At first glance,Akimbotseems like a run-of-the-mill indie platformer inspired by a much bigger franchise. This title surprises, however, with fun platforming segments, varied gameplay and impressive visuals. It’s just a shame there aren’t more weapons to utilize and the overall game drags towards the end with a bizarre filler level.
An Indie With a Good Production Value
While theRatchet & Clank seriesis a more impressive graphical tour-de-force, the inspiredAkimbottakes some notes as the apprentice to its master. The sci-fi worlds look fantastic, with well-done special effects and larger-than-life spaceships, and the weapons have a powerful punch to them. Movements within this platformer feel fluid and when you zip to the next section of the map with a grappling hook, it looks cinematic. The environments are a little uninspired at moments, though. There’s a drabness to the factories, caves and valleys you often visit, but the delightful lighting in the game makes up for it. Your sniper bullets glowing green within the brown and gray backgrounds work so well.
Unfortunately, there are performance issues. This game was tested on a lower-end gaming laptop with 16GB of RAM, but it struggled to keep up in some levels and then ran fine in most sections of the experience. Without spoiling too much, there’s a dream sequence that the main character Exe experiences that brings this computer to a standstill unless the visuals are turned down.
Akimbotis primarily a third-person shooter mixed with a platformer like Insomniac’s acclaimed series. What’s missing, however, are the inventive weapons. You have a standard assault rifle (which was dropped as soon as this reviewer unlocked more weapons), a rocket launcher, a sniper and a minigun. These are all standard weapons you’d expect from a Call of Duty game, not a sci-fi title. They all control very well, however, and each feels effective in combat. Additionally, some weapons like the rocket launcher are necessary to break up shields and the mini-gun can quickly tear through a foe’s health.
On the other hand, there are special weapons you can unlock at a shop. During a playthrough, akimbo pistols that can cause explosive damage and a rifle that sent out electrical pulses were used. The latter is the one that caused the most damage and felt satisfying to pull off. These weapons can only be used in limited moments, however, as they require you to use a resource called Volts. Two other special weapons weren’t tested during the review process.
Tinykin is a Cleverly-Curated Platformer Bursting with Charm
The platforming is solid with decent level design throughout that consistently gives twists and turns throughout the 8-10 hour playtime. There’s nothing memorable, but it does the job well. There are a few puzzles here and there that aren’t particularly remarkable, but they do a great job of changing up the flow of the gameplay to keep it from getting boring. Something that does get repetitive, however, are the hacking mini-games.
You have to hack terminals to proceed in the levels, and unfortunately, there are only a handful of mini-games that pop up. There’s one where you click on buttons on the screen. Another has you clicking buttons (or keys) in a sequence and a third includes a game of the classic Snake you’d play on a classic phone. The last one has you choose the box with a tick on it as it shifts across the screen and moves between two other boxes. They get annoying fast, and more variety could have been added in this retrospect.
The sci-fi worlds look fantastic, with well-done special effects and larger-than-life spaceships, and the weapons have a powerful punch to them.
Akimbot, however, keeps adding fresh gameplay experiences throughout the campaign. You’re driving in cool vehicles and taking out enemies along the way, grabbing hold of a throttling rocket on its way to an enemy base, and taking out spaceships with a turret. While trying not to spoil too much,Akimbottakes leaps into other genres and even differing graphical styles as well, which are unexpected. SometimesAkimbotcan take this too far, especially with a filler level in the game, which the main character is dreaming and fighting off unconventional enemies like teddy bears. That was just plain weird.
Akimbotgives a poor first impression with its storyline and characters. The script is corny, the voice acting is quirky and the main character feels too much like a macho jerk. The initial bickering also gets annoying between the two main protagonists. It all comes together, however, as you realize it’s a callback to the PS2 era. The writing and performances work with the overall concept as it grows on you, and while the sidekick character Shipset can be aggravating at times, the character development shines through, especially with Exe. You get the 2000s attitude from Exe and Shipset taken from characters like Ratchet, Clank,Jakand Daxter from the PS2 era.
The music is hit-and-miss, but like the narrative, it grows on you. The first level’s music also warranted it to be turned off and replaced with Ratchet & Clank music. It became less obtuse and repetitive as the game continued, though. At some points, it actually pumps up the player as they run into battle with gun in hand.
Closing Comments:
Overall,Akimbotis a fun platformer that can be expanded upon with a sequel. The weapons are too simple for a sci-fi game like this, but they all feel fantastic to control nonetheless. Some performance issues plague the levels, butAkimbotdoes surprise with stellar production value and interesting gameplay elements that keep the game feeling fresh. The game does feel long in the tooth by the end, butAkimbotis a good effort byPumpkin Jackdeveloper Evil Raptor.
Version Reviewed: PC
In the action-adventure platformer, Akimbot, blast your way through armies of robots, pilot spaceships and forge your own path to save the universe from impending doom! Set in a sci-fi world where only robots exist, travel the galaxy and experience non-stop robot mayhem and explosive action!
