PC
Interplay EntertainmentWhere to buy
MDK2 HD is a 2011 high-definition remaster of BioWare’s MDK2, developed by Overhaul Games — the development label of Beamdog, the studio founded by BioWare veterans including co-founder Trent Oster — and published by Interplay. It launched October 12, 2011 through Beamdog’s own client at $15, reaching Steam on July 30, 2012, and holds a Metacritic score of 73 against a long-run Steam user rating of Mixed (65% positive). Its most interesting credit is historical: this was Beamdog’s warm-up project — shipped one year before Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition began the Enhanced Editions run the studio became famous for. The remaster habit started here, on a game about a four-armed dog with a jetpack.
Technical Specifications
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Developer | Overhaul Games (Beamdog) |
| Publisher | Interplay Entertainment |
| Original Game | MDK2 (BioWare, 2000) |
| Release | October 12, 2011 (Beamdog client, $15) · July 30, 2012 (Steam) |
| Metacritic | 73 (PC) |
| Steam Rating | Mixed (65% positive) |
| Upgrades | New character models · improved lighting and shadows · sharpened textures · remastered music |
| Sibling Release | MDK2 for WiiWare (Beamdog, May 2011 — based on the PS2 Armageddon version) |
| Genre | Third-person shooter, action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
New Skin, Old Bones
The upgrade list is honest but shallow: rebuilt models for Kurt, Max, and Dr. Hawkins, better lighting and shadowing, sharper textures, widescreen presentation, and a remastered soundtrack that actually changes the music in most stages — a real difference purists notice. Everything underneath is 2000 preserved in amber: the floaty physics, the famous difficulty, the lack of signposting. The unevenness produced the era’s best line about the remaster — the new models still ride the original cutscene animations, leaving them, in Engadget’s words, moving like puppets “in the grips of a seizure” — alongside smaller seams: a stray cutscene with the old Max model, some 4:3 cutscenes and minigames, resolution as the only graphics option, and controller support that means manually mapping a generic “joystick.” Metacritic’s verdict cluster tells the whole story between two pull quotes: “a worthy update… still insanely hard” and “no longer as astonishing as it once was.”
Which Version Should You Buy?
Steam sells the classic MDK 2 and MDK2 HD as separate listings for a few dollars each; GOG carries only the classic. The fair split: HD for anyone who wants the trio looking their best on a modern monitor and doesn’t mind five minutes of control setup — classic (especially via GOG) for purists, for Jesper Kyd’s original score placement, and for anyone allergic to remaster seams. Either way, the game inside is the same gloriously strange artifact — MDK‘s legacy in BioWare’s hands — and both versions live permanently in the discount bin.
