NightWalker Review

By , on October 6, 2010


NightWalker
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Two-at-a-time runner gameplay.
  • Simple control setup.
  • Second-chance options to smooth out the difficulty.
  • Upgradeable characters.

CONS

  • Translation issues make upgrades confusing.
  • Some level combinations can be frustrating to pass.

VERDICT

NightWalker combines lovely simple graphics with a unique style of runner gameplay that evolves over time as you keep playing; sadly the balance isn't quite perfected and it's a hard game to master.


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NightWalker by Merry Weird is, by no small measure, not your average runner. Given the somewhat continual slew of re-imagined games for the genre, playing something this unique definitely gets points for being a breath of fresh air. However, don't expect the usual simple challenge of merely avoiding obstacles as you'll need to control not one, but two characters at the same time.

This in itself presents some rather odd challenges from a gameplay perspective as it's quite easy to make a tap in error, hitting obstacles or blindly plunging down pitfalls. Tapping the left side of the screen controls 'Rebeyes', a small character that can jump twice but needs to be shielded by 'Kerberos', a demonic hound that can eat monsters and jump when you tap the right side of the screen. Each of the characters has a bar representing their energy and their ability to 'revive' should one or the other fall off-screen. As you progress you'll also earn coins that can be turned in to advance the basic skills of each character, making longer runs (and higher scores) easier to obtain.

The graphics are dark, stenciled, abstract and moody while remaining rich in color and beautiful to watch, however the audio is a bit lackluster and features mainly basic sound effects and a random blaring tune when you fail.

NightWalker seems a bit confused in its design, mostly hampered by poor translations that make it harder to understand how to progress and gameplay that is at times challenging to enjoy, but it's still a fresh approach on an otherwise standard game and hopefully it will get better over time.

Screenshots

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