DeadCore Redux

DeadCore Redux is exactly what its name promises: a ground-up rebuild of 5 Bits Games' 2014 first-person speedrun-platformer, in which players scale a mysterious futuristic tower using precise dashes, jumps, and gravity-defying tricks to chase down hidden Sparks scattered through hostile, branching architecture. Over a decade later, the original still has a small but devoted following, and the Redux version's Very Positive Steam rating suggests that fanbase has largely embraced the remaster — even as its review sample is unusually candid, for a mostly positive launch, about the technical rough edges that came with it.

Movement that still holds up

The overwhelming consensus across the sample, positive and negative alike, is that the core platforming remains excellent. Reviewers who played the original a decade ago describe the magic as "still there," and multiple call the movement itself a kind of puzzle to master, layering booster dashes and gravity-flips into routes that reward experimentation over the obvious path. One reviewer new to the series specifically praises how well it plays on controller despite the genre's usual keyboard-and-mouse assumption, and several note the game holds up as both an accessible ten-hour first playthrough and a speedrunning platform with real long-term depth.

What the remaster actually adds

Beyond a visual and audio overhaul reviewers broadly praise — one calls the new sound design something that "makes you feel like you're in a movie" — the headline addition is a brand-new sixth level exclusive to the Redux version. Reviewers consistently single it out as a genuinely strong capstone that raises the difficulty appropriately and gives the story's ending more weight than the original's more abrupt conclusion. Quality-of-life improvements draw specific praise too, including a quick-restart hotkey and a redesigned level-select menu, alongside a new ranking and leaderboard system for players chasing better times.

Atmosphere rebuilt, not replaced

Part of what makes the visual overhaul land, according to the sample, is that it enhances the original's mood rather than replacing it. Reviewers describe the tower's brutalist architecture and open, hazy skyboxes as more striking than ever at higher settings, giving the sense of isolation that defined the original game a sharper edge without changing its identity. That continuity matters to returning fans specifically: several note they were nervous a remaster would smooth over the sparse, slightly unsettling atmosphere that made the original memorable, and are relieved to find it intact and, if anything, more atmospheric than they remembered.

Technical rough edges the sample doesn't gloss over

What keeps the sample from being uniformly glowing is a specific, repeated set of technical complaints. Framerate inconsistency is the most serious: multiple reviewers report swings from over 150fps down to around 30fps within a few metres of in-game space, a real problem in a genre built entirely around split-second precision. Audio bugs are acknowledged even inside otherwise enthusiastic reviews, with one reviewer calling them "galore" while still recommending the game overall. And one of the sample's more detailed reviews singles out the camera during the game's signature gravity-switch sections as genuinely disorienting when flips chain together in sequence, describing it as the specific point where their own progress stalled — not because the challenge was fun, but because they lost track of which way was forward.

Steam Deck and controller support

One area where the sample is close to unanimous, with barely a dissenting note, is portability. Multiple reviewers specifically call out strong performance and controls on Steam Deck, a notable result for a genre historically built around mouse-precision aiming and movement. Controller support on desktop draws similar praise, with at least one reviewer surprised at how naturally the dash-and-jump movement translates to a gamepad given how much the original leaned on keyboard-and-mouse play. Combined with the redesigned level-select menu and quick-restart hotkey, the sample paints a picture of a remaster that's paid real attention to how and where people actually play a decade-old game today, even if that attention didn't fully extend to ironing out the framerate and audio issues raised elsewhere.

Is the remaster worth it over the original?

A smaller but pointed strand of the sample raises a fair question directly: does this remaster offer enough over the original DeadCore, which remains available and cheaper on Steam? At least one reviewer argues it doesn't, recommending prospective buyers get the original instead unless they specifically want to support the developers, and a couple of others describe some physics-based effects as feeling like "an imperfect copy" rather than a fully faithful port. Most of the sample pushes back against this framing, arguing the visual and audio overhaul alone is worth the asking price and that the new level provides real additional content — but it's a genuine, reasonable point of disagreement rather than a fringe complaint, and worth knowing about before double-dipping if you already own the original.

Final Verdict

DeadCore Redux succeeds at the thing that matters most for a remaster: it hasn't touched what made the original's movement and level design so well regarded, while wrapping it in genuinely improved visuals, sound, and one strong new level. Where it falls short of a stronger score is technical polish — framerate swings and audio bugs are specific, repeated, and not what you'd expect from a decade-later remaster, and the value proposition over the cheaper original is a fair question the sample itself keeps raising rather than settling. For newcomers to precise first-person platforming, or longtime fans wanting an excuse to revisit the tower, it's an easy recommendation; owners of the original weighing whether to upgrade should go in with clear eyes about what's actually new.