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How a change in difficulty makes Knack a different game (preview)
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CHALLENGE IN CHALLENGE: But the challenge that game director Mark Cerny and his team faced with Knack is making it accessible to different audiences. He says there are two demographics. “One is the core gamer drawn to mascot games,” he said. “It’s designed to be challenging.” The other is for novice players who have never picked up a controller in their life. “Easy mode is a different game,” he said.
I had some hands-on time with Knack and the change in difficulty gives the project two distinct feels. On Normal, it’s comparable to Bayonetta, where players have to read an enemies moves and react quickly, pulling off a bullet-time dodge and three-button combos. It can be punishing and players will die A LOT. On Easy, the game feels more like a Skylanders title. Enemy movements are slower giving players a window to attack. Obstacles aren’t as punishing.
On the hard-core side, there’s a hard mode and another level of difficulty above that. In those modes, Knack can die via one-hit kills, and players will have to figure out how to use the dodge move more often to get in range for attacks. There’s more strategy when it comes to battles. In addition, there are variant Knack characters that players can unlock. For example, collect 15 ruby relics and players can access Vampire Knack, which lets players get health every time they eliminate a foe, but at the same time, they have a weakness to sunlight.
CO-OP MODE: Another area they worked to make the game more accessible is by adding a co-op mode. A second player can drop in and take on the role of Robo-Knack. The character can attack and perform moves just like the single-player, but the big difference is that Robo-Knack has a support role. When Knack is low on health, Robo-Knack can offer up some of its relics and heal him. (If you didn’t know, Knack is made up of relics and every time he is damaged, he loses some of those pieces. If he gains more relics, he gains mass, power and health.)
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