Powerslave
DOS - 1996
Description of Powerslave
Powerslave is a fun and innovative first-person shooter whose excellent graphics and level design are unfortunately overshadowed by serious interface problems and bugs (which are probably related to the fact that the game was converted to PC from the original PlayStation version).
The premise is quite promising, and is a far cry from "shoot aliens, save Earth" plots of most first-person shooters. You play a covert operations specialist who's been ferried into the Egyptian city of Karnak to find out who or what has sealed off the town from the rest of the world. The only information you have is from a villager who somehow managed to escape: before he died, he said someone had invaded the city, stolen the mummy of the Pharoah Ramses, and was attempting to bring him back to life. The intruders are also embalming and mummifying live villagers to keep the populace in line....
For a 3D shoot-'em-up, Powerslave offers a couple of nice twists. Similar to another underdog Strife, some areas aren't accessible unless you push objects around, either revealing new doorways or providing a stepping stone to jump over a wall. Because there are several places where you have to perform some accurate leaps, the inclusion of a third-person perspective can be a big help in calculating jumps. In addition to real-world weapons such as an M-60 machine gun, hand grenades, and a flamethrower, you can also use a slew of magical items that do everything from making you invincible to replenishing your life meter. These magical items add depth to gameplay because you have to decide what to use and when to use it, not to mention collecting enough "magical essence" to enable you to unleash powerful spells similar to Shadowcaster.
The training mode allows you to get used to the interface and various commands without worrying about enemies. Powerslave also boasts excellent graphics that far surpass your average Quake clones. The enemies are nicely textured and shaded, and pixellation is minimal. The level with the giant Sphinx in particular almost evokes the same breaktaking "wow" effect of the last level in the first Tomb Raider game.
Despite all its strengths, Powerslave has a few glaring errors that prevent it from being a Quake contender. Probably the most annoying is the game's terrible save-game feature, which reveals its PlayStation's origins. Instead of being able to save a game at any point during play, you have to give a new game a name and then save it at certain points within each level; your progress is automatically saved at the end of a level. What this means is that if you quit and load a saved game, you're forced to start at the beginning of a level regardless of how far you progressed in that level the last time you played. Two other unforgivable omissions in the game are the complete lack of joystick or gamepad support (yes, it's keyboard or else), and lack of an "always run" button that is common feature in most first-person shooters. Strafing is also painfully slow, and the weapons (numbering only seven) are all quite mundane.
All in all, though, Powerslave's solid level design, interesing plot, and puzzle elements (even if it's mostly just "how do I get from point A to B" variety) makes it a refreshing break from numerous Quake clones. If you hate first-person shooters in general, there's nothing here that will make you change your mind. For fans of the genre, though, Powerslave is highly recommended.
Review By HOTUD
Unofficial Patch DeHacker
You'll find in the download the unofficial patch made by -=CHE@TER=-, making the game much more enjoyable to play, you can read all the details on the english mirror page.
External links
Captures and Snapshots
Comments and reviews
Cantona 7 2020-05-08 3 points
This game is underrated. It is much better than Doom or sort of. Just more than run-and-shoot type, with exquisite graphic and level design at that era.
This platform has a patch file under "Game Extra". That will fix the control issue. Salute to those who spent effort to make this game more fun (you will find cheat code by Google anyway).
Zakarouf 2019-12-28 3 points
Any one who wants to play in modern hardware. Use BuildGDX, its a source port supporting few build engine titles including powerslave.
KC 2019-11-08 -20 points
Controls suck, and just another Doom clone anyway. If there was a control option it might be playable, but I would still give the game a low rating. I guess some people like playing Doom, over, and over, and over, and over.........change the name and it's a new game? Not for me.
Sgt. Savage 2018-09-24 0 point
Game ran pretty well on dos version, framerate got chopped to hell in CD version. Anyone have any tips? I tried all different kinds of resolutions and dos32a which I am not even sure how to run properly(I get fatal syntax error) I don't know what to do.I really wanna play with CD audio but the game runs pretty rough.
This is depressing man :(
Guy Fawkes 2017-09-14 5 points
Nevermind, found the cue image here: https://archive.org/details/msdos_Powerslave_1996
Take both the cue and img file, mount it as an iso. Also some cool mods, tips and tricks for this game can be found here: https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/PowerSlave
Guy Fawkes 2017-09-14 1 point
Anyone got the CD audio for this thing? Been looking all over the internet for it.
Region locked 2017-07-01 1 point
I remember playing this at a friends house a long time ago but never been able to find it under the name "exhumed"...I know why now.
Also considering the timing and the name "power slave", it must be a Iron maiden reference. At that time they where big but not maybe not big enough for yanks to get it....it's just a theory
777kluless111 2016-02-13 1 point
game is ok, running a bit choppy though, I am stuck on the very
first level, I hope there is a level select cheat code b-coz I don't
know where to go, I hate when game designers do that, confusing-ass levels.
keep it simple, use the KISS approach(keepitsimplestupid).
Zuop 2016-02-11 1 point
If you're running the the game in 320x200 res, try running the "SETUP" batch file through dosbox. With it you can change the resolution to the game. Works fine for me other than some key binding quirks. Looks like a good game.
steveaustin 2016-02-06 0 point
320x200 res and game is very UP and DOWN with
framerate , textures are yukkie compared to heretic/doom.
not impressed but was probably a good game back in the DOS era
with a consistent framerate.
goldilox 2015-03-19 -1 point DOS version
It looks a hell of a lot better than the Playstation version .
Do 2015-01-06 -1 point DOS version
Its called exhumed in australia in usa is powerslave Read the wikipedia.
Tortoise 2014-09-28 -2 points DOS version
lol im gonna played this like strife and Doom II eventually some of this kind with 3 hundred years ago i played hahaha :)
To PAT 2014-05-07 1 point DOS version
Actually you are not wrong. The game is called Exhumed in Europe and Power Slave in North America.
Pat 2014-04-21 -1 point DOS version
Ok, i just played it, and found out that it IS called powerslave!
sorry about that, i have NO IDEA where i got the name exhumed!?
Much love!
Pat 2014-04-21 -1 point DOS version
THIS GAME IS CALLED "EXHUMED" !! Not Powerslave...
Jus Sayin! :))
Killer Kish 2014-02-16 0 point DOS version
The best 3D shooter ever made, nothing else of the type has this many secrets or hidden items!
indstr 2014-02-12 0 point DOS version
Huh, this looks pretty cool... Wonder why I never heard of it. I was probably too busy playing Descent, HeXeN, and Quake :)
wolfie 2014-01-23 0 point DOS version
Powerslave is the best game I ever played, and when l find all of the team dolls,then i will be the best.
Zyyz 2013-11-13 0 point DOS version
I never finished the last 3 levels... my OLD OLD computer died on me when i got to that HUGE level with floating platforms and high tech... maybe i'll get a chance this time...
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Buy Powerslave
Powerslave is available for a small price on the following website, and is no longer abandonware. GOG.com provides the best release and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide .
Game Extras and Resources
Some of these file may not be included in the game stores. For Powerslave, we have the following files:
1 MB (DOS)Similar games
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