As Halloween passes this year, I had decided to play Pumpkin Jack by Headup Games and I have to say that this is the best action-adventure game I have played since Banjo and Kazooie back from 2008.
Back in February of this year we were able to attend Pax East, in Boston, Massachusetts and were offered to see a small glimpse of a game that wasn’t too far into development. There was not even an official Demo released. We had gotten at least 15 mins of play and I was instantly hooked and intrigued on how they were able to bring back old school gaming.
Right off the back as you start the game you are introduced to Jack the Pumpkin Lord who was hired by the Devil himself to stop a Wizard from meddling his plans to cause havoc across the world. You are joined on your quest by a Crow that aids you in making sure that you quest is complete. As you progress you are able to gain additional weapons by destroying bosses.
Graphically the game design is very unique. I really love how DLSS and RTX (ray tracing) is available for those who want to improve their experience. I recommend for you to have ray tracing on as it brightens the lighting and the surrounding as you play. Sometimes I did notice where the game would tear from time to time with RTX on but it wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t play the game.
The music is more of a kid friendly genre. Whenever I would do certain sections of the game, I felt that the music did not fit to well. But for the most part each track is very well created and unique from most games I have played this year.
Gameplay is where I felt as if I was playing a retro game from my past. It can get pretty repetitive with just 2 main attacks but again it felt right. Anyone can just pick up this game and have a blast with it, kids, teens, and adults. The beginning felt really easy but once you past the first section it is a whole different game the rest of the way. I even had let me 11 yr old give it ago and she picked it up no problem.
As a whole in my opinion this game can be compared by some of the greats like, Jak and Daxter, Banjo and Kazooie, and Ratchet and Clank. Honestly if this game had been released back in the day, I believe it could be a classic. I had a blast playing and streaming this game and I know that you would too. The whole family would enjoy a game like this and the great thing is that it is available on all platforms. Happy Halloween and I hope you are able to enjoy this game as much as I have.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gSyRDca5N0[/embedyt]
Reviewer
