Armikrog
| Armikrog | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Pencil Test Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Versus Evil |
| Producer(s) |
Ed Schofield Lance James |
| Designer(s) |
Mike Dietz Ed Schofield Doug TenNapel |
| Programmer(s) |
LoongWei Ding Pip Robbins |
| Artist(s) |
Andrew Erickson Bree Paulsen Cameron Stradling Derek Roberts Doug TenNapel Gregory Leysens Samantha Cadier |
| Writer(s) |
Doug TenNapel (Story) Mike Dietz (Additional Story) Ed Schofield (Additional Story) |
| Composer(s) | Terry Scott Taylor |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox One |
| Release date(s) |
Microsoft Windows, OS X & Linux September 30, 2015[1] PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox One August 23, 2016 |
| Genre(s) | Point-and-click adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Armikrog (stylized as "Armikrog.") is a stop-motion point-and-click adventure comedy game by Doug TenNapel in partnership with Pencil Test Studios and Versus Evil for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Wii U and Xbox One. It is a spiritual successor to The Neverhood, and is developed by many members of the same team. Like The Neverhood, Armikrog uses clay animation.
Story
The game centers around Tommynaut, a space explorer who crash-lands on a planet called Spiro 5 and ends up locked inside a fortress called Armikrog.[2] Tommynaut is accompanied by his talking, sometimes flying, dog Beak-Beak, who is color blind, so the environment turns black-and-white when he’s selected, but he is able to see special wavelengths that Tommynaut can’t.[3]
Development
Mike Dietz and Ed Schofield, founders of Pencil Test Studios, teamed up with Doug TenNapel, with whom they worked on Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood, to use Kickstarter to crowdfund Armikrog.[4] The Kickstarter's goal of $900,000, and stretch goal of $950,000 for a Wii U version were exceeded when the funding ended on June 27, 2013.[5]
The game has a voice cast featuring Michael J. Nelson as Tommynaut, Rob Paulsen as Beak-Beak and the PresidANTs, Jon Heder as evil Vognaut, Veronica Belmont as Mother, Bob Baffy as Father, Charlotte Schofield as P, Yumi Iwama, Jeff Minnerly, Bob Doll as the Octovators, and Ed Schofield (credited as Eddie Fantastic) as Numnaut.[6]
Soundtrack
The game's soundtrack was composed by Terry Scott Taylor, who composed the music for The Neverhood soundtrack.[2] During the time of the Kickstarter campaign, a demo for Armikrog titled "Boo Hoo Ha" was uploaded to YouTube.
| The Music of Armikrog | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Theme Armikrog" | 2:19 |
| 2. | "Hot and Beefed (The Zipkicker)" | 2:06 |
| 3. | "Scaly Maps" | 2:57 |
| 4. | "The Squarely Beast" | 2:35 |
| 5. | "Splendor in Emerald" | 3:08 |
| 6. | "Scuttle Bugaboo" | 1:39 |
| 7. | "Tun Gun Sewernade" | 2:52 |
| 8. | "The Hallowed Halls of Heralded Heroes" | 0:58 |
| 9. | "Accordion, Accordingly" | 0:17 