There`s not many games out on the market or on the store at the moment that will give you the full obstacle course style treatment. Action Henk offers something a bit different, but something that I know you would have played before. Is Action Henk one that`ll really Henk your brain`s desires for Action games? Or will it Henk straight out of your mind?
Please ignore my awful puns. Anyway, onto Action Henk. Action Henk is developed by RageSquid and is the latest of ID games to make the jump from the PC and Steam network to the Xbox One. You take on the character of Henk, as you vouche to gain medals (Bronze, Silver, Gold style) in a beat-the-clock fashion, in a variety of tracks and obstacle courses. Along the way, you`ll unlock new venues, aswell as new characters. There are over 70 levels to try and fully objectify and complete, and one that will indulge you into hours of endless fun.
Okay. There are a lot of similarities between this, and if you remember back on the Xbox 360, Doritos Crash Course. The game is full of levels that you need to beat a specific time in order to gain a medal. The more medals you gain, the more levels and quicker you will unlock venues and tracks. You`re tasked and will start off with the main protagonist of the game, Henk, an over-weight action toy figure (I think of Toy Story for some reason) and you must run, jump, swing, slide your way to the end of the level and earn those medals. There`s roughly around 6 levels per area, before you move onto the “boss” level of that area, where you will go up against another toy action figure, in a who can finish first race. If you win, you unlock the next section and unlock the character you have just beaten to use in the levels.
Now, this game is very, very fun. After 10 minutes of playing it, I was slipping and sliding my way all over the course, and to end of each level, trying to get that gold medal. Many a time I would find myself re-trying and re-cracking at a level, trying to get the highest possible time, and to gain those medals that would help me move to the next stage. Obstacles galore, it`s not an easy feat as you have to strategize and work out the timings of how you`re going to move, jump, swing your way into the next submission and next level.
The game emphasises a lot on speed I found. The faster you went, the more difficult it would be to maintain Henk`s speed so that you are able to get a good balance, and that was key, as going too fast would un-balance it as soon as you got a jump, and going to slowly of course won’t get you anywhere near that time you want to be getting to. However, I`ve no doubt that after a while of playing the game and levels through and through you`ll master your way into it and work out all the little details of getting the best time possible.
But for me, although it offers immense fun for a short period of time, I`m not sure what the long-term appeal of the game could be. I think of this in a similar sense to the Trial Series, and although they offered me the long term appeal of trying to challenge to be near the top of the leader-boards, I`d fear with Action Henk that some would lose interest very quickly and before then.
Action Henk also offers a good laugh in terms of it`s Multiplayer when you have all your mates round. It offers single screen multiplayer, and the camera zooms out as soon as one person is a bit further ahead of the others so that everyone can see the track and their character. It`s a very good pick up and play game for people though, as it doesn’t take too long in terms of time to pick up the controls of the game.
Overall, I think Action Henk is a game that offers good fun, and enjoyment for short bursts at least, and is one that very much will remind you of something you`ve played before. I don’t think there`s much in terms of its long-term appeal, but for me, it`s a very fun pick up and play game, and one that you could lose hours into.
A huge thank you to XCN for supplying us with a Review copy.
