It was released in North America, Europe and Japan, for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and MS-DOS over the course of a year from late 1996 to late 1997. The MS-DOS version of PowerSlave was added to the GOG store on November 19, 2020.

The Story Behind Powerslave

In November 2020, new license holders Throwback Entertainment re-released the DOS version of the game as PowerSlave (DOS Classic Edition). On January 2, 2017, Kaiser released the source code to his port under the GPLv3 license on GitHub. Stages with a hidden transmitter piece will emit a steady beeping noise on the overworld map, and can be heard beeping when the player is near their location.

This version of the game is also supported by the BuildGDX, PCExhumed and Raze source ports. The MS-DOS version was built on the Build engine, licensed from 3D Realms. Some levels have areas which are only accessible after getting a certain ability or weapon, similar to the Metroid series.

How Powerslave Plays

The MS-DOS version of PowerSlave was added to the GOG store on November 19, 2020. Ammo is not universal, instead of blue orbs usable for all weapons, separate ammo is needed. In the good ending, the protagonist has collected eight pieces of a radio transmission device, so he can send a rescue signal and be extracted from the Valley.

However, on the journey there, the player's helicopter is shot down and the player barely escapes. This includes elements from the genre, such as health refills and a selection of different weapons, are present. Additionally, there are eight pieces of a radio transmission device hidden in eight of the stages.

Why Players Still Load It Up

GamePro said it was "not as polished as the Saturn version," but still outstanding in absolute terms. In early 1997 Sega Saturn Magazines Rich Leadbetter ranked PowerSlave the best of the five first person shooters released for the Saturn in Europe up to that point (the others being Hexen: Beyond Heretic, Alien Trilogy, Doom, and Robotica), remarking that, "As a one-player quest it starts off a bit dull, but later on its brilliance becomes self-evident." The PlayStation version received comparatively little attention from critics. Next Generation praised the level design and enemies, but ultimately felt PowerSlave failed to distinguish itself in the wave of first-person shooters being released for PC.

However, the four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly expressed more misgivings; while Shawn Smith hailed it for having more intelligent gameplay and plot than other first-person shooters, Dan Hsu and Sushi-X both said it is too similar to previous "Doom clones" to be of interest. Both of them criticized the small weapons arsenal and inability to save at any point. In his review of the PC version, Stephen Poole of GameSpot called the game flawed but fun, worth buying on discount.

Powerslave — Frequently Asked Questions