Its second was already great. But the first from 2007? It’s enjoyable, but much less polished and confident than the other two. It’s being remade with modern tech, using Unreal Engine 5, and the devs say they aren’t afraid to take the butcher’s knife to this one to make it work for fresh audiences. It’s best to put this one to the back of your mind, though, as we’re unlikely to see it before late 2026 or 2027.
Release date: 2026-2027
Coming TBC
