Action Henk gamescom 2015 Preview

Action Henk is designed to be hard. That is something that is made evident from just watching how the game plays. The game is made to require a great amount patience and control. Whilst I lack all patience, it's lucky that these kind of games excite me anyway, so Action Henk was pretty appealing to me right from the get-go.

The story behind Action Henk is that an action figure (called Action Henk), that was once the top of his line and the best soldier around, is being challenged on his abilities years after his prime. Determined to defend his pride, the has-been hero springs into action for one more adventure to show he still has what it takes.

The game is a side-scroller platformer, much like Bit Trip. The main difference with Action Henk is that you control your movements, unlike Bit Trip, where you constantly moved, only stopping if you hit an obstacle. This means you could take a brisk stroll through a lot of the start levels if a quicktime isn't what you're looking for.

But if getting medals and the best times possible is what you want, then you better get ready to jump, duck and slide to get there. The game is physics based; sliding whilst going down a slope will get you extra speed and jumping at the end of it will give you an extra boost. We were also shown some later levels in which a grappling hook is available, adding another challenge into the game.

When I was presented with the chance to play the game, I went through a few of the first levels to get to grips with the controls. After getting gold medals on all of them and even beating the record set by the developer on one, I may have gotten slightly cocky, attempting one of the final levels.

And I died about two seconds into the level.

Try as I might, I couldn't last more than a few seconds. A constant movement and momentum was needed, meaning stopping wasn't an option. The learning curve will allow for sequences like the one I encountered to be done a lot easier; I did skip nine chapters to be fair.

If you're a fan of games that don't forgive easily, such as Super Meat Boy or Bit Trip, then Action Henk is one to certainly look out for. Even if you've never played that type of game before, the tutorial levels allow for a steady introduction to the mechanics of the game and don't heap everything upon you at once. This means that Action Henk a good title for both experienced and new players to the genre. Action Henk is already out on PC, and will be released on consoles later in the year.