Hello there true believers… wait this isn’t Spider-man 2, this is…
Energy Hook, a game developed by Jamie Fristrom, the man behind the swinging mechanic in Spider-Man 2, no not a mechanic that allows you to have relations with Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy and Felicia Hardy at the same time. Energy Hook is a game completely centred on the flowing movement of swinging from building to building whilst propelling yourself further with rockets. But can a game with such little to do be any fun?
Energy Hook itself is a game akin to the Tony Hawks Skater series, while replacing the skateboard with a Tether device that allows you to swing from building to building like Bionic Commando or the Spider-Man Franchise. Whilst swinging you can perform tricks and gain score as you do so, which is imperative to some of the current challenges and is set to be a bigger part of the game in later builds.
Gameplay
If you have played Spider-man 2, or any Spider-man game after that, or even Bionic Commando you will know how this game plays, if not I will elaborate; You play the game by swinging on nearby buildings, ledges or hanging objects, jumping off them and then latching onto another surface to continue your swinging antics… kind of hard to describe.
Energy Hook right now isn’t much of a game, but gives you the majority of the mechanics and free movement you would expect from this type of game. Your “Tether”, which you use to swing with, starts off pretty small and can only attach to objects close to the character but can be lengthened by completing challenges and finding hidden collectables, which is really needed for the best experience. Besides the tether the character can also jump and use rockets to propel the character upward, hover and to speed up whilst swinging or falling.
Combining all your movement skills and tools you can get around pretty quickly, sometimes too quickly and end up splitting into two bodies… well then. Though the objective right now isn’t too clear there are several tutorials, challenges and trials to face in the Alpha’s current build and in its several locations comprising on Desert Mountains, construction lot, city and more. Alongside the trials you can also perform some tricks in this early build like smooth swings and wall running which give you points and recharge your boost meter, allowing you to go even faster… 4 clones maybe?
Overall Thoughts and Feelings
The music in Energy Hook follows a Sci-Fi theme, with trance style music that really fits with the areas you find yourself in and the world the game is situated in, which seems like a slightly dark future, where this Energy Hook is the newest form of entertainment for the masses. Though currently there isn’t a big soundtrack to back the game, what is in the current build is minimalistic and suits the game in its current form.
I can’t comment too much on the graphic style as there is a lot of work to be done on the game, though the current graphics seem to be following an appeasing style. Though there are parts that do look like they have been put it at the end and haven’t been worked on as much as other areas, I am intrigued to see these areas grow and mature into their final form.
Even in this early build, Energy Hook is a rather enjoyable game, if only for a couple of hours at a time. It definitely has a Tony Hawk feel to it where you want to pull of even more tricks and fluid and flawless movements to do the coolest round of the area as you can. I am eagerly awaiting new tricks and tracks to play on.
Overall Energy Hook is looking to be a promising game with a fun swinging mechanic that feels very realistic in its execution. There is a lot of work to be done, but it is only in Alpha so there is plenty of time for it to be polished and worked on. Now I am going to go back and try and do a loop-de-loop on this crane.
Site: http://www.happionlabs.com/energy-hook/
Steam: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=145451414
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/551129138/energy-hook-0?ref=card
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