Divided into numerous zones, the sprawling metropolis reaches high into the sky with multitiered structures that provide home to people from all walks of life.
LUNARK ON STEAM UPGRADE
On the plus side, if you keep an eye out, you just might find a way to upgrade Leo’s weapon.īeyond the factory, however, there’s much, much more to the city. To do so, he’ll journey deep into the recesses of the factory and deal with numerous security measures: he’ll have to reset alarms to prevent doors from auto-sealing, dodge moving laser beams, avoid explosive traps on both floors and ceilings, and even fight armed security robots and probe drones. Leo also enjoys using the droid QA interface found here, which allows him to master the basics of actions and movement.Īs events progress, Leo finds the factory under lockdown, and he must use his acrobatic skills to help the workers escape by unlocking the emergency exit. Nevertheless, the factory is managed by Leo’s friend and mentor, Gideon, so Leo visits often to receive advice and courier requests. One of the key locations is the droid factory, where humans work tirelessly to create the robotic enforcers that, ironically, help keep mankind firmly under the rule of the totalitarian supercomputer NOAH. Housing, food, entertainment, industry – everything needed for human life can be found here. Since abandoning Earth some 300 years prior, humanity has made this unnamed city its primary new home, and as such, it’s unsurprisingly a place where Leo spends a lot of his time. But one of the most important locations is the massive, futuristic city on the distant planet Albaryne. Though there was danger, Lunark kept its very deliberate pace even during this encounter.In the upcoming cinematic sci-fi platformer LUNARK, the protagonist, Leo, will visit a diverse array of environments, from underground caverns to a vibrant forest to a flying penitentiary. Leo needs to shoot at the big green spots on its body to hurt it, using good timing to avoid the spiders. The boss is pretty much stationary, using its spider minions to do most of the work. The boss fight at the end of the demo against a huge spider has the player put it all together, though it is more of a puzzle than a traditional action-platformer boss fight. Sometimes, too many enemies would be hanging around at once to blast through, requiring some strategy and kiting to overcome. Leo's gun has unlimited ammo, but if used too much it can overheat and render him temporarily defenseless. Navigating the demo's caverns wasn't too difficult, and Lunark uses the opportunity to introduce the character to combat against the resident giant spiders and bats. Leo will backpedal and attempt to regain his balance if a fall is too dangerous, and there were enough healing items that I never felt starved. A short tutorial at the start helps the player get used to moving around and dealing with common platforming situations, which was a huge help. There's a button to roll forward (to get through small gaps), a forward jump, a button to shoot, something for running, and all of this is important. The game plays at a slower pace, often letting players feel things out.
Gameplay is one of the most important parts of a platformer. At the end of the demo is a boss encounter, and I liked the energetic pace of the background music. The music for the cavern in the demo is quite pleasant and sets the otherworldly, alien tone. There are tons of little noises for Leo moving around, which adds quite a bit of realism to the world without being distracting. Lunark also features some good sound design. These alien ruins let you cut your teeth on the basics in Lunark. The jagged lines caused by the 2D graphics bring to mind things like the animated sequences in King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride (though Lunark's are well-done rather than unintentionally funny). These scenes are smoothly animated and flow very well. Frequently, when Leo interacts with something significant, it will show a cutscene. The backgrounds are fantastical, with a variety of unusual and vivid colors such as pink foliage and green skies. Leo turns about-face rather slowly and winds up whenever attempting a jump. There is real weight behind his movement. Featuring retro graphics, while Leo's sprite isn't particularly detailed in the modern sense it is quite fluid.