It's a serviceable HD remake, but its problems can't be erased from memory.
There are moments where Flashback's visual presentation truly shines. The game echoes Chair Entertainment's Shadow Complex at times, with beautiful side-scrolling visuals and a city design that recalls the 1980 classic Blade Runner, in a way or two. However, the visuals aren't precisely perfect, as there are some noticeable glitches, which can also get in the way of solving a puzzle or two. And even with a map pointing out your next objective, you don't always have a clear cut way of figuring out how to get there. Sometimes you need something as simple as an ID card – which you can miss the first time around.
The audio is up and down as well. While the music is good, picking up in tempo each time you're in danger, Conrad comes across as an arrogant ass. His "time to party!" seems completely unnecessary when you refill on health, and the conversations he has with greedy, uninspired folks doesn't fare much better.
As for the gameplay itself, it mixes between platforming segments, shoot-em-up battles with aliens and solving puzzles. It can get tedious quite a bit, especially when you're performing an escort mission for someone that can't really do, well, anything, or fighting against lame-brained AI soldiers who wait a few seconds to draw their weapon, making them easy pickings for a few bullets. That's not to say the game is broken – it does work well at times – but its pacing comes into question more than it should.
