Overview
new mechanics, changes in levels’ layouts, new and edited enemy spawns, various nitpicks, etc
dash
in REDUX there is a new maneuver called “dash”. press SHIFT + Direction and the character will dash into desired place. it helps to avoid enemies’ attacks and just move faster. overly, with that new addition game becomes much easier
- there is no limitation on how much dash you are allowed to do, you can dash indefinitely; no rechargeable stamina meter, or anything like that
- you are allowed to dash in any direction you want: forward, backward, leftward, rightward – anyward
- dashing greatly helps in getting the certain secrets, for example getting into the infamous level 2’s elevator is much easier with dash
- player still can sprint – for sprinting player need to press and hold SHIFT. this will make character to dash once in a desired direction, but afterward character will run as in EXTENDED but without a stamina meter
- oddly enough, there is a stamina meter on the HUD, but it just never depletes; maybe a bug?
⚠️ WARNING!⚠️
there is glitch/bug in REDUX that make your character kill itself if you will dash down from the stairs or any other slopped surfaced. yes, basically, dashing from the stairs can kill you, which is annoying to say at least, especially on Heroic mode
Cyber-Zombies
the new enemies spawn in REDUX – Cyber-Zombies. they are melee fighters dealing a medium damage and leave tons of blood when being killed
Katana
there is a new weapon in REDUX – the cyber Katana that deals about x0.30 damage of RPG. some would think that this weapon is out of place, but actually is helpful against Cyber-Zombies, Peckers and stunned/shocked enemies
- player finds Katana near the end of level 4 (in EX-mode player starts the game with one); Katana is impossible to miss
- in original released the usage of Katana/weapons was clunky because Katana was in between of two main weapons, so a player cycled between all three weapons. since then, a patch was released that rectified that situation: now using Katana and switching between two main weapons are two separate buttons
quicksaves & flashlight
quicksaves/quickloads were added in REDUX. in EXTENDED there were only checkpoint-based saves, but via the console commands player could have saved in any place he likes
also a flashlight was added in REDUX
FOV
in REDUX there is quite different max FOV (field of view) that in EXTENDED. you can clearly see it by observing you weapon (in EXTENDED more parts of it are revealed at max FOV). FOV in REDUX feels more natural, but gives less room to see around
there is also a long-standing bug – at higher FOV (70+) the in-game HUD becomes crippled at the bottom; not critical, just weird
visuals: overview
there is a lot of subtle differences in visual appearances between REDUX and EXTENDED versions – and those changes are not that significant and one need to be a quite picky to notice them. overly, REDUX features some degradation in terms of shadows, lights and reflection in order to give a better performance, but I found its soft and less-shiny texture more appealing for the eyes
visuals: resolution scale, aliasing
REDUX has “resolution-scale” option
visuals: glare
in terms of glare, both EXTENDED and REDUX have their own quirks. in some cases EXTENDED has more glare:
in other cases REDUX has more of it:
and in some extreme cases REDUX has too much of it:
one way for sure, is that in REDUX the lighting/glare’ sources (the points) become invisible at mush shorter distance than in EXTENDED
furthermore, those points may suddenly appear in REDUX right in front of you and disappear if you move backward
visuals: shadows, reflections, brightness
in order to optimize engine’s payload, some dynamic or insignificant shadows were remove from REDUX. the most drastic changes were happened in big open areas
REDUX removed some insignificant reflections in order to optimize the engine
REDUX uses a different algorithm to trace/enrich light, it results in more dark or more bright surfaces, it is neither good or bad, it is just different
visuals: textures
overall, textures in REDUX are more soft (one can say even “blurry”). you can see it mostly everywhere, but on the images below it it easier to spot (compare the letters’ blurriness and Atlas’s chest)
that softness, however helped to solve some visual issues, like image being too sharp; compare images below – how sign’s lighting is distorted in EXTENDED and looks good in REDUX
also, surfaces in REDUX have less “shiny” and “bumpmap” appearance
visuals: smoke, fore, rain-drops
the fire is different in REDUX
the color of smoke is different in REDUX
in REDUX there is a new rain-drops effect at the screen
visuals: weapons
RPG’s, G-Launcher’s and Mine’s explosions have more details in REDUX
gravity-grenades have a different visual effect in REDUX
Plazma has more sparks and visual gimmicks in EXTENDED
both Mortar’s modes have different effect in REDUX
visuals: baking
in EXTENDED whenever player is ALT+TABing from the game and then ALT+TABing back – there would a brief moment of in-game graphics being baked back (progressive enhancement from the basic graphics to the current one). there is no such thing in REDUX and ALT+TABing back and forth doesn’t trigger baking
