Tak and the Power of Juju
- September 03, 2003 14:17 PM PST
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No animals were harmed in the making of Tak and the Power of Juju.
Survival InstinctHow do you reinvent the wheel without eliminating its fundamental wheelness? That?s the question on the minds of any developer trying to make people interested in 3D platformers again. Crystal Dynamics is chaining a weasel to a bunny; Naughty Dog is tapping into the darkness in Jak?s heart; and Avalanche is turning to a little fella named Tak and his amazing powers of juju.
Much of Tak falls into the traditional platformer mold?a big, non-linear world with lots of sections to explore, rats to smack, and items to collect?but the thing that really sets the game apart is a little more subtle: clich?s like switches, catapults, etc. have been replaced by a sort of living animal ecosystem. Puzzles rely on you learning and playing off the traits of the different creatures that live in Tak?s world; and rather than pulling a lever to turn on an elevator that opens a gate, you?re leading an orangutan into a monkey?s throwing range so you can sneak a sheep by on your head to placate an amorous ram. It?s a smart, challenging, and rewarding approach to puzzles, and Tak?s secret weapon.
Animal Magnetism
Tak is also set apart by the fact that the main character has a likeable, bumbling earnestness about him and isn?t the result of some marketing survey that says gamers like characters who ride hoverboards and have one eyebrow slanted and raised in knowing extremeness. The animation, bizarre, and especially the animal designs are honestly funny and seem to owe a lot to Nick Park of Wallace & Gromit and Creature Comforts fame.
Tak doesn?t yet have the polish of a Jak or a Ratchet, but time with the PS2 preview build (it?s also coming for the GameCube) proved he?s got personality and a really smart, compelling gameplay idea in his living puzzle zoo. It?s the kind of originality needed to keep the 3D platformer species from going the way of the dodo.
