Are you looking for an exciting futuristic game to take on in 2024? Well look no further than Evil Raptor’s Akimbot. I gave the mechanical mayhem a try on Steam after it came out in August of this year. Suffice it to say, I ended up adoring this robo-world. I find Akimbot a super refreshing take on the action-adventure genre.
The world was so alive, and I credit that to the designers and writers for all the great little details. I had a blast exploring all the different maps as the awesome protagonist, Exe. It was a funny dichotomy in the beginning for these robot characters to be hopping around tropical beach environments. It didn’t feel disconnected, though. Maybe it was their bubbly personalities, but they fit right in with the setting. I also loved the later worlds more attuned to their chaotic lifestyle. The later maps reflected a fierce war of machinery, coupled with different environments with fire, caves, or even maps in space itself. Pretty cool to me.
Yet it was more than design that immersed me in Akimbot. The characters had such lively dialogue. I was shocked to find out that having Exe attack pedestrians, by accident mind you, elicited a horrified reaction from his sidekick. It made me laugh, and I was more careful with my button spamming. Furthermore, I pleasantly discovered Exe can join in on the NPCs’ party by pressing “X” to dance. Moments like these usually bring me disappointment when I can’t join them, but this was top tier gameplay. Plus, Shipset’s “Oh for bot’s sake” has to be in the top ten lines in any video game.
Akimbot has so much variety in its gameplay. I’ll start with the classics of an action adventure. There was parkour, battles in and out of range, puzzles. I definitely found most of the challenges in this game to be very worth all the effort, and not just from earning XP. I felt like a lot of skills were put up to the test. Especially parkour which is not my strong suit. However the game had a fair amount of checkpoints and I quickly adapted to his jumps and boosts. I will admit the controlling spaceships were quiet tedious. They reminded me of my least favorite part in childhood games, clunky and frustrating. So the vehicles were my least favorite aspect, but some player might enjoy it more! I certainly liked the rest.
I liked how the on-ground fighting got more and more chaotic. With the usage of upgraded rifles and sharpshooters, I felt like a powerhouse quickly. There wasn’t much to the system of switching guns but I didn’t mind. I also adapted to the controls, which somehow felt both clunky since he’s a robot and smooth since the gameplay was super dynamic. And I haven’t even mentioned the mini 2D battles and puzzles, a nice occasional change of pace. Not to mention finding Lost Data was a super cool feature, since itinspired me to go the extra mile. I enjoyed it all quite a bit.
The story was super intriguing right from the start. It starts right in a prison cell with Exe and Shipset, and quickly the player is taken right into a prison break. I am a big fan of prison escapes in games, I’d love to have had more here. Anyway, I mentioned before the characters are great from a design perspective and they are just as amusing. Exe and Shipset make a great duo. I think they have such great voices coupled with creative animation that really brought them to life. I was super invested in their backstory and mission. I am always a fan of pseudo-redemption arcs where the unlikely end up saving the world. Even though Exe only took the mission reluctantly for his own benefit, I quickly rooted for their partnership to develop into a real friendship. Shipset was no annoying sidekick to me, his commentary was always welcome.
I think the silliness and less subtle aspects worked well. I wouldn’t change it. By things that might’ve been silly I mean more than just the dialogue. The worldbuilding in particular was a bit basic. Their main government being called the Algorithm and the coveted item called the Artifact, or a name like Evilware for the bad guys. I see a bit of a cliche archetypes in characters like Shipset and Processor. As much as these aspects are far from groundbreaking, I think they fit this game nicely. Especially considering placeholder sounding names, like Ambassador, work very well for robots. Sometimes overcomplexity is the problem. Here, there is so much uniqueness and style to the simplicity.
I had a blast with Akimbot. It’s a versatile game, one that will be suited to lots of different players. Those nostalgic for a machine-centric action adventure, those looking for a fresh indie game experience, and those who appreciate good robot puns. I recommend it as a fun and simple robo-buddy story. I’d even call it an instant classic.
Score: 8 out of 10
Reviewed on PC