Akimbot review ⏤ A lackluster platformer

When I first heard about Akimbot, I was intrigued. Set in a sci-fi world where only robots exist, the player goes up against mobsters, evil armies, and a mad scientist. You also get to travel to different planets and save the universe from impending doom. The game takes inspiration from successful platformers of the past, particularly the Ratchet & Clank series. All of it sounded like it would make for an exciting and energetic time. However, while the premise was solid, the gameplay itself was less so. With lackluster main characters, shaky visuals, and downright frustrating levels, Akimbot is proof that even the right idea can fall flat with the wrong execution. 

The story follows Exe, a mercenary, and a drone named Shipset. The two meet at the start of the game and although Exe wants nothing to do with the talkative Shipset at first, they work together to escape their adversaries. Soon, the two are recruited by the leader of their world to stop the scheme of a rogue scientist named Evilware, who wants to use the time-altering Artifact to control the universe. (Well, it’s more like Exe is recruited; Shipset is just along for the ride.) The plot is about as basic as it sounds, but it is serviceable for a sci-fi adventure like this. 

The gameplay has elements of both third-person shooters and platformers, which made for a mixed experience overall. During the adventure, you have to skip through platforms, dodge enemy blasts, and shoot back with accuracy. Exe is also a master hacker with mini games that allow you to exploit the flaws in any security system. These mini games are quick and easy to get the hang of, but the downside is that there isn’t much there if you’re looking for a challenge. Other times, the game was too challenging. One particularly difficult part was when Exe and Shipset hijacked Evilware’s car to reach him. The sequence is timed with only a little over two minutes, and if you take any longer, your car simply explodes and you have to start again. This happened to me several times, leaving me more frustrated than entertained. 

I also ran into glitches that made progressing difficult. The most prominent one consisted of the main character falling into water and then swimming from that point on, even after returning to solid ground. (Exe can’t shoot or do much of anything while stuck in swimming mode, so I was often left with no choice but to reset to my last checkpoint.) There were a few moments where I found myself invested in the gameplay. One of my favorite chapters was when Exe and Shipset were on their way to the planet Materia and they had to travel through space while shooting down Evilware’s tech, but moments like these didn’t happen as often as I’d like. 

Akimbot has a decent look to it with vibrant cool colors like green, blue, and purple. There are large open worlds to explore, which is a double-edged sword. There is a lot to see and do in every level, but this made navigating the world difficult at the start since it was hard to know where I was going exactly. There is no map to guide you, so a lot of the time you just have to run straight and hope for the best. On top of that, the visuals were inconsistent. Sometimes, they were crystal clear while other times the movement was blurry and erratic. 

The controls for the lead are standard with plenty of dashes and double jumps, but also some cool weapons at his disposal like an assault rifle, sniper rifle, and rocket launcher. However, what really makes the world stand out is that as mentioned before, it is populated entirely by bots like Exe-not a human in sight. The audio is also well put-together with even the menu music pumping me up. Finally, although the main cast is small, the voice actors all do great in their roles from the jokester Shipset to the more serious Ambassador. 

For me, the game’s biggest weakness is its writing, particularly for the two main characters. Exe is a brooding loner who begrudgingly agrees to save the universe in exchange for his own freedom. He fills his role as a protagonist well enough, but there isn’t much to him. He isn’t particularly clever, caring, or even cunning, so I couldn’t find much reason to care about him. Shipset is your typical annoying sidekick archetype and while there were some moments where he made me chuckle, there were other times where I wondered what the point of him even was. I might be able to overlook some of the game’s weaker moments if the characters were interesting, but they really weren’t. 

If you’re feeling nostalgic for the PS2 platformers of yesteryear, this game does its job well enough. However, in my opinion, it tried too hard to capture that nostalgia to form an identity of its own. Although Akimbot has great music and visuals, the boring characters and script as well as inconsistent difficulty outweigh the positives. For that, I’d give this adventure a pass. 

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