When I saw the first trailer for Akimbot, I was deeply excited. A 3D platformer with a mix of fast gunplay, collectible hunting, and zany vibes sounded incredibly up my alley. What’s more, indie developers Evil Raptor draw clear inspiration from the Ratchet and Clank series for their 3D platforming adventure – a series I hold near and dear to my heart. On paper, everything was in place for a grand old time. In practice? Well, a time was had.
To start, Akimbot gets one of the non-negotiables for any platformer right: traversal. Protagonist and player character Exe has a sweet suite of moves at his disposal, and they’re all available right from the start. Double jump, mid-air spin, dash, and slam attack all feel intuitive to execute (whenever the framerate isn’t being weird or straight up tanking in later levels). Most importantly, these moves all chain together in incredibly satisfying ways that the level design actually works to complement.
In a level about halfway through Akimbot’s story, there’s a bit of traversal that has Exe jumping over a bunch of platforms on the backs of robot dinosaurs spread fairly far apart. Immediately upon seeing the distance, I took a gamble. Aiming for the furthest platform within a reasonable distance, I jumped forward, let it glide for a bit before dashing, then chained together my second jump and mid-air spin. Seeing I was about to fall short, I hail-Mary’d a slam attack for the slight forward movement it gives. I landed perfectly on the edge. It’s a simple thing, but immensely gratifying, and fortunately an element that Akimbot tries its best to lean into. These moments aren’t quite plentiful, however.
Which brings me to level design. Great movement is one thing, but without the right playground to really make it shine, even the smoothest of backflips can’t save a 3D platformer. Akimbot does a fair job here. There’s a light mix of platforming challenges, and the variety of colours in some levels mixed with the depth given to less vibrant locales evokes Ratchet and Clank in a great way. Yet, there’s never really much innovation over the initial formula. The wall-runs, jump chains, and basic mob clears I was doing in the lategame are almost exactly what I was doing in the very first level. Hidden collectibles at least help, often giving a nice shot to the arm when it comes to platforming. Labelled “Lost Data,” these lore drops are hidden behind some of the best gauntlets in the game – but are also the shortest. Competent and indeed even fun as it is at moments, Akimbot rarely pushes its own envelope.
Attempts are made to do so with gunplay, but these also fall short. Over the course of Exe and his companion Shipset’s journey, running and gunning never quite feels right. Strafing is doable but tedious with inconsistent auto-aim, while aiming down sights can quickly get rough with a stiff camera. To solve its issue of middling technicals, Akimbot keeps its arsenal simple and fun. Exe gains access to an assault rifle, sniper, rocket launcher, and minigun, on top of a variety of special weapons with big damage. All of these use overheating systems instead of reloading, so ammo is thankfully never an issue. Each shoots in mostly unique fashion to the others, feels fun to use with different recoils, and has clear situations in which they shine that are easy to intuit.
Glaringly, however, there is no shotgun. A lot of encounters involve a mob of enemies running at you or shooting from behind abundant cover. In scenarios like these, having a boomstick with which to chase stragglers or crowd control would be wonderful, and an easy way to mix in some more fun. Akimbot eschews this shooter staple, presumably for special weapons to fill the void – being dependent on special energy that quickly depletes, they never do.
Similarly dependent on special energy, Akimbot’s vehicle sections demand a lot of patience. Mainly because they’re far too long for their own good, and doubly so because they just don’t feel very good to control. In the same vein as their inspirations, Exe and Shipset will occasionally ride in a buggy on land or spaceship in… space, and neither is fun. An overabundance of spikes and enemies hampers any momentum you’ll find in the buggy, while the ship is just dull on-rails sequence after dull on-rails sequence, with three or four enemy ships to take out at a time.
Plus, these sections occur just a little too often. Nowhere is this lacking gameplay more apparent than in Akimbot’s final gauntlet, which brings just a little bit of everything. That is, the last hour puts the game’s worst foot forward multiple times over, only exacerbating how little fun I had during those parts when their mechanics were first introduced. It is a bizarre choice, and one that really sours the end of this story.
And what a story it isn’t. Akimbot’s general plot is fine, giving fun context to some levels and even providing a laugh or two. Yet, the main characters are generally alright to borderline unlikeable, with Shipset being particularly grating at times. He’s less Clank and more Claptrap, but without the sharp(ish) writing. While I wasn’t exactly expecting a Pulitzer-winning drama, the strange attempts at character development fell flat enough to notice. I don’t dislike the characters, but it was hard to feel any kind of investment with them.
Fortunately, investment comes from other places if you’re willing to look. Notably, the trophy list. I don’t normally mention trophies or achievements in reviews, as completion isn’t on most people’s minds. With Akimbot, though, it’s rather fun. The game’s checkpoint system is useful for collectible backtracking, which I did in pursuit of the Platinum trophy. This trophy list is a well-designed selection of miscellaneous things to do. There are hitless challenges for specific gauntlets, shooting endeavours to make the most of level design, and even funny secrets you’d never think to try. Chasing these trophies added some spice and extra challenge to Akimbot, keeping me far more engaged than the story alone.
And thus ends the tale of Akimbot, a mighty fine time where for every boon comes a slight bane to hold it back. It’s absolutely a magnificent step up from Evil Raptor’s last venture, Pumpkin Jack, and does a good job of evoking the general energy of its storied inspirations. I see plenty of room to grow in a sequel or new third game. Yet, the rough edges show, and are a bit too prevalent at times. If you’re willing to overlook them, though, there’s a bot-load of fun to be found.
Sarim played Akimbot on PlayStation 5 with a review code.
