Developer: GRIN
Publisher: GRIN
Platforms: PC
Expected full release: March 2015
Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries – Preview
Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries is the first of two fully fledged stand-alone cinematic fable volumes, developed by the Belgian game development studio GRIN. In this 2.5D platformer, the fable of Red Riding Hood has been altered to a more darker plot where she ventures through beautifully crafted sceneries to seek revenge for her beloved perished parents.
The story in Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries is not the classic tale of Red Riding Hood as we know it. Red’s father Joseph, worked for Woolfe Industries as a lead engineer but perished in an unfortunate work accident four years ago. After being taken care of by her Granny for these past four years, Red decides that she is old enough to face the dangers in the city head on in order to unravel the truth of her father’s death. She finds herself facing B.B. Woolfe’s army of tin henchmen and engages in a war against the CEO of Woolfe Industries, fueled by personal anger. Truth often sets free but the secrets she discovers are much darker than she could have ever imagined.
“This is not a fairytale. There’s nothing fair about it.” – Red
The original and creative narrative is accompanied with unique graphics influenced by old fairy tale books and Tim Burton’s dark fantasy art. The entire visual aspect of the game screams dark fantasy but it does so with a certain realism which truly makes the game breathtaking and visually pleasing to play. While this very specific type of graphics may not appeal to everyone, you can’t help but be in awe.
The same can be said about the gameplay and its mechanics. At its core, the game feels and plays like a typical platformer that has the much needed puzzles to keep the game interesting. At a much closer glance, the game differs much from the traditional platformers. While you do play a side scrolling 2.5D platformer, the game does have a certain open-world feeling to it as there are certain areas you can freely explore. This, in combination with the action-packed hack and slash mechanic, makes the game far more adventurous than most platformers.
As for the movement in the game, the controller plays extremely well although the preset controls may be awkward at first. In this case X is used to attack while A is used to jump. You can roll with your character by using B. Skipping scenes can be done with double A, although you won’t be using this much. Interacting with doors and items is done with RB while LB activates a special move that slows time which makes it easier to avoid certain deadly moves. Sneaking and running are LT and RT. If the preset controls are not to your liking, you can always use the keyboard which settings you can change.
The gameplay is fairly simple at first but increases in difficulty the more you progress. You’ll be following baskets to make sure you are on the right track, exploring certain areas while you hack and slash your way through the army of tin henchmen. There are not too many puzzles in the game that need to be ‘solved’. The majority of them simply require you to explore an area which makes the game interesting in a good way as you’ll need to figure out the safest route to your goal. Timed events are part of these ‘puzzles’ as well as chase events where you need to figure out the correct and fastest route. Exploring areas and interacting with items will unlock several unique items such as concept art, newspaper clips, story parts, maps and much more which you can later inspect in your diaries.
Another feature in the game are the tricky boss fights. So far there aren’t many bosses to face but we did notice a few ‘under construction’ signs that mentioned more bosses will be added in the near future. The ones you’ll be able to encounter in the Early Access version of the game are not quite easy as they have a few great mechanics that you need to learn to deal with, which ups the difficulty of the game. While the game may be in Early Access, there have been few graphical and audio glitches but none of these were game breaking which only increased the pleasure of playing this so far great game.
Conclusion
Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries is one of those rare platformer gems that tackles an original and creative narrative in a unique fantasy world, all combined with stunning visuals and a casual yet action-packed gameplay with tricky boss fights, timed and chase events that will make your heart race.
Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries - Preview,
No Comments