Hoplegs – Preview
In a world where magic is real, you wonder what could go wrong. In the story of Hoplegs, everything goes wrong when an apprentice magician fudges up a teleportation spell, putting him in quite the pickle. But; this is just the beginning of a legendary quest to warn the king. For a game that is in its early development, it already comes at a very high production value. The game still needs some fine-tuning, but the game came out pretty positive in our initial tests, albeit with some frustrations.
One of the first things that are forgotten in an Early Access game is the story as most developers focus on the gameplay first, rather than telling the tale. Hoplegs is a whole different world; the game begins with quite the story about an apprentice wizard named Hoppus Legintfrint that was training under the most loved and experienced wizard of the kingdom. For 99 years it was all peaceful and quiet in the kingdom, but one day, the wizard returns to his house in a full panic to warn his apprentice. The Medieval prophecy is being fulfilled and Hoppus must inform the king, as the wizard is too old to do it himself. In his attempt to cast the teleportation skill, Hoppus messes up and turns himself into a box. This doesn’t stop him, however, and he embarks on his legendary quest to get to the king. In the current build, this is where the story ends. There is currently no progression but the story may get fleshed out as the development of the game continues.
The wizard lives in a nice place near the forest, which is immediately noticeable by the colorful and lively treelines in the background. Hoplegs is the kind of game that appeals to a wide audience thanks to its very smooth and cartoonish graphics. You will need a lot of patience if you want to complete the game though, as the difficulty seriously ramps up after a few levels. The game tries to keep you calm by playing a soft song in the background but doesn’t always manage to keep you in a tranquil state of mind. It seems like a simple song that is reminiscent of a 1950s cartoon or for those who have played Fallout 3’s Tranquillity Lane. The sound effects in Hoplegs are simple but effective; the thuds and crashes feel organic and you see the emotion on your character’s face when he falls or crashes into something at high speeds.
Hoplegs is a physics puzzle game where you have to guide Hoppus to the end of each level. The game starts pretty easy, as the controls are simple, yet mastering the skill of movement in this game can become quite tricky as you must combine the right momentum with the right angle and it isn’t as easy as just jumping over obstacles. For the moment, the game has 28 levels and one trial. The trial is only for highly skilled players, as completing this level requires every skill in the book. The normal levels are pretty easy in the beginning but become rather difficult after only a few missions.
In each mission, you will have to navigate Hoppus from the beginning to the end. Some missions have checkpoints in the middle, in case if you fall off the map. It all looks easy until you realize that Hoppus is a box and boxes aren’t really that agile. The controls are simple, each face button on your controller corresponds with an arm or leg that pushes the box, you can always use your keyboard but the color-coding on the controller can make the experience a little easier. Combining the force of your limbs with the rotation that ensues and you can pick up some serious speed. After a few levels, you will have to combine jumps while keeping your momentum or even while floating in space.
The game is far from simple, as you turn, the button layout will change, so user errors that can put you back to the start aren’t uncommon. This can lead to some frustration but that’s just how the game is for the moment. In harder parts, you will be assisted by a ghost-like figure, showing you how to do the jump, but this is only on that specific part and you will have to memorize the many different tricks to reach your goal.
Conclusion
Hoplegs is a really interesting title that has a strong beginning at a certain quality. Having an Early Access game with an interesting premise and nice graphics combined with a good background song, with decent gameplay mechanics is what makes Hoplegs a title to keep a close eye on. The sudden difficulty spikes can be a party pooper and a reworked difficulty curve could be better to ensure that potential fans keep on playing.
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