buttons’ interface
in EXTENDED a cursor-interface had appeared whenever player was looking at buttons (like in DOOM 3); in REDUX that interface was removed in favor of more traditional “USE” button
Crossfire/SLI & 3D support
long story short – EXTENDED has a native support for multi-GPUs, while REDUX doesn’t have it, but you can fix it…
for a ad-hoc SLI support in REDUX add “0x080222F5” for SLI compatibility bits in Nvidia Inspector
long story short, again, – EXTENDED has a native support for 3D, while REDUX doesn’t have it… again
enemies: difficulty, rebalance
there are a lot changes in difficulty, making some enemies more dangerous or at opposite. overly REDUX is more easier version of the game, with lots of nasty, trap-like enemy behaviors were reduced or significantly nerfed. having “dash”-maneuver greatly lowers the difficulty further
- Peckers are more prone to circle around you and don’t attack all from one direction, preferring to stay at distance; if there is 20 Peckers in the room, then in EXTENDED they all will attack you, but in REDUX only a small bunch of Peckers will attack you at once, while others will stay away and attack only if the current attackers were killed
- Gorillas’ pushback force was nerfed in REDUX; previously in EXTENDED player could take a damage at tangent of Gorilla’s ram (A); in REDUX player need to actually be in Gorilla’s ram attack to get a damage (B)
- it is easier to amputate Gorillas in REDUX
- Gorillas have less HP in the beginning of the game (REDUX‘s HP < EXTENDED‘s HP), but getting progressively more HP toward the end of the game (REDUX‘s HP > EXTENDED‘s HP)
- Slayers’ nasty hitscanning was nerfed significantly in REDUX, making them miss more often and dodging their projectiles easier
- CLN Carriers and Heavy Scarabs have more HP in REDUX (why…?)
enemies: spawns, behavior
certain enemy spawn points and enemy behavior were changed in REDUX. fights were remade to be more fair and balanced, and they also feature a new enemy type – the Cyborg Zombies and enemies from DLC (appear earlier in the game)
① in EXTENDED that Pecker in is a sleeping phase and become active when player is nearby. in REDUX he is already active
① in EXTENDED an alone Pecker (in the beginning of level) runs away at player’s approach. in REDUX he attacks player on sight
② extra Gorilla is spawned after getting one of the secrets in REDUX
③ Specter is spawned instead of Gorilla in REDUX
④ a final battle in EXTENDED has two waves: a bunch of Slayers, then x2 Gorillas below + Slayers above; in REDUX there is three waves: a bunch of Slayers, then more Slayers above, then x2 Gorillas below
① there is less Peckers in sewer in REDUX
② a parking lot is way more manageable in REDUX, for two reasons: less Slayers and the timing between their spawning is longer
③ Specters are spawned instead of Slayers near the end
① Cyborg Zombies are spawned in the various area (underground, open-area after the underground, bazaar, generators)
② in EXTENDED a few Light-Grenadier are spawned on that bridge. they are absent in REDUX
③ Specters are spawned after Gorilla in REDUX
④ in EXTENDED a Slayer is spawned on that bridge. he is absent in REDUX
① Cyborg Zombies are spawned in bazaar and at Atlas’ square
② Specters appear after the death of x2 Heavy-Grenadiers
① Cyborg Zombies are spawned in various places (at the beginning, waiting hall, bridge and offices)
② in EXTENDED a bunch of Peckers appear after getting some NANOs, in REDUX Slayers appear instead
③ in REDUX more Peckers attack player after releasing a wagon
④ in REDUX x2 CLN Carriers attack player at the construction yard
⑤ in EXTENDED x3 Peckers are in idle/sleep state and don’t attack player until he is around; in REDUX they are active and will immediately try to attack a player
① in EXTENDED one Gorilla walks away from player and don’t attack player until sees him or being attacked; in REDUX he is unavoidably sees player and will attack from the start
② Cyborg Zombies are spawned in various places
③ in EXTENDED Slayers can break the windows and shoot at player; in REDUX they do not break the windows themselves, but still can shoot at player if a window was destroyed
④ in EXTENDED x3 Gorillas are spawned before the Constructor battle; in REDUX only x2 are spawned
⑤ during a battle with Constructor instead of x4 Gorillas (third wave) a bunch of Specters is spawned
① Cyborg Zombies are spawned in various places
① in EXTENDED those Slayers jump to the player’s location; in REDUX they don’t to that
① there is way less Specters in REDUX
① in REDUX a bunch of Slayers are spawned alongside Gorillas when generator has been turn on
② in REDUX there is way less Slayers during a final segment, but x2 Light-Grenadiers are spawned alongside them
maps’ layout
there are a lot of small changes and additions in various maps; mostly small and hardly noticeable, but still
a big metal machine, after a Parking Lot, was removed in REDUX
for some reasons player no longer can open the doors of those containers in REDUX (near x2 Heavy-Grenadiers), however the doors of the very same container in next levels can be opened freely. weird
shelves in in REDUX were remade to be much bigger
the turnstiles’ layout was changed in REDUX
extra benches were added in the first bridge-like passageway, where you meet Constructor for the first time
boxes were partly removed in REDUX
construction site in REDUX has extra wall-blocks
PC tables in office rooms have a difference distance between each other
big crates and pipes were added here and there in REDUX
destroyed walls have different appearance in REDUX
character: bulkiness
in REDUX-version character’s model was remade to be more bulky and big. because of it getting to certain places and picking up certain NANOs is awkward
try to get a NANO behind that dumpster in both EXTENDED and REDUX and you will see that in REDUX-version it is way harder (impossible?) to squeeze between a dumpster and a column
same for level 3 – in REDUX version getting behind that spinning ad is more troublesome that in EXTENDED-version
there is one NANO in level 9 that you no longer can just pick in REDUX-version – you have to pull it out with an explosion or gravity-grenade
such character’s bulkiness also prohibits character to fall down via small gaps. from example, you can freely fall down here in EXTENDED-version, but no longer can in REDUX-version
also, increased character’s proportions is making way harder to get pass certain catwalks and thin passageways, like a bunch of in level 3
character: jumping
in REDUX jumping mechanics was nerfed and tweaked in a way that made certain jumps harder or easier
jumping on that elevator and, further, on rails and girders is easier in REDUX
jumping on that container is way-way-way easier in REDUX (oh Lord, thanks)
because jumping was remade in REDUX, getting to a certain crates/shelves, that was possible in EXTENDED, is no longer available (or is tricky)
in EXTENDED player could jump on a stopped train (at the end) and get a secret NANO easier; in REDUX it is no longer available and player has to to use rails above
getting into destroyed crane for a secret NANO is easier in REDUX
getting into that destroyed contained for a a secret NANO is way harder in REDUX and player no longer can “just jump” into it; now player has no choice but to use some explosive barrels and jump from them
terrible enough, but because of changed jumping mechanics – player can die on jumping/falling from a big distance in REDUX; one example is this secret area
character: legs, landing animation
in REDUX character’s model has legs. isn’t it awesome?
speaking of legs…. in REDUX jumping and falling from a big distance triggers a special animation of a character standing up from the ground
NANOs
locations of few NANOs, or the way of obtaining them, were changed in REDUX
in EXTENDED there is a NANO near the end of level at the stairs. that NANO is absent in REDUX
in EXTENDED a NANO is located behind broken rails and player need to use gravity-grenade or RPG to get it; in REDUX NANO was relocated in easier place
for reasons unknown a single crate was removed in REDUX making getting that one NANO harder
NANO was relocated closer to the balcony on REDUX (still not good enough…)
in EXTENDED that closed door shall be opened (more enemies to attack player) and inside there is must be a NANO; in REDUX that door is never openned, making getting one NANO impossible
that NANO is located on way farther distance in EXTENDED, but is moved closer to player in REDUX
in EXTENDED that NANO is located on a ledge, but in REDUX is movedf down
menu, options, settings
there are a lot of changes in main menu, pause menu, options, settings and so on
- font is very different (and, honestly, EXTENDED has a better font)
- in EXTENDED you could toggle between the regular animations of main menu and fast animation (lower-right corner); in REDUX the animations are always in fast mode
- Loading menu is much better in EXTENDED
in EXTENDED the option is called “Game Options”, while in REDUX “Game & HUD options
- in EXTENDED the option is called “Game Options”, while in REDUX “Game & HUD options”
- you cannot disable blood and skip launch movie in REDUX
- you cannot disable checkpoints (savings) in EXTENDED
- “Disable Sprint Effects” (in EXTENDED) and “Disable Blur Effect” (in REDUX) are the same option
- you can change language right in the game in REDUX, in EXTENDED you need to do it via Steam Library
- “Melee Steering” and “Weapon Inertia” are two exclusive options for REDUX
- in EXTENDED there is only windowed and fullscreen modes, in REDUX there is also a borderless windowed
- “Resolution Scale” and SSAO are exclusive for REDUX
- as was mentioned above – a native support for 3D is not supported in REDUX, but exists in EXTENDED
languages
both EXTENDED and REDUX support different languages
artbook & benchmark
REDUX has a colorful artbook, pages of which you unlock during a gameplay
EXTENDED has a Benchmark, which is absent from REDUX
if you want to thank me……then check my guide about fixing various game issues: launching, crashing, optimization, stuttering, gamepads, etc. the guide is huge, but the topic is broad to begin with
[link]