Last Knight: Rogue Rider Edition

 
Developer: Toco Games
Steam Release: Oct 2014
Hours Played: 3.8
Similar To: Neon Drive / Sky To Fly / TEC 3001 / TronRun/r
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

Fans of mobile games such as Temple Run or Agent Dash will feel quite at home here for in LK:RRE you control a knight on his steed while racing along a path as the camera tracks behind you. Galloping along at a good steady pace your aim is simply to reach the flag at the end of your run or, in the case of endless mode, as far as possible. Through a series of landscapes you'll face a variety of enemies and obstacles as you swerve heroically left and right to avoid them. Deep chasms and sheer drops will also need to be jumped over while other foes such as enemy knights and giant spiders - who attempt to block your way - can be dispatched with a thrust of the trusted lance. Note, however, that you do not move with a swipe or a click but must steer your way to victory.    

BALANCE & PACE

With a foggy horizon to focus on, you are given just the right amount of distance and time to anticipate where you need to go or the action to be taken. As such the game literally gallops along at just the right pace for it to be a solid and enjoyable romp. As mentioned though, unlike many runners of this kind such as Audiosurf, Avoid Sensory Overload or Neon Drive, you do not lock into lanes or tracks. Even though it does give the impression that you have more freedom of movement there is still effectively three or four "invisible" lanes that your path consists of. There are three modes: Endless Journey - where you travel as far as you can; Story Campaign - a series of 54 levels where you're awarded a bronze, silver or gold award in each, and Adventure - a rogue-like challenge where you unlock ten progressively more difficult random levels.        

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

The game uses the Unreal engine which does a good job and should be able to run on most systems. There is a good range of environments from mysterious woods, dark caves and creepy graveyards plus decent enemy-variety that keeps the action dynamic. From the usual fare of spiders, bats and hostile knights to contend with you'll also get huge balls rolling around, coins and food to collect as well as targets and piles of barrels to knock over. Sound-effects are also well-incorporated allowing for a satisfying experience. The abundant menus themselves are also well-designed but perhaps a little over elaborate with quite a lot of information being bombarded at the player early on and I personally felt the player could have been less overwhelmed and eased in a little more gradually.   
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM

From a simple concept of running down a path on a horse, Toco Games sure know how to turn this idea into a complex mish-mashed journey. The Story Campaign consists of 18 chapters with three levels in each. For this, simply complete the levels with the fewest mistakes to acquire a bronze, silver or gold award for each one. The brutal Adventure mode lets you choose a path of ten randomly generated levels but sets you all the way back to the start after one mistake! Endless Journey is a last-as-long-as-you-can challenge where stats such as your high-score and longest distance reached are recorded and stored. You'll get power-ups for this, which you buy with collected gold, as well as more difficult courses to unlock. Other things such as quests and chivalry points get added but, for me, further complicate the game much more than is necessary.    

 

CONCLUSION

Overall LK:RRE does a good job in livening up a fairly pedestrian concept that's usually confined to throwaway sessions on tablets and phones. The different modes mixes things up nicely and there is a huge variety of gadgets to upgrade and unlock in the (albeit over-complicated) endless mode. However, in a game best enjoyed in short bursts and in short sessions - where you might want to zip around the game - I found it to have far too many loadscreens and intrusive animations. Add the decision to include a series of cut-scenes throughout the campaign that you have to constantly skip through and you get a game that, while it should be snappy and smooth, is marred unnecessarily by both those tedius loadscreens and the waiting for those animations to run their course.