From many of the same team behind LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway comes a new co-op adventure about riding bikes and making friends.
Its easy to criticise its idiotic release date (straight after Gamescom and at the same time as more than half a dozen other more prominent games) but we dont think Knights And Bikes was ever going to be a major hit. Its a low budget indie adventure about two young girls exploring a fictional Cornish island on their bikes. And while it does feature some pretty dangerous Frisbee throwing its certainly not an action game. What it is instead though, is one of the most charming story-based games of the year.
Charming is a dangerous word to use when describing a video game, as to many it implies something obnoxiously twee and probably fairly boring. But Knights And Bikes isnt like that at all. It starts with a glorious punk anthem called I Wanna Ride My Bike by Daniel Pemberton and as youre introduced to the leads Demelza and Nessa you realise that both have a surprisingly dark backstory. Demelza lives now only with her father, while Nessa at first doesnt seem to have any family – with both being in desperate need of a friend.
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The game is too, as its best played in local co-op with a pal, although technically you miss out on nothing but camaraderie when switching between the pair on your own. Theres nothing to do on the island, since Demelzas dad runs a (not very successful) holiday park and its off-season and rainy, but that doesnt impede the imagination of either girl as they immediately embark on an epic treasure hunt.
The games plot revolves a local legend about hidden treasure, which Demelza hopes to find and use to revive her fathers business. Exactly how much of their adventure is purely in their own heads is open to your interpretation but the dungeon-like scrapyard and the forest that work like the Lost Woods out of Zelda are clearly not the only things being embellished by their imagination, as they deal with enemies and allies in similarly fantastical form.
The titular bikes enter the equation fairly early on, allowing you to get around the surprisingly large island. Great care is made to ensure theyre actually enjoyable to control, with simple controls that allow you to perform doughnuts and other expert skidding manoeuvres. Not only are they fun for you and the other player but the girls obviously love it too and are constantly screaming and shouting their enjoyment in a way that seems very natural and realistic.
Their joy is a relief given the fact that clearly neither has had entirely happy lives up to this point, with Demelza having a kind heart and yet prone to bouts of anger and frustration. As the older girl, Nessa is more withdrawn and suspicious and its heartwarming to see the positive effect they have on each other. Especially as they, optionally, decide to reveal the secrets of their past.
Although Knights And Bikes is only being published by Double Fine it does share the same problem as many of their games, in that the gameplay is probably the least interesting aspect about it. British studio Foam Sword are made up of a lot of ex-Media Molecule staff that worked on LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway. And to be honest, the gameplay was always the weakest part of those games too.
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The bikes are great, but the combat is very perfunctory not really much fun. You get a variety of weapons, like water balloons and the aforementioned Frisbees, but its all very basic and adds nothing of any real value to the game. Its not bad enough, and doesnt go on long enough, to be actively annoying but its certainly nothing youll ever look forward to.
The various items, and things like customising your bike, do add a slight Metroidvania element to the game though, allowing you to access new areas or solve problems, and its there that things get a lot more interesting. None of the puzzles are particularly hard but the logic behind them is sound and makes good use of environmental dangers and your items.
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But its Demelza and Nessa that are the real draw. Theyre two of the best realised video game characters all year and unlike most protagonists the pair go through almost every human emotion on their journey, as they deal with sadness, fear, and elation in a way that inspires great empathy and feels very real.
The cartoonish art style may seem too abstract for it, but their animation is surprisingly expressive and nuanced, creating a coming of age drama that is joyful but never mawkish. In terms of actionRead More – Source
