In 1996 DreamWorks Interactive Three tons of plasticine dumped gamers on the heads of gamers. That’s how much it took the developers in order to "blind" The Neverhood – Wonderful quest made using the CLAYMATION technique. The experiment ended successfully, the audience demanded additives, but the creators caught up only twenty years later. Having received a blessing from users on Kickstarter, the developers took up the creation of a spiritual heiress of the legendary quest – Armikrog.
Do not believe it badly!
Declare your desire to create a clone The Neverhood Some kind of “left”, which has no experience with plasticine studio, it is unlikely that she would have been able to gain the trust of gamers. Fathers of the original quest work on the project – and this is the strongest trump card Armikrog. Among the most significant names, two can be distinguished: Douglas Ten-Napel (Douglas Richard Tennapel), from under whose hand “crawled” Jim’s notorious worm, and Terry Scott Taylor (Terry Scott Taylor) who wrote the soundtrack The Neverhood.
The handwriting of the creators is already recognized in the trailer: familiar stylistics, characteristic characters with large mouths, grotesque animations. In the first location, the smell of nostalgia intensifies: a closed door, a lever, a window through which you can admire the beauties of the local world … Remember? This is how the original began.
Before us is quite often found today the initiative to revive classics. The lesson is beautiful and noble, without a doubt, but in most cases such ventures end, if not a failure, then disappointment. No matter how starry the game is over the game, no matter how high -quality the final product turns out, repeat the feat of the original Armikrog It is unlikely that it will be possible – simply because in twenty years the public was fed up with all kinds of humor, and variegated riddles, and quests in general. Once The Neverhood In many ways it was the first, and every joke, every unusual puzzle was perceived with a bang.
And yet in the hands Armikrog There is one trump card, thanks to which she can shoot today. And this is, oddly enough, plasticine animation, which is not so common technique even in multiplier. In games, she is a rare guest – it is not easy for offhand to recall even a few examples. Thus, the main bet in the creation Armikrog Pencil Test Studios should have been made for design and style.
Plasticine psychodel
And in these aspects Armikrog fully corresponds to the spirit of the original. In the construction of levels, it is easy to notice many direct references to The Neverhood. So, in the gameplay video there was an analogue of the level with a cart built into the wall, which was remembered by fans of creation DreamWorks Interactive. Stylistically the world Armikrog not at all distinguish from its prototype. The local locations are minimalistic and colorful, every corner of the world is unique and made in a colorful color scheme, interior items are intriguingly psychedelic.
Everything that we will meet in the game is a hundred percent “hand-make”. Unlike The Neverhood, Here, in addition to plasticine, the developers used other materials: wood, foam, cardboard, hot glue. Thanks to such a “needlework”, the design looks completely outstanding. Surrealistic landscapes are inhabited by eccentric and unknown forms of life: a huge monster with a tongue wound on a coil, a cubo -shaped fluffy creature on three legs, a creature hanging from the ceiling, resembling a barnac Half-Life.
The attractive appearance of monsters and the environment is only half the charm Armikrog. The Neverhood was the game that proved that the path to the heart of the gamer lies through the ears. Unusual, eccentric and slightly crazy music Terry Scott Taylor Crazy already from the first notes, and some compositions of the soundtrack could often be heard in various television shows. Armikrog began for the composer a great reason to pamper musical instruments again. Western journalists who tested the beta version of the quest with satisfaction reports their unwillingness to start the game, because familiar musical motifs kept them tightly in the main menu.
No less outstanding promises to be the voice acting of the characters. Unlike Claimen, the main character Armikrog, Tomminavt, is not deprived of speech and constantly throws with jokes with his dog Bik-bik. The latter was voiced by the notorious owner of a "smoky" voice Rob Polsen (Rob Paulsen). Dialogs between the main characters should become the main source of humor.
Armikrog escape
Armikrog – ideological, but not at all a plot continuation. Pencil Test Studios it was not possible to get the right to a well -known “plasticine” brand, and therefore there was no chance of the appearance in the Claimen frame initially. The universes of the two games are in no way connected – a completely new story awaits us. However, you will not have to lament about this for a long time, because in the main role Armikrog equally charismatic and similar to the Claimen guy Tommymin.
In the company with his four -legged friend, he leads a wandering lifestyle, traveling through unknown areas of space. Once their ship crashes, and the heroes are lost on an unknown planet. Travelers are met by a huge monster who boldly declare their culinary preferences. In flight from the latter, they fall into the Armicrog – a prison filled with puzzles.
In terms of gameplay Armikrog It is a traditional quest with Point-And-Click mechanics. A distinctive feature of puzzles The Neverhood was in the non -obviousness of their device. We had to not only solve ready -made riddles, guided by the registered rules, but also to dig into the logic of their construction ourselves. It was possible to open the door, turning on the music on the receiver that you heard a dozen minutes ago, and the code combination, unlocking the gate at the end of the game, could meet in one of the first locations. And no one gave us a hint that these things are connected.
It is still unclear whether it will retain Armikrog This specific feature of the original, but the playing the beta version of the game claim that the puzzles are extraordinary and not at all simple. The complexity of the gameplay is due to new mechanics: we can switch between the characters, and this will certainly affect the construction of riddles.
BIC BIK has skills that Tomminate does not have. For example, in one of the well -known situations, to open a locked door, you need to get into the skin of a dog, get through a narrow pipe into another room and find a lever. In addition, the BIC BIK is completely blind, but in the conditions of an exotic planet this weakness will be an advantage-thanks to this drawback, we can see the inscriptions hidden on the walls. It is interesting that the game has no active inventory and the use of certain objects available to the heroes will occur automatically, after a conventional click.
Looking at the video and art, listening to playful melodies Terry Taylor, You look forward to the return to the "plasticine" 96th year. If developers from Pencil Test Studios And it will not be possible to repeat the success of the original, then to create a local time machine for many "old" gamers is quite possible for them.