The Thing: Remastered Review Summary

This visually faithful remaster boasts improved graphics, smooth PC performance, and fun classic shooter action, though its generic story, outdated gameplay, and clunky controls feel dated.

Visually faithful remaster: The remaster is widely regarded as visually decent and well-polished while staying faithful to the original. Many reviewers highlight it as a beautiful, exemplary remaster that looks as good as it can.

Improved graphics significantly: The remaster features significantly enhanced graphics compared to the original, with improved textures, lighting, and effects. Reviewers note the updated visuals are a pleasure to experience.

Fun gameplay: Players find the game highly enjoyable and fun to play, with easy-to-learn mechanics. Even with rough edges, the core gameplay remains pleasant and engaging.

Solid overall game: The game is considered a solid and good experience overall, with enjoyable gameplay and a worthwhile package. Many reviewers describe it as pretty good and worth playing.

Nightdive's remaster praised: Reviewers consistently commend Nightdive Studios for delivering a high-quality remaster. The work is described as spectacular, commendable, and worth the money, with many calling it their best remaster yet.

Generic story: The story is generic, mediocre, and not particularly good.

Outdated gameplay: Gameplay feels badly outdated, reminiscent of early 2000s titles.

Stuck NPCs: NPCs frequently get stuck, especially in doorways, forcing restarts.

Frequent bugs and jank: Players report the game is buggy and janky, with technical issues that detract from the experience.

Clunky controls: Controls feel awkward, rigid, and difficult to get used to, making gameplay frustrating.

Squad Trust Mechanics: A trust system affects whether allies follow orders. Players must manage teammate morale and trust in real-time, deciding who to trust and gaining trust by giving weapons, ammo, healing, and performing blood tests.

Squad System Core: The game features a squad management system where players command a tactical squad with specialized roles like engineer, medic, and soldier. Squadmates can die, and the system allows up to five buddies at certain points.

Blood Test Infection: A blood test mechanic allows players to check teammates for infection. The infection system can turn situations upside down and is tied to squad gameplay.

Classic Shooter Gameplay: The game is a first-person shooter with old-school mechanics typical of its era. Gameplay is fairly classic and reflects early 2000s design.

Survival Horror Genre: The game is tagged as survival horror and is a squad-based survival horror shooter with third-person shooting and resource management.

Smooth performance on modern PCs: Multiple reviewers report that the game runs flawlessly or very smoothly on modern hardware, with some noting low PC requirements and good optimization. High framerates and fast loading times are also mentioned as positives.

Crashes and stability issues: Several reviewers experienced crashes, including during specific missions and after completing the game. Some also reported occasional errors or falling through textures.

Good Steam Deck and handheld performance: Reviewers specifically highlight that the game runs surprisingly well on the Steam Deck and ROG Ally X, indicating good compatibility with portable devices.

Resolution and framerate support: The game supports 2K and 4K resolutions, and offers high FPS options including 500 and unlimited. Reviewers played at 2K 120 FPS and noted high GPU usage at 1440p/165fps.

High FPS causes AI softlock: One reviewer reported that high framerates cause NPC AI to slide past triggers, leading to a softlock. This is a specific technical issue that can halt progression.

Recommended for The Thing fans: Fans of John Carpenter's The Thing and the original game are the primary audience and highly recommend it. Numerous clusters emphasize this.

Wait for a sale: Many reviewers say the game is only worth buying at a discount, not at full price. This is the most common recommendation across multiple clusters.

Nostalgia-driven appeal: The game resonates strongly with players who have nostalgia for the original game or film. Several clusters mention nostalgia as a key reason to buy.

Worth playing overall: Many reviewers give a general positive recommendation, stating the game is worth experiencing or checking out. This is a broad endorsement.

Fans of older versions: Players who enjoyed the PS2 version or are tolerant of older gameplay mechanics recommend it. This targets a specific niche.

Community fair range: $15.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 6.0h.

Story completion: 5.0h.

Reviews most often describe strong early survival-horror engagement that later collapses into repetitive shooter sections. A minority report no hook at all because of awkward combat, dated mechanics, and technical problems.

Friction: Repetitive combat and level design; Later shift from monsters to human soldiers; Low enemy variety; Clunky squad AI and controls; Technical bugs and crashes; Audio, UI, and pacing problems.

Nostalgic Original Player: Replays the familiar linear campaign, often using classic aiming and old-school settings to recreate the original feel. Motivation: Relive childhood memories of the original or PS2 release and support a faithful modern re-release. Stance: buy.

Carpenter Film Fan: Story-focused linear horror shooter play, with attention to squad tension, atmosphere, and fan-service connections. Motivation: Continue the 1982 film's story and experience Carpenter-style horror atmosphere in game form. Stance: buy.

Retro Shooter Enthusiast: Uses classic aiming, high difficulty, and low auto-aim to preserve intensity and old-school combat feel. Motivation: Experience vintage action-horror and boomer-shooter mechanics with enough challenge and modern-PC convenience. Stance: sale.

Across the two Windows VRAM cohorts, the game is generally reported as playable, with only minor caveats and one non-hardware-related crash mentioned.

Windows <8GB VRAM: positive. Reports an enjoyable remaster experience with small caveats and improved controls and FPS.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. Reports no hardware performance issues; the only crash mentioned at the final boss cutscene is attributed to a missing file in a pirated copy.

Steam Deck: Steam Deck feedback is mostly positive on performance and compatibility, with multiple users reporting solid 60 FPS and good controller support. However, one review reports a crash that prevents play and prompts a refund request, and another reports a Deck Verified refresh-rate bug. Controller setup may require troubleshooting, and hidden HUD health information adds usability friction. The launch-blocking crash is the dominant technical barrier.

Linux and Proton: The filtered feedback is overwhelmingly positive about Steam Deck runability and performance. Multiple users report full playthroughs and solid 60 FPS at high or max settings, with no mention of Proton version switching, launch options, anti-cheat blockers, or Linux desktop-specific workarounds. One isolated complaint notes that the Deck Verified game runs at half the refresh rate, but this does not outweigh the broader consensus that the game works well on Steam Deck/SteamOS.

Monetization: The reviews focus on the remaster's upfront price and perceived low value, repeatedly calling it overpriced and a cash grab. There is no direct evidence of real-money gacha, loot boxes, battle passes, paid power, paid convenience, or an in-game shop. Under the scoring rules, base-price complaints and unconfirmed monetization concerns cannot push the score above 20.

External guides: The feedback centers on needing external walkthroughs to resolve a softlock or puzzle and to locate section objectives. There is no evidence of drop-rate, farming, inventory/crafting, or build/quest data dependency. The primary complaint fits the default Tourist tier: spatial/navigation and stuck-state guidance.

Remaster of 2002 classic: Multiple clusters describe the game as a remaster of the original 2002 title, with improved graphics but unchanged core mechanics. It is often referred to as a remaster rather than a remake.

Short game length: Reviewers frequently note that the game is short, typically taking around 5 to 10 hours to complete. This is a common point of feedback, often mentioned alongside its simple design.

Sequel to 1982 film: The game serves as a canonical sequel to John Carpenter's 1982 film 'The Thing', continuing the story after the movie's events. Clusters highlight its direct narrative connection to the film.

Graphical enhancements in remaster: The remaster adds improved textures, lighting, shadows, and support for higher resolutions, along with modern system compatibility. Some clusters detail specific upgrades like dynamic lighting and better facial animations.

PS2-era original title: The original game was released during the PS2 era, and the remaster brings it to modern platforms. This is highlighted as a key aspect of its history.