Akimbot is a home-made Ratchet & Clank: has the demo convinced us?

What would happen if a small team tried to create their own Ratchet & Clank game? It is likely that something similar to Akimbot will emerge. Let’s see what we think of the demo.

When trying out a video game, the inspirations aren’t always obvious. Maybe because the team put so much of their ideas into it, maybe because it’s a combination of so many ideas that it’s no longer clear which one started it all. However, in other cases, it’s blatantly obvious what video game it’s inspired by, and that’s also the case Akimbot.

I waited August 29Let’s talk about the upcoming 3D action, platform and adventure game PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox series Which undoubtedly reminds us of Ratchet & Clank. The question, of course, is: Is he imitating in the right way and creating something of his own? We got the first answer from the demo.

How does Akimbot work?

If you’ve played Ratchet & Clank, you’ll have more or less an idea of what to expect from Akimbot. On our side we have a pair of characters, Exe – a cold, hard robot mercenary – who will be our armed flank, and in the other data set – a small, chaotic robot – who will act as support.

The gameplay mix is as expected. We can do double jumps, short sprints, and use everything to jump from one platform to another while avoiding the water that damages us. We have to smash boxes to collect money that can be used to buy and upgrade our most powerful weapons. Basically, in fact, we only have a melee rifle and an automatic rifle with infinite ammo, but obviously not very powerful.

These last two are our primary tools for eliminating enemies and thus obtaining them AmmoWhich is not found in the environment. This is one of the few nice ideas in the game, and if exploited well, it can create situations in which we have to juggle multiple enemies, calibrating how many to quickly eliminate with powerful weapons and how many to shred at close range. To recover bullets, but risk more damage.

The demo is very short and only gives us one section One Which, we have to be honest, is quite flat and lacking in interesting events. The hope is that going forward there will be more interesting and impactful situations, with the pair having increased weapons, powers and abilities. The developers’ teasers indicate something, so let’s hope that’s the case.

In the testing phase the conclusion is one A very classic boss fight: A powerful flying enemy machine-guns us with bullets flying around the arena, and sneaks out from time to time to turn his minions against us, which is also necessary to recover ammunition as mentioned.

The narrative and artistic aspect of Akimbote

If the gameplay wasn’t original, even on a technical level, Akimbot wouldn’t have much to say in this demo. We know it’s going to be a space adventure in a world dominated by robots that currently show a Very generic design. Even the first location, a tropical archipelago filled with metal structures, doesn’t show much creativity.

We also need to understand what the plot and characters are saying. The dataset is a kind of Claptrap In a somewhat less annoying voice, he is a good-for-nothing who somehow manages to get by by talking nonsense and getting help from the real protagonist, Exe.

our personality He’s a former mercenary who is now being hunted by everyone and just wants to survive. The only unexpected feature is the fact that he’s not a real hero and we can also eliminate civilians we meet along the strange path (with a comment from Dataset, who doesn’t seem all that bothered). Could we consider it a prequel to a story with grayer morals?

Akimbot is a home-made Ratchet & Clank game, which could still be a lot of fun if the combat stages and platforming sections prove more interesting than what we saw in the demo. This type of game relies on constantly evolving approach possibilities and increasing the level of chaos and complexity of the platforming as you progress, so a demo isn’t exactly the best way to see the potential. Or at least we hope that’s the case because the first half hour passes smoothly, but without any sort of surprise or original element. Mostly we have doubts about the design of the characters and setting, which is very generic, and about the authenticity of the two characters. We’ll have to wait for the full release to see if our fears are justified.