Jordan Mechner marked a before and after in the video game industry with the revolutionary Prince of Persia, one of the jewels of 1989. The mix of platforms and action with traps in between, under the showy technique of rotoscoping , turned him into a immediate classic and reference of a genre.
In 1991 the Another World by Éric Chahi would arrive, another cult game, emphasizing a visual narrative and with puzzles in between with a lot of trial and error, until already in 1992 its spiritual successor, the unforgettable Flashback, was released. And it is precisely the latter that this Lunark honors in a crystalline way.
Imagina un demake de Flashback… a lo grande
With an industry that is so committed to remakes, it is logical that there are many who do not meet expectations, as was the case with the Flashback remake in 2013, which failed miserably. Hence, we are happy with this Canari Games proposal that managed to be financed on KickStarter at the beginning of 2019, being a fairly evident tribute to the great classic of 1992 , but as a demake.
It could be said that it even borders on plagiarism, despite offering a different universe, since the movements are practically traced to those of the Delphine Software adventure, recreating even the same style when it comes to picking up objects, with a brief cinematic and a very characteristic sound. That halo of fantasy within a video game with a cyberpunk setting brings back very good memories.
His story puts us in the shoes of Leo, an orphan rejected for being … different. All in the midst of a rebellion against the totalitarian regime of Lunark, which comes to be the result of a Noah’s Ark (no, not the one in the Bible, but an Artificial Intelligence created when the Earth became inhospitable) inside our Moon.
His demo on Steam focuses on a tiny part where we meet with our tutor Gideon to complete a mission, investigate an ancient artifact . After returning to the ship, we set off for an unknown planet where a series of crystal switches await us … and multiple spiders and bats swarming around.
Lunark embraces the best of Delphine’s classic
At the control level, Lunark is identical to Flashback, but better . There are certain actions much more polished in the work of Canari Games, where almost every button on the controller is used. This makes it more comfortable to climb or lower platforms, being able to stay hanging by holding down the RB button. Or roll using the B button directly. Each action is separated so there are no unwanted conflicts and no time wasting with the pause menu.
Its appearance is exaggeratedly minimalist , following a bit the pattern of the recent Olija, but everything is perfectly distinguished, both the crystals that are necessary to activate the switches that control the elevators and in relation to the enemies that will have to be faced. Now this demo is a lot more accessible than the Delphine Software classic, in the sense of being easier … partly because of those improvements in control, without the rigidity of yesteryear.
In fact, at the end there is a confrontation against a boss where he shows the versatility of the protagonist , being able to face enemies on both sides without too much trouble, as long as we master the movement of rolling by paying close attention, incidentally, to the reload time. of the pistol , which lasts for a few shots before heating up. Yes, there is infinite ammo.
The use of the shield is in the background in this demo, as we do not have to face enemies with weapons, but the inventory does drop that there will be more objects to be obtained, that we can keep track of the main mission or that there will be collectibles to collect. Come on, lots of exploration, action and puzzles through mysterious alien ruins, a flying penitentiary, a high-tech megalopolis … Sounds very familiar, right? But all this more current.
- Platforms : Steam
- Multiplayer : no
- Developer : Canari Games
- Company : Canari Games
- Released : 2021
- Price : to be confirmed