Exhumed
- Platform:
- Release: Sep 1996
- Developer: Lobotomy Software
- Publisher: BMG Interactive
- Composer: Scott Branston
- Genres: fps - metroidvania
- Other platforms:
October 24, 2025
The Kilmaat Desecrate Karnak
Exhumed, the game where we help Ramses II recover his mummy, exhumed by aliens with very bad intentions.
What might at first seem like just another doom-clone couldn’t be further from the truth. PowerSlave, known as Exhumed in Europe and Seireki 1999 in Japan, is a game that surprises by blending the classic mechanics of early FPS titles with those of metroidvanias, finding special items throughout our journey across Karnak that allow us to revisit areas previously out of reach.
As a curiosity, the engine created to develop this game was later used to port Duke Nukem 3D and Quake to the Sega Saturn.
What I liked the most
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Possibly the first Egypt-based FPS, something that, in my opinion, brings a breath of fresh air to games of that era, which were saturated with industrial environments. It probably inspired the Serious Sam saga.
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Energy and ammo items, once they appear, remain available throughout the entire level.
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Platforming sections that seemed impossible at first, with a little practice, you get the hang of them.
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The Metroid-like progression works really well and doesn’t make backtracking feel tedious, on the contrary, it creates a sense of discovery that encourages exploration.
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The number of hidden secrets. There are 23 Hidden Team Dolls, each named after people who worked on the game. So far, I’ve only found one, but apparently, if you collect them all, you’ll gain a new superpower…
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The fact that you can replay each level indefinitely without limited lives. There are tough moments in the game where you’ll die repeatedly, and if you were forced to start over due to running out of lives, it would be frustrating.
What didn’t win me over
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Some sound effects are downright hellish, with special mention to the one triggered by an underwater mine, that dreadful screech. Every time it played, everyone at home reacted, including my cat, who seemed to share my opinion.
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Telling health and ammo items apart can be tricky at times. Both look the same, differing only in color, one red and one blue, but the shades can make it confusing.
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The crabs and piranhas, especially when you’re forced to fight them with the machete.
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The Sunken Palace level, definitely too tedious for my taste, and any small mistake (pirañaaas!, lack of air, or an unexpected trap after a long swim) can easily ruin your run.
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It’s nice that the game features Spanish voice acting, but unfortunately, many lines are hard to understand.
