Knack: The Little Hero With Big Kahunas Review

Knack: Review

January 1st, 2014, By Dean Howard

Knack is one of the first launch titles we saw back in february 2013 when Mark Cerny took to the stage in New York to reveal the brand New PS4 to the world. Developed by Mark and Sony's Japan Studio, Knack is a throwback to the golden era of when games were simple and fun.
Our adventure opens up with an army of wild goblins launching an attack against a human camp. What we immediately discover is that these goblins have adapted their weaponries to the extent that humanity is unable to defeat nor defend themselves. In an attempt to gain control over the goblin assault a team of the worlds best research scientist are brought together under the supervision of Doctor Vargas to come up with Knack, humanities last hope against the goblin attack.

At first glance, you may think that the pint size Knack may not even be able to scare a scaredy cat, not to talk of big gruesome goblins, but as we soon discover the tiny super hero can harness kinetic energy via relics and this will be what helps to turn the tide of battle against the goblin monsters. As we advance through the game we soon learn that Knack has a few more tricks up its sleeve than just incredible growth, and this is integral to the stories plot and how things develop.

Knack is a fun action title that takes advantage of some of the new tech on PS4, previously unachievable on the PS3. It takes inspiration from old school games like Ratchet and Clank, with a modern twist on its combat mechanics system. Controlling Knack is very easy, directing the left analogue stick will move our hero in which ever direction you choose, while the right analogue stick will allow you to avoid enemy attacks. You can also counter against enemies by pressing the circle button followed by another input to pull of some super action moves of your own. Gamers can also jump and double jump to get to higher locations in the environment, as well as pull of some pretty awesome mid-air homing and dash attacks.

Knack was designed to be simple, fun and easy to play so pulling of combos isn't that difficult to achieve. If you find yourself surrounded by enemies, a super tornado spin, or  ground smash (Incredible Hulk style) should quickly see you through.  I also enjoyed the variety of enemies I faced along my adventure, requiring memorization skills to avoid getting damaged. I think this certainly helped to keep the title interesting enough to keep playing right through to the end.

There are thirteen chapters in total to get through on Knack and tons of secret locations with hidden items for Knack to absorb. There are also multiple parts you must uncover to gain access to new gadgets, which can assist you on your quest. One example is the ability to find secret locations as you get close.  There are a lot of hidden items to discover and I doubt you will find it all in your first run through, which I guess does add replay value to the title. Gamers also have the option to share and swaps items with friends through Playstation network and gain even more items in 'Knack's Quest,' a version off the platform title on Android and iOS.

Aside from the main campaign, you also get access to a time attack mode. The aim of these 13 core stages taken from each chapter in the main story is to get through them as fast and as efficient as you possibly can. Each stage you complete will see you placed on the leaderboard ranks for all your friends to see. Another mode is Coliseum Battles which puts you against a swarm of enemies each designed to test your fighting skills to the max.

Visually I think Knack isn't particular the best example to showcase the true power of what the PS4 can do, but the environment  did look a lot sharper than any previous generation titles I had seen in the same genre, with detailed textures comprising of beautiful colors and nice lighting effects. The floating relics around Knack does look amazing, although there were the odd glitch now and then, especially when lots of things were happening on screen at once.

The music score and sound effects on Knack were definitely fitting to the style of the game. The tunes were lively and entertaining, changing pace as the action and plot thickens.  Mark Cerny and the Sony Japan studio development team also added audio speakers in the DualShock 4, so you can hear when you collect crystals and relics.

Knack can also be enjoyed with a friend or family in two player mode accessed via a second Dualshock 4 controller or a Playstation Vita. The second player will take control of Knack's sidekick Robo-Knack, a robot with the ability to heal Knack throughout his quest.  I really liked this feature as it is a way to get younger siblings to get involved and be apart of the action.

Overall

Apart from the odd frame rate issues. I really enjoyed playing as the pint size hero that can grow and grow and grow, destroying all goblins in my way.  I thought the inclusion of Robo-Knack was a great addition to the game, allowing younger family members to join on the fun and adventure. Knack isn't exactly earth shattering especially as a next-gen launch release, but what it does do extremely well is pay homage to the type of games we all used to love playing back on the Playstation one and for that it certainly gets my vote and recommendation for all those looking for an old school platform adventure with a modern day twist.

Thumbs Up

• Easy fun pick up and play

• Challenging enemies, requiring memorization skills

• Robo-Knack, great for siblings to play along.

Thumbs Down

• Frame rate drops, in busy segments of the game.

Score 4/5

Knack (PlayStation 4)