Knack (PlayStation 4) Review

Without spoiling the story, the game introduces Knack - a creature that seems to be a centrepiece for a bunch of stones named relics. They attach to Knack in a magnetic fashion and, handily, they also seem to be the main source of energy for, well, absolutely everything in the world. Think oil, electricity, and gas all rolled into one. The journey starts as a three-foot Knack is paraded around a science lab, defeating robots created for the sole purpose to show the power it possesses. As Knack displays the skills it has, it also acts as a handy tutorial and a sneak peek into the destruction caused when it grows larger and stronger. With the button configuration as simple as it's going to get - Square is a regular attack, Circle for a power move, and X to jump - it's very easy to get into for adults and children alike.

All things are not sunshine and rainbows, however. The goblins have attacked the humans and have stolen many of the relics in the world, undoubtedly for something sinister. It is up to Knack and friends to confront the leader of the goblins to get things straight.

Knack is an action game probably more comparable to a hack-and-slash adventure, as opposed to the platformer it was first believed to be. It is probably aimed at tweens with the easy to pick up controls, but the addition of a same console co-operative mode introduces a metallic Knack friend that uses a single-screen mechanic rather than split, allowing parents and friends alike to join in on the fun. It's a simple, but at times satisfyingly challenging, formula that will see a fair share of death as the player learns about new bad guys, making it hard to put down the controller. Plus, the colourful and detailed cartoon environments look lovely on the PS4 and are filled with plenty of hidden rooms and breakdown passages containing special relics and spare parts that allow Knack to build gadgets to power up certain abilities and incorporate the new relics into its growing body to make the journey easier as it progresses.

Being a PlayStation 4 exclusive game, it was rather a surprise that the game does not completely utilise the PS4 controller, given the introduction of a touch pad and a camera being included with many PS4 bundles. It feels like an opportunity wasted, and with the kind of animation that the team decided to go with, Knack feels more like a PS3 game at times, as opposed to the next gen treat that gamers were expecting. The storyline is basic and is easy to figure out where the writers are going with it after just a few minutes of seeing each character. There are no swerves that shock, and the story moves along in a linear and simple fashion, although it is worth noting that there is a hint of real underlying story further on, which echoes that of the American Indians 200 years ago and other colonisation stories. Even so, the story is fun to follow; it turns out not every story has to be complicated to be enjoyable as it introduces the player into each new area of bad guys in a vibrant and varied environment.

Sadly, the initial hopes of gathering an all-powerful Knack to slam through helicopter after tank are waylaid when it turns out Knack's relic gathering size is completely dictated inorganically through level design and there is nothing more frustrating than finally gathering that helicopter-swatting power to merely lose it all after one big fight to then jump in a small plane and start all over again. Not to mention the fact that when Knack does grow huge and continue to collect relics, the frame-rate jumps around due to all the loose objects.

The main story will take around eleven hours to finish, maybe longer if time is taken in finding all the hidden passages. Once completed, the game does present bonus modes that are unlocked after the first play-through, including Time Trial stages and an arena battle challenge that does allow the helicopter-swatting goodness, but, again, be prepared for some questionable frame-rate drops and little reason to play again if avid collection isn't a hobby.