Update []:
Dosgamert has announced on social media that a demo for BioMenace Remastered is scheduled to drop tomorrow (Friday, July 11th).
According to the trailer, the demo will include four levels from the finished, allowing you to get "a feel" of what BioMenace Remastered is like, while team continues working behind the scenes producing Episode four of the game. This will be available to download from Steam, and interestingly, doesn't seem to be the only pieces of news we've had about the project over the last two weeks or so.
That's because the developer Rigel Gameworks has also recently produced a Q&A video and an FAQ, answering some of the common questions it has been getting about the project, such as why Apogee Entertainment aren't involved at all.
In both of these, the developer states that they did approach Apogee to get involved, hoping to utilise the publisher's resources to bring the project to life, but that Apogee was simply too busy focusing on new IP. Nevertheless, Apogee did the team a solid, putting them in touch with the BioMenace creator Jim Norwood and agreeing to spread the word if he approved of the project. Norwood is the person who owns all the rights to the game today, and, according to the devs, has licensed the rights to the BioMenace Remastered team to go ahead with the project.
The game is currently only scheduled for a Steam release, but the Rigel Gameworks are also reportedly considering publishing on GOG, as well as other platforms like Nintendo Switch. The latter, however, will depend on the success of the PC release, as the team will need to invest in a devkit.
Original Story: Apogee Software is a company that will probably be best known to most people for creating games like Duke Nukem and for publishing early Id Software titles like Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D. But that isn't all it had to offer the world of gaming.
A fairly good example of this is 1993's BioMenace — a fun and colourful run 'n gun platformer that was built in Commander Keen's 'Keen Dreams' engine for MS-DOS and focused on a CIA operative, named Snake Logan, saving a city (and its residents) from an evil scientist named Dr. Mangle.
Created by one of the future designers of Shadow Warrior James Norwood, and featuring music from the legendary composer Bobby Prince (of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom fame), the game has largely been confined to history in the decades since its release, becoming a footnote in the careers of those who worked on it.
But that hasn't stopped a small cult following from developing around the title, especially among those who continue to fly the flag for the MS-DOS era of gaming. This likely explains why it was recently announced that the game is getting a remaster for Steam later this year.
The new remaster was announced yesterday on social media by Dosgamert and is being developed by Rigel Gameworks. It will reportedly launch in Fall 2025 and will feature enhanced graphics and various other improvements, with the option also being included to switch between the original and remastered graphics for the purists among you.
Here's are the features listed on its steam page:
• Enhanced graphics including widescreen support, smooth scrolling & movement (60 FPS or higher), • and parallax scrolling backgrounds
• Modernized HUD & UI
• Switch between original and remastered graphics at any time
• Controller support
• Full Steam Deck support
• Rebalanced difficulty
• Gameplay tweaks and new mechanics, including weapon/grenade type switching and infinite lives
• Mid-level saves and quick saving
• Completion and stats tracking
• Includes Bobby Prince's Original Soundtrack from the DOS version
• Steam achievements
If you want to wishlist the project ahead of its launch, the game is already has a Steam page, which you can visit here.