Something wicked this way comes, courtesy of the fine folks at Russian developer Ice-Pick Lodge. Pathologic Classic HD rolls out on PC today to help prepare us for the remake that’s expected to arrive in 2016. I know it’s not easy getting excited for a remaster these days, but I suspect this one will find a spot among the best of them. If any remaster is going to do its source material justice, it’ll be the one that comes from the team that made the original game.

In addition to the added support for cloud saves and achievements, Pathologic Classic HD features “updated graphics and effects while addressing the most prominent criticisms of the original game with a newly translated script, and new voice-overs including reinstated dialogue.”

Unlike the remaster, the Pathologic remake is considerably more ambitious in what it will change.

“While being a critical success in some markets and having the status of a “cult classic”, the original game still had many evocative ideas to explore—and we set to do just that,” explains Ice-Pick Lodge. “However, during the production of the Pathologic Remake we’ve come to realize that some of the ideas and plans we have for the new game have strayed rather far from the original.

It’s inevitable that some aspects of the remake will not be embraced by everyone. There’s no getting around it, and that’s why we’re getting two Pathologic games.

“This way, the original Pathologic will always be available to you even if you come to disagree with the changes made in the Remake. And if you haven’t played it at all, you’ll have a chance to get to know the game that has defined us as a studio in a definitive way.”

Pathologic Classic HD releases today exclusively for PC.

Before we go, I’ve noticed some confusion regarding what differentiates a remaster from a remake, so let’s go ahead and tackle that real quick.

A remaster is a minor to moderate update of a game, old or new, that tends to focus on improving the original without introducing any fundamental changes to how it looks or plays. A remake takes that idea and runs with it by re-building its source material from the ground up in a new engine, often with new features and content.

For example, when Resident Evil released on the GameCube in 2003, that was a remake of the 1996 original, while the Resident Evil we got back in January was a remaster of that remake. Are your ears bleeding yet? Don’t be alarmed, brains do that sometimes.