The original Tak was a solid platformer that unfortunately few people played. Developer Avalanche created a game that had funny characters and interesting gameplay design. Now the sequel has been announced and we’re expecting everything that made the original a truly solid game to be enhanced while still including the trademark humor. It looks very good based on our playtime in the recent THQ Gamer’s event in LA and it will probably be one of the best platformers to be released this year.
Graphically speaking, the game is leaps and bounds better than the first Tak. For instance, we got to play a frantic level in the game where you control Tak through a racing stage of sorts down a river in a wooden barrel. You’ll need to avoid various obstacles like sharp rocks and trees with little control of the speed you’re going. This is done by jumping, crouching, and steering out of the way. It was one of the best looking levels as you could see a gorgeous waterfall (however short lived since you are flying down it in the tube) that was simply one of the most gorgeous graphical sequences in the demo.
In another level, the huge color pallete showed a lot of different colors melting and merging onto another in a psychedelic fasion. There was a graphically impressive vortex sucking up all parts of the level where you’ll need to run past obstacles and jump from platform to platform with the vortex at your heels. We even saw a level with Tak riding a cart with a huge catapult, proving that Tak will offer various types of challenges.
There were a couple of surprises too. First of all, there’s a new multiplayer mode in Tak 2, where players are going to be able to play more than 20 mini-games that the player will unlock through the single player portion of the game. These mini-games include racing challenges, and battle arenas which you can play via split-screen mode.
The other surprise was the combat system in the game which was completely reworked from Tak’s first adventure. Tak got a set of new moves, and the game feels even more dynamic than the first. For instance, you have to be quick when beating the creatures, as being slow will result in a hoard of enemies surrounding you, and they will show no mercy.
Tak 2: Staff of Dreams is shaping up to be a very good addition to the somewhat lackluster platform genre as of late. We can’t wait to get our hands on the final copy. Be sure to check back with us for more in the upcoming weeks.