20
Remake of the old classic fails at the basics and its shoddy presentation and lack of anything extra doesn't help as well. [Nov 2013]
65
With so many great ideas in The Chaos Engine, it pains me to admit that I didn't have much fun. I love the world it creates, the diverse enemies and the science fiction story, but can't get past the punishing difficulty and cheap hits. This enhanced version needs a few more enhancements to be ready for the 21st century!
28
Quotation forthcoming.
7
A charming, oldschool top-down shoot 'em up, with a great soundtrack, The Chaos Engine is still worth a shot nowadays. Cumbersome controls and a selfish CPU partner can make the game more challenging than it needs to be but playing with a co-operative human player can help alleviate these problems.
6
If you take this for what it is - a 1993 game ported to make it playable on the modern PC - then it's a reasonably enjoyable shooter, particularly if you remember the original but never really played it. The graphics and sounds are understandably very dated.
5
This restored version fails in the playability, with controls worse than the originals, and some new bug. It's like an emulated version, done without enough love. ****
The Chaos Engine (2013)
Released On:
Aug 29, 2013
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
40
User score
Generally Favorable
7.8
My Score
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All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
29% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
71% Negative
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
Sep 2, 2013
70
An instant-classic that manages to keep its fun untouched. Classic style with a new look that still feels just like the original.
Sep 19, 2013
65
With so many great ideas in The Chaos Engine, it pains me to admit that I didn't have much fun. I love the world it creates, the diverse enemies and the science fiction story, but can't get past the punishing difficulty and cheap hits. This enhanced version needs a few more enhancements to be ready for the 21st century!
User score
Generally Favorable
61% Positive
17 Ratings
17 Ratings
29% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
11% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Oct 19, 2013
10
i can't believe all the bad reviews. this is not a remake, guys. the game just got re-released. it's the same game we played 20 years ago. and it is still super fun. it has a really nice art style, very good music, good nonlinear level design and it's just hard enough to make me cry once in a while. ;) this game is fun, even today. whoever complains about bad graphics or high difficulty you better buy another game.
Sep 12, 2013
10
I loved the game back when it was new, and have finished it countless times. I must say if you are up for the challenge it's a great game, with lots of upgrades and so on. But it is hard, and you might just loose interest in world 1-2. Perfect co-op project though.
Sep 4, 2013
48
It’s a bummer, but that’s what happens to most video games as they age: they’re never as good as we once remembered.
Sep 12, 2013
45
The Chaos Engine comes as a mere re-release of the original shooter from 1993, without any remastering nor extra options.
Sep 11, 2013
30
It was arguably never very good even back in the day, but playing it now The Chaos Engine’s basic action is hopelessly outclassed by any number of retro and contemporary titles.
Oct 24, 2013
20
Remake of the old classic fails at the basics and its shoddy presentation and lack of anything extra doesn't help as well. [Nov 2013]
Dec 30, 2025
7
A charming, oldschool top-down shoot 'em up, with a great soundtrack, The Chaos Engine is still worth a shot nowadays. Cumbersome controls and a selfish CPU partner can make the game more challenging than it needs to be but playing with a co-operative human player can help alleviate these problems.
Jun 15, 2020
6
If you take this for what it is - a 1993 game ported to make it playable on the modern PC - then it's a reasonably enjoyable shooter, particularly if you remember the original but never really played it. The graphics and sounds are understandably very dated.
Nov 16, 2013
5
This restored version fails in the playability, with controls worse than the originals, and some new bug. It's like an emulated version, done without enough love. ****
SummaryThe Chaos Engine is a classic Amiga top-down shooter game originally developed by The Bitmap Brothers that will be restored by Abstraction Games and brought to the PC, Mac, and Linux.
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date:Aug 29, 2013
Developer:
Publisher:
