Akimbot review

Every now and then a game comes along to remind us just how good we had it back in the golden period of the PS2, when super-fun, no-brainer action platformers came along in their droves, simple pleasures that didn’t involve the mortal punishment of Souls-likes, or overwhelming size and scope of some modern games. That isn’t to knock how far we have come: gaming continues to astound and thrill me with every new development, but sometimes I just like to play stuff like Akimbot.

You cannot get away from the influences with this one, much the same as the recent Turtles game that I had a look at, which unashamedly wore its Hades inspiration upon it’s shell, Akimbot draws heavily on the iconic quartet of yore – namely Jak, Daxter, Ratchet and Clank.

Our heroes of the piece here are mismatched robotic duo Exe and Shipset, an odd-couple pairing that start the game with a flurry of bickering but build a warm friendship full of genuine humour as the proceedings unfold. You are plunged into the action immediately as the protagonists are executing an escape from a prison ship in a lush seaside town that comes across like something from the Legend of Zelda, if Hyrule were populated solely by anthropomorphic robots. This section also serves as an introductory tutorial to the game mechanics and weapon loadout.

Akimbot is all about dashing, grappling, wall-running, leaping, melee attacks and fast-paced, high octane gunplay. You have access to a sword attack for close quarter combat, and there are a limited number of weapon classes at your disposal with a choice of machine gun, rocket launcher, assault and sniper rifles. You can also pick up some special weapons at shops and upgrade them using the amusingly named in-game currency – Botcoins (groan). Specials have a limited usage based upon another collectable – Volts. These are scattered when you defeat enemies and are crucial to keeping the ammunition topped up. There are also collectable hidden items in each stage, de rigeur for the genre, of course, which adds another exploratory layer to the action.

As well as the more conventional platform shooting, Akimbot has some surprising set-pieces up its sleeve, many of which have clearly been inspired by past classic videogames. There are vehicular forays, including an excellent dune buggy sequence and some intergalactic space combat, and a few bits that I won’t spoil but you will just know where they were pulled from. I was also pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of – incredibly – nightclubs and bars. That’s right ladies and gents – robots know how to party, and even in the opening stretch you encounter a jumping venue with a DJ flipping some tunes.

Akimbot looks and sounds absolutely terrific, with real care and attention clearly having gone into the design. A lot of character and, dare I say it, humanity has been imbued into the robot denizens of its world, which is pleasingly diverse with some lovely lighting effects and textures. It really does feel like someone has taken a PlayStation 2 era vintage title and spruced it right up for 2024. The voice acting is also on-point, with the steadily growing relationship between our heroes being the highlight.

Evil Raptor don’t always hit the mark, however. There are a few areas of the game that I found a bit tiresome and incongruous to the main action – such as an unnecessary bit of one of my most despised gaming tropes – stealth. This didn’t need to be included. The game can also struggle a tad on the technical side. I was expecting to encounter a few teething troubles on Steam Deck, which could mostly be negated by tinkering with the settings – but even using a decent PC there were issues with really noticeable, debilitating slowdown. Thankfully this did not affect my overall enjoyment of the game.

It is pleasing to that games like Akimbot are still being made, as there is a definite place in the market for well-crafted examples of platforming run and gun action. Younger players will enjoy how easy this is to pick up and master, but older heads like me will be transported back to a simpler time when all I had to worry about was the amount of space left on an 8mb memory card.