Hard Reset

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

"Just don't go postal, Fletcher."

Hard Reset is a PC-exclusive First-Person Shooter from developer Flying Wild Hog, released on September 13, 2011. The game is a modern take on classic shooters, emphasizing old-school elements such as health pickups, carrying lots of guns at once (well, sort of), and fast-paced action and movement.

The game takes place in the year 2436. Humanity has been nearly wiped out by rogue robots, and the last safe haven of humanity, the city of Bezoar, has been breached. The player assumes the role of Maj. Fletcher, of the city's security corporation, CLN.

The demo and full game are currently available on Steam and GOG.com.

Tropes used in Hard Reset include:
  • Action Bomb: The Savage, a beachball-sized sphere-on-legs that basically charges at you and explodes.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: At least two cases, with a probable third in the making.
  • Anti-Hero: Fletcher isn't exactly a nice person. Somewhere around II to III on the Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes.
  • Apocalypse How: Class 1. To elaborate, humanity created an AI that went rogue. At first it looked like they had the upper hand, but now they're bottled up inside Bezoar City.
  • Artistic License Physics: A very large license. A particularly obvious example is probably... using the Shotgun Secondary Fire on a charging Gorilla will make it freeze, completely cancelling any momentum it might have had. Doesn't stop them from completing a Shockwave Stomp though.
  • Beehive Barrier: The Electric Mortar's Stasis Field makes a spherical Beehive Barrier which freezes enemies caught inside it. They're still vulnerable to your attacks, though.
  • Bottomless Magazines: Though you don't have infinite ammo, you never have to reload.
    • Semi-infinite. If you run down your ammo enough it starts to regenerate on its own much like your shields, but it only charges back up to 100 (out of 200 or 240 if ammo cap is upgraded) and is slow enough to make it ineffective in a hard fight.
  • Brain Uploading: The Sanctuary is a network containing billions of digitized human consciousnesses. Of course, it's the machines' primary objective.
    • Fletcher can also upload the brains of other people into his own head to learn what they know, amongst other things; exactly what is never specified. He drinks heavily - either to suppress identity crisis issues or because it weighs so heavily on his conscience.
  • City Noir: Bezoar City is a vast, towering City Noir. When we say towering, we damn well mean it too; at certain points the wind whistles by fast enough to suggest you are a very... appreciable distance from the ground that you most definitely can't see. Yet, when you look up? There's still a lot more city to go.
  • Combos: Using your weapons and their various modes in tandem with each other and the environment is key to quickly wiping out the resident Smash Mooks or a Zerg Rush quickly and efficiently.
  • Cyberpunk: With a large portion of Used Future too.
  • Deflector Shields: Fletcher possesses a Personal Shield that, like Unreal, partially reduces incoming damage but loses effectiveness as it depletes. It requires a few seconds of you not taking damage before it starts recharging itself. It can be upgraded to recharge faster, reduce the delay before recharging, and increase maximum capacity.
  • Electronic Eye: Fletcher has a metal implant covering his left eye.
  • Enemy Scan: A passive function of the NRG Weapon's Seeker mode reveals the name and health of the currently targeted enemy, plus some delightfully useless charts that are just there to look cool.
  • Excuse Plot: It seems like the story for this game was added very late in the development process, although the comic panels it's told in are nice. You see, nanites were somehow put into a statue, and they're trying to... get to an abandoned hospital? Yeah.
  • Exploding Barrels: Plenty of them, and, considering how many secret areas they open up, you'll be shooting lots of them.
    • Not just barrels, either. Fletcher can wreck all manner of blue (electrical) or orange (explosive) terrain items to get an edge on his opponents, creating temporary area denial effects with streams of electricity, or simply blowing up everything nearby.
  • Mad Scientist: Professor Percival Novak.
    • He made the Interior AI, and is responsible for the 'condition' that Fletcher suffers from... which could well be The Plan.
  • New Game+: Ex Mode. Beat the game once, start over again on any difficulty with all the stuff you had before! Very useful for higher difficulties, where your ability to fight effectively is reliant on the weapon modes you have at your disposal.
  • No Ending: After a (enjoyable) boss fight without any story significance, the game just... stops.
  • Only in It For the Money: Fletcher claims this is his only reason for working for the CLN.
  • Overheating: Whilst the standard CLN Firearm can't overheat in the usual sense of this trope, prolonged firing does cause it heat up, as a rather nice touch.
  • Power-Up: Health and Ammo, plus NANO. Health is green, CLN ammo is red, NRG ammo is blue, and NANO is orange. Pick up enough NANO and you can buy a permanent upgrade for your weapons and kit at an Upgrade Terminal. You also get a varying amount of NANO for every kill depending on the enemy.
  • Precision F-Strike: From the trailer, Fletcher's response to his Mission Control when he is initially denied a request for backup.

Fletcher: For fuck's sake, are you blind?! At least seven dead, no visual contact with the enemy...

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