Chris InglisKingpin: Reloaded is an enhanced re-release of the 1999 crime-themed FPS that released on Steam on December 6, 2023. Developed by Slipgate Ironworks and published by 3D Realms and Interplay, Kingpin: Reloaded delves into the dark and gritty world of organized crime with neon-soaked streets, sewers full of rats and thug life represented everywhere. Fans of the original may not see enough innovation to be worth their effort. Surprisingly I had not heard of the original game despite playing a lot of FPS in the late 90’s, so I was excited to look back in time.
The Kingpin rules above all else with a bloody fist. When his lieutenant Nikki Blanco leaves a no-name thug battered and broken, the upstart criminal rises from a puddle of blood pipe in hand and revenge in mind. Originally developed on the renowned Quake II engine, Kingpin: Reloaded offers 4K resolution, ultrawide monitor support, controller integration, and the ability to toggle between “classic” and “enhanced” modes for a tailored gameplay experience. There is full voice acting from the opening scene which is commendable, but my first impressions of the character models are hard to look past. It feels like their skin is stretched over too small a body frame, particularly the faces. When you’re in the actual game running around it’s not so bad, it’s just the cutscenes that rip you out of the immersion.
It’s a shame that this is the first impression because once you’re running around, and while the interface and controls are a little clunky to use, especially when trying to talk to someone, there are all the hallmarks of a good 90’s FPS here. There are side missions that are tracked in a journal and a quest list, there are hidden areas to find and a decent story if you stick to it. You can also press 9 to switch between current 4k graphics textures and the classic original textures. There is a noticeable difference in the detail of walls and light sources, but otherwise it appeared very true to the original game.
The lack of a map made it difficult to remember where things were located. Levels are relatively linear, but it is still easy to get lost or disoriented. Often, I had some lucky sequences of events occur that allowed me to complete missions. For example, at the start is a bum lying in a corridor who asks for a bottle of whiskey. I thought nothing of it, but it was logged in my journal and a note on the UI. After about 45-minutes of running around various levels I finally found the bottle of whiskey, which was near a safe that was locked. Turns out that giving the bum this bottle of whiskey has him slurring the combination to the safe.
One thing to note is that if you’re wielding a weapon, everyone will take it as a threat and start fighting you. If you want to go on a full-on killing spree, you can and you’ll earn cash and pickup weapons faster, but you’ll miss out on some of these side missions. Another example of happenstance was when a thug had stolen someone’s watch, and they would give me a valuable item in return for the watch. It turns out I had killed the guy with the watch already when I forgot about having my weapon out and just killed everyone in that scene, so I already had the watch when I came across this guy.
One interesting aspect of the game that was rare for the time is being able to hire thugs to join and fight with you. As such, you could utilise thugs to do the fighting for you and effectively play the game as a relative pacifist if you choose, sneaking around and avoiding torch lights and direct line of sight. Not only do hired thugs help you in fights, but you can also order them to wait at a location. This allows you to backtrack with a mission item, then come back and order the thug to follow you once again. There were times where I by myself and ran in too quickly, getting overwhelmed and killed. Having an extra thug helped in these moments to at least be a bullet sponge while you got into a better position.
Steam reviews are currently at mostly negative as there were apparent bugs at release. However now in February 2024 I can say it ran smoothly and the only real issues I had were getting stuck on something, like if I was trying to jump across a gap or shimmy along a narrow shelf, I could get stuck on something, but that was easily fixed and avoided. My only gripe is the lack of a map, but back in the 90’s it was common for me to have some graph paper next to me and draw my own maps as I went along. Maybe not everyone did that back then and all modern games now have in-game maps, but it certainly helped with this game.
Overall, Kingpin: Reloaded gives you that revamped take on a 90’s classic FPS with a decent story to lead you forwards, secret rooms, and thugs galore. Despite the poor character models, the voice acting and humorous dialogue were a good break from the constant killing sprees, and there is some mild puzzle solving through collecting items and moving crates. Fans of the original may not see enough innovation to be worth their effort.
This review utilised a key provided by Stride PR and Kingpin: Reloaded is available now on Steam. The original game can also be found on Steam here if you wanted to take that nostalgic deep dive.
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