In the renaissance of nostalgic games that play like they used to 20 years ago, Akimbot joins the pack. See if this guns-a-blazing platformer is worth it in our Akimbot review!

Jak & Daxter. Ratchet & Clank. Sly Cooper. These names elicit a certain emotion out of those who got to experience these action platformers in the early 2000’s. With the ever-changing games industry, the studios behind these classics are now tied down with titles like The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, and Spider-Man. Thankfully, the indie scene didn’t forget, and we’ve seen 3D platformers like A Hat in Time, Spark the Electric Jester, and Tinykin.

From the first screen, Akimbot just screams “nostalgic PS2 greatness”.

Akimbot comes from the mind of a developer that lived this period with us, as he states: “I’d personally say Akimbot is a true love letter to Jak & Daxter. They did an incredible job of blending action, adventure, guns, and style in a mid-dark game. Since I miss playing Jak & Daxter from my childhood, I’m trying to bring back that feeling in Akimbot.” With that ringing endorsement, let’s take a look at how this game, from Evil Raptor, channels the fast-pace jump-and-shoot gameplay of our childhood in our Akimbot review!

Akimbot Review – Story

The story within Akimbot is a bit of a familiar walk. As Exe, you’re an edgy, quipping mercenary that is straddled along with a wisecracking, never-shuts-up sidekick a la ClapTrap in Shipset, that has to quite literally save the universe in a time travel plot. Certainly nothing that will reinvent the wheel, but it all takes a backseat to the action, which is the real seller in a game like this. Not much else that is noteworthy, even without a blockbuster story, the focus is on run-and-gunning.

After being sent back in time, one action-packed setpiece involves you controlling a rampaging dinosaur.

Akimbot Review – Gameplay

In a game where you shoot guns, the gunplay might just be the most important aspect. Thankfully, in Akimbot, each weapon at your disposal feels excellent. Where some may be concerned that there are only four guns throughout the game, each has their own use-case; snipe far-away enemies with the rifle, whilst tearing down up-close bots with the chaingun. The rocket launcher is quick to overheat but explosive, and the all-rounder AR is always great to fall back on.

Defying gravity is fine as long as it looks cool.

As much as there is shooting robots, there is plenty of platforming to absorb in Akimbot. Movement is fluid and rarely ever leads to cheap deaths, whether it’s double-jumping and dashing, utilizing the obligatory grappling hook, wall-running, or anything in-between. If you do miss a jump, though, checkpoints are forgiving and you won’t have to retread old ground too much.

Cars, spaceships, hacking – the gameplay variety is strong in Akimbot.

When you’re not jumping or shooting in Akimbot’s linear levels, there’s a plethora of other things to fill in the gaps. The vehicles, whether they be cars or ships in space, are easy to grasp and are frequent enough to break things up to keep the gameplay fresh. The hacking minigames get a bit monotonous (especially the snake one) but it isn’t a dealbreaker. Aside from a tiresome fetch-quest and a shoehorned stealth section, Akimbot is a thrill-ride from start to finish.

Akimbot Review – Performance/Graphics

A passion-project for 3 years, the Evil Raptor team really knew how to program Akimbot and make it look stellar whilst maintaining strong performance. Even though the recommended specs are quite demanding, there’s never a technical hiccup or a big framerate drop, no matter how much is taking place on-screen. Load times are short and plenty of graphics options to tweak will ensure you can run the game as desired.

Akimbot may not be photorealistic, but it’s still quite the looker.

Even though all the characters are robots, the scenery in Akimbot is outstanding. A wide range of colors between levels makes them all feel distinct and never like you’re on the same old path for too long. In saying that, this is only a nostalgic entry from the gameplay sense, combing an art style from 3 console generations ago that has been made to look as good as a modern AAA game.

Akimbot Review – Audio

Akimbot’s voice acting, while amateurish, gets the job done. Exe is brooding and standoffish, whereas Shipset is a skeptical, vexing side character designed to get on your nerves. The dialogue is a product of its nostalgic influence, but I did like how characters incorporated “bot” and other robotic words into their jargon. The music was always appropriate, too, but the combat music did start a little early in most cases.

This is a familiar sort of trench run…

Akimbot Review – What Else?

Akimbot is a great game, but we did encounter a game-breaking bug while reviewing it where the fourth level wouldn’t load. Upon reaching out to the developer, they fixed it in a matter of hours – no waiting around or fussing. Evil Raptor earned some brownie points for that. It’s also worth noting that no other bugs came about in my playthrough, so give the demo a try if you’re on the fence.

Don’t let the pretty lights fool you – they’re one-hit-kill mines!

Akimbot Review – Conclusion

I’ll keep riding this wave of nostalgia if the end result is a great game, and Akimbot is just that. Developed over three years in spare time, Evil Raptor knew their target audience and have a solid title to offer here. With just some nitpicks here and there, no glaring issues are present in Akimbot. It’s the total package, with a decent game length and has enough going on to keep players hooked.

So, why should you play Akimbot?

• Blasting robots and navigating huge levels doesn’t get old!
• Tons of variety in gameplay, with driving/flying sections being especially fun.
• Nice polish and performance for a game of this scope.

But why shouldn’t you play Akimbot?

• Recycled story and mediocre voice acting.
• Boring fetch quest and aggravating stealth mission.
• Very demanding system requirements.

A review code was kindly provided by Plaion for the purpose of our Akimbot review. You can check out our other reviews here and if you haven’t already, be sure to join the Qualbert Discord to find out about the latest game and review updates!