Berzerk Recharged is a re-imagined take on a classic arcade game that doesn’t have much of a story. The only story element to the game is that you play as someone who is facing an evil sphere named Otto and his robotic henchmen.
Berzerk (Original Arcade) Berzerk (Atari 2600)
The original Berzerk came out in the arcade back in the 80s and eventually made its way to home consoles. In the original release, you run around maze-like rooms that have robots to take down by firing your gun at them and navigating around walls while occasionally using them as cover. Staying too long in these rooms will cause the evil Otto to come after you and if he catches you, your game is over.
In this re-imagined take on that arcade classic, the basic mechanics are here, in that you go from room to room either avoiding various robots and turrets or taking them out with your gun. Otto is also back in this take on the game but is much bigger. A major change this game makes is the addition of offensive and defensive upgrades, and you can also dash to help avoid enemies, though it’s a one-time dash that recharges over time.
The offensive upgrades are in the form of additional weapons you can get that are either based on a set of ammo you’re given or a set time. The kind of weapons you can get are things like a laser that bounces off of walls until it hits an enemy or eventually disappears, or a rapid-fire machine gun type weapon. Defensive upgrades you can find to pickup can be an upgraded dash ability where you can dash infinitely for a short time or a shield that will surround you and protect you from being killed by enemy gunfire.
This game has two modes, arcade mode as well challenges. When you play arcade mode, you have the option to give yourself up to three hindrances that will make the game harder to play but at the same time is a really good way to challenge yourself. The challenges mode of the game has you clearing enemies from a set of rooms in an effort to get the highest score. This challenges mode is a missed opportunity in my opinion, since although it’s fun, it would have been better if they were all different. Rather than have them all consist of clearing a set of rooms, it would be nice if you had to clear a room set within a time limit or with a specific weapon.
Both of the challenge and arcade modes offer the ability to bring a friend along. If you choose to play the game with a friend through local co-op, you get to both contribute to the overall score and of course, extra firepower to take out enemies. What is a neat feature is the fact that both the single-player and multiplayer scores are tracked independently of one another. As much fun as local co-op is, again I feel this is a missed opportunity.
Given the game is available across multiple platforms and how most games offer online play, cross-play could have and should have been implemented. I get the emphasis on achieving that old-school feel with a modern game and sticking to a game’s roots, but it would have been neat to see online multiplayer with cross-play or at the very least offer online co-op and couch co-op modes.
Graphically the game looks really good. It reminds me of a cross between a flash game and an interactive cartoon. It feels like they took Berzerk and through a coat of Dragon’s Lair paint on it and it works. The animations are fluid, the player character, Otto, the robots, everything looks really good and has a lot of personality to them. Performance-wise, everything runs very smoothly and this is what I would expect from a game like this on the Xbox Series X. Performance may vary on other platforms, but with this port, the performance is very smooth without any graphical issues or hiccups
The sound in Berzerk Recharged sounds really good. Instead of bleeps and bloops like in the original game, you have the sound of bullets shot from a gun and laser blasts shooting from laser guns that sound as authentic as I would think it should sound. The sound a shot makes as it hits the tougher robots that is hard-hitting and produces a satisfying thud. The robot voices sound good and are crystal clear sounding. Explosions from the mines you can lay as traps or the robots themselves exploding sound deep and heavy. Music in the game has a nice futuristic techno sound that fits the game nicely with today’s hard-hitting soundtracks and is a far cry from what it was in the original game; due to the fact that it had none.
Berzerk on the Atari 2600 is one of my favorite games on the console and Recharged is a real treat for fans of the original. The game retains its core elements that made the original fun and entertaining and presents itself as flashy, in your face, and modern. I really have enjoyed my time with this game a lot and I think that fans of the original will like this game as it brings a lot to the table that could never have been done with the original release. Even if this is your first time hearing about Berzerk, you should still check this game out as it’s a very solid modern arcade experience.
Atari has done a great job with the Recharged series and I can’t wait to see what the next Recharged game in the series is going to be. Could we see Adventure Recharged or Crystal Castles Recharged? Well, only time will tell but I for one hope that we do!
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.