ReCore is a game about friendship, and it wants you to feel that. Joule Adams wakes from centuries of cryo-sleep on Far Eden, a desert world ravaged by sandstorms, and finds her companion Mack at her side. Together they must fix a broken terraforming station, gather cores, and fight off the corrupted corebots that now roam the planet.
Trailer, via IGDBcom.
Joule and the Corebots
Joule is a survivor of the Dust Devil Plague, which made Earth uninhabitable in the early 2020s. The story opens with her and Mack walking past the wreckage of her cryo-sleep habitat, or “crawler,” after waking. They set out to find a power core to restart the crawler, and eventually find it inside another corebot, which Joule extracts with her tool.
The corebots are the heart of the game. Each companion can be upgraded with blueprints and materials, swapping cores between them to change their abilities. Their frames are rearrangeable, and they communicate in their own language called DigiMode, which players can translate. Joule’s three companions support her in combat and puzzle solving, and their colors matter: if a companion shares an enemy’s color, they deal extra damage.
The World of Far Eden
Far Eden is a dynamic open world. Sandstorms reshape the landscape, uncovering new areas to explore and new challenges. The terrain changes from one visit to the next, which gives the game a sense of unpredictability. Players navigate the desert on foot, using rocket boosters on Joule’s shoes and back, or with the grappling hook that lets her cross platforms and reach high places.
Combat and Progression
ReCore borrows heavily from the Metroidvania tradition. Players collect cores to upgrade Joule’s weapons and vitality, and ranged weapons use colored ammunition that takes down enemies with matching colors: red, blue and yellow. If a companion shares an enemy’s color, they deal more damage. Enemies drop cores that unlock new areas and resources for crafting.
The game uses a third-person perspective, and the action is fast. Joule dodges, jumps and dashes to avoid attacks, and she extracts an enemy’s energy core after enough damage is done. The combat is competent but not exceptional.
Development and Legacy
ReCore was directed by Mark Pacini, who also directed the Metroid Prime trilogy. It was written by Joseph Staten, and the game draws on influences from The Legend of Zelda, Mega Man and Metroid.
Development began in early 2014, and the project was split between Armature Studio and Comcept. Armature took the primary role, while Comcept helped with story and world-building. Asobo Studio assisted both studios. The game was released for Windows and Xbox One worldwide in September 2016.
| Role | Studio | Primary Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Direction | Mark Pacini | Metroid Prime trilogy |
| Writing | Joseph Staten | Story |
| Influence | Keiji Inafune | Metroid Prime |
| Primary developer | Armature Studio | Game design |
| Story and world-building | Comcept | Narrative |
| Assistance | Asobo Studio | Support |
The Verdict
ReCore is a solid, if unspectacular, entry in the action-adventure genre. Its core loop of exploring Far Eden, upgrading companions and fighting corrupted corebots holds together, even if the combat rarely surprises. The game’s ambition shows in its open-world design and its use of the Metroidvania template, but the execution doesn’t quite match the promise.
The story is thin. Joule’s journey is linear, and the world feels large but hollow. The voice acting, with Joule voiced by Erika Soto and Mack voiced by Jonathan Lipow, is adequate but unremarkable. The game’s strengths are its companions and its world, but neither is enough to carry the whole experience.
ReCore is a game with a good idea and a weak finish. It deserves credit for trying something ambitious, but it falls short of delivering on that ambition consistently.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
