Powerslave Exhumed | First-Person Exploration

Two genres that couldn’t seem further apart at a glance are the first-person shooter and adventure game. But first impressions can be deceiving, because they're more similar than you'd think. Older FPS games (particularly those following in Doom’s footsteps) tend to be a bit more exploratory, due to their secrets and the process of gradually building up your weapon arsenal, which isn’t totally dissimilar from exploring Hyrule and obtaining new items in a Zelda game.

So, what would you get if a developer decided to go all-in on a slower pace, exploration and backtracking while retaining that first-person perspective? I’m willing to bet most people’s answer would be Metroid Prime, but as for me, my mind immediately goes to a little game called Powerslave.

Released in 1996 as the first game from Lobotomy Software, Powerslave was a shooter that dared to be different. Rather than simply iterating upon the formula Doom popularised, Powerslave took its elements and combined them with the exploratory structure that made series like Zelda and Metroid fun, resulting in an experience that’s just as fresh in 2025 as it would’ve been in 1996. Given its unique nature and exclusivity to home consoles of the day (particularly the overlooked Sega Saturn), it’s no wonder the game became a cult classic.

As someone who grew up during the Wii era and had no interest in shooters for the longest time, I wouldn’t know about Powerslave until Civvie 11’s video on the game, released in the wake of Nightdive’s remaster bringing it to modern consoles and PC. I was intrigued after hearing the premise alone, and while I enjoyed my initial playthrough back in 2022, it wasn’t until I revisited the game this year that I realized just how much I loved it.

Powerslave’s a fantastic game, albeit one that doesn’t get the love it properly deserves. Even now, nearly 30 years later, it still stands out in so many areas, with not many shooters attempting to replicate its unique traits. I’d like to shed some light on everything that makes Powerslave special, and why I think you should play it, even if you don’t think you like FPSs!

The core shooting of a first-person shooter is integral to its feel, and on that metric, Powerslave’s really solid! There’s some fairly typical bullet-based weapons, but a surprising amount of the arsenal leans into the unique, with consistently great results. You’ve got throwable bombs that can destroy cracked walls, a staff that fires cobra-shaped homing projectiles, a flamethrower that can melt anything up-close, alongside other experimental weapons like the Ring of Ra and a manacle capable of shooting lightning.

The only thing that really brings this arsenal down is how rote and formulaic the enemy roster feels, at least compared to what other shooters were doing in 1996. That would be a much larger issue if Powerslave was just a regular shooter, but as I’ve established, it’s so much more than that! And if anything, the fairly familiar combat serves as a solid conduit for what truly makes this game special: the exploratory elements.

During the adventure, our nameless hero will find several artifacts that enhance his core abilities, allowing him to jump higher, breathe underwater for longer periods and walk across hazardous liquids without being harmed, opening up new areas in previous levels. This wasn’t anything new by 1996, but bringing backtracking and a degree of required exploration into this genre certainly was.

In a genre where you were always funnelled from one level to another, being able to go back and find something new was unprecedented, and it’s still an uncommon sight even now! And with the artifacts upgrading such specific parts of your movement, it allows the gameplay to be a bit more varied by introducing platforming sections and underwater exploration, both of which are quite fun!

After putting some thought into it, I think what makes Powerslave work so well is that mixture of the FPS and adventure elements. You still get the high-octane movement and combat that made this era of shooters so fun, but the mandatory backtracking and exploration make the world and your actions in it feel so much more impactful.

You’re not just gunning down enemies to reach the end, you’re directly exploring Karnak and charting your own path through it, taking in the natural sights and sounds that the Kilmaat are trying to erase. There’s still lots to love about the linear level-to-level approach many of its contemporaries were taking, but Powerslave’s extra depth gives it a familiar yet distinct appeal that remains unique even almost 30 years later.

 

Another thing that makes Powerslave stand out is its commitment to its Egyptian theme. Setting a game entirely within a desert sounds like it’d lead to lots of samey environments, but the developers manage to wring so much variety out of each location. You'll wander through the typical sandy plains and tombs but also explore valleys, a sunken temple, underground mines and volcanic cliffsides.

They all manage to hit a perfect blend of realism (by 1996 standards) and fun, not sacrificing believability for solid level design or vice versa. It reminds me of what Valve would later achieve with Half-Life, albeit a bit more primitive.

 

One element of Powerslave that only seems to keep growing on me (and the thing that really sells the atmosphere) is the soundtrack. Composed by Scott Branston, it manages to hit a similar balance to the stages, sounding authentic and fittingly Egyptian while not losing sight of its status as game music. The combat-heavy levels really lean into fast-paced melodies that emphasise the action, while the more exploratory areas head in a more ambient direction with some genuinely beautiful results. It’s not really a soundtrack I’ll listen to outside the game, but in terms of fitting the general mood and vibe, I’ve got no complaints!

 

Powerslave might not be my favourite FPS of 1996 (Duke Nukem 3D’s got much better combat and Quake’s low-poly visuals really speak to me), but the fact I can even compare it to those two titans is nothing short of commendable. The enemy roster might be a little weak and the level design might get a bit frustrating near the end, but the creativity, polish and sheer ambition of every other element makes those faults easier to forgive.

Lobotomy Software could’ve just used these elements to make another standard shooter (which is exactly what they did for the 1997 PC release), but rather than following the norm, they dared to be different. They made a shooter that was unlike anything released up to that point, and one that’s still incredibly unique to this day!

It sucks that Lobotomy wasn’t able to finish their Powerslave sequel (it was cancelled after the studio closed in 1999), but even if their light didn’t shine for very long, it still shone bright all the same, and Powerslave’s a testament to that.