The Thing Remastered Developers Promise “Significant Improvements” to the Gameplay

Last month, The Thing Remastered was revealed by Nightdive Studios. This marks the first time the horror game has been made available in more than two decades, and players can expect a number of quality of life changes when it releases. In a new interview with Nintendo Life, Nightdive director of business development Larry Kuperman was asked about the types of enhancements players can expect to see. While Kuperman did not go deep into detail, he did tell the outlet that there would be “significant improvements,” but that the developer is also intent on sticking closely to the vision of the original team. 

“I can’t really go into specifics, both because we want fans to be surprised and also because the game is still in development. But fans should expect significant improvements to the quality of gameplay while staying very true to the original vision,” Kuperman told Nintendo Life. “As always, our goal is to give fans a remaster that ‘plays the way you remember it’ only somewhat better.”

Interestingly, Kuperman did note that the Nightdive “received an enormous amount of original assets and materials.” This is definitely notable, as a lot of developers and publishers were bad at preserving this kind of material for older games. Kuperman says that some of that content will be making its way into the remaster, but Nightdive is also “trying to decide on the best course for preservation.” Hopefully this means some kind of gallery will end up in the game, or that we’ll see an official art book released alongside The Thing Remastered. However, that’s just conjecture at this time. 

The Thing was originally released in 2002 on PS2, Xbox, and PC. The game acts as a direct sequel to the original John Carpenter film, putting players in the role of a new character named Captain Blake. Blake and his team arrive at U.S. Outpost 31, as part of an investigation to find out what happened. There have been discussions about a potential sequel to the 1982 film, so it’s hard to say whether the events of the game will still be considered canon if that happens. However, it’s worth noting that Carpenter was involved with the original version of the game, and anyone that wants to see what happens after that movie might want to check out The Thing Remastered later this year! 

Are you excited for The Thing: Remastered? Did you ever play the 2002 game? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!