Junkman
Dec 13 2004, 05:45 AM
Game: Navigating Kenny
Creator: Beamer
Genre: Puzzler/Action
Description: Guide Kenny through maze-like levels by placing directional blocks, avoiding obstacles as you go.

Rating: 77%

Review: Someone needs to check out Beamer's brain in order to make sure about what he really is. Is he a real human being or a game-making robot? Ever since 1999, he's managed to release close to 40 South Park games and I'm pretty sure that he's worked on more than 10 unfinished projects along that in the way. He's always been able to make games at the speed of light and most of the time, he's always produced games that were enjoyable and sometimes, remarkable. As he's busy working on his upcoming Cartman's Adventure 4, Beamer charges in with yet another game that came out of nowhere. I'm still scratching my head and wondering how the heck he managed to pull off Navigating Kenny, his newest game, in only 4 days.

Navigating Kenny is a rather unique action/puzzler game that is loosely inspired by Brandon's South Park Puzzler, but the concept is actually pretty different. Whilst South Park Puzzler's aim was to tweak with blocks that were pre-placed all around the level in order to have Cartman to reach the exit, you need to place blocks into the direction you want all around the playfield to guide Kenny towards the exit whilst avoiding the level's hazards, resorting either on luck or precise timing. The real-time and action perspective gives an action edge to the game, thus spicing things out and not making it a complete puzzler, even though puzzle aspects are present through the whole game. You'll need to be careful upon the place you're placing blocks at; otherwise you might find out that you won't be able to reach a certain spot anymore.

How the game does play out now? The game is rather easy to get the hang of, although the instructions screen make the game mechanics look a lot more complicated than they really are, seeing the information is all tightly packed and squeezed in a single, small frame. It's easy to get the hang of the controls, as you only need the mouse to aim with the block creator, then you press the arrow key in the direction that you want the block to redirect Kenny. As being explained above, don't think that it's a simple matter of redirecting Kenny through a maze of walls toward the exit. There are many hazards lying around most of the levels (minus one level that I'll let all of you figure out) such as ice picks, saw blades, laser cannons, moving objects, locked doors and even zombies. The control system is pretty good, although sometimes the block placement can be awkward, since there are some rare occasions where placement must be pixel-perfect, thus making for some pretty frustrating moments. There were also times where I thought that the hit detection was somehow awkward; there were times where you had to guide Kenny through narrow passages, and even though he seems to make it through, one of his pixels suddenly collide with a wall/hazard, thus killing him. However, these aren't big issues and these were the only problems that I could spot in the game, so the execution of the events is pretty good in overall.

The game's graphics are pretty good-looking, although not spectacular. Some of the hazards are nice-looking and the level's backgrounds usually do a good job at rendering the level's setting. The Kenny sprite is okay, although it should have done with some animation to make it look a bit more believable. Sound effects are taken from many sources, such as the Sonic games and some sound libraries there and there. Almost all the soundtrack is made by me so I can't quite comment on it...

I still have trouble believing this has been made in only 4 days. This is one of the best games Beamer has released since quite a while, despite its simplicity. It's not a game that has been made before in the South Park Gaming community, so that's a definite plus added to it. However, the game is pretty much on the short side and it's not a game you're likely to replay much, more puzzle concepts and more levels would have increased its lifespan. However, the final verdict about the game is that's pretty good for a game that has been made in less than a week, it definitely shows that Beamer shows no sign of slowing up his game creating pace and it seems like he keeps getting better at what he does, too. Here goes another worthwhile addition to Beamer's already large game collection, download it now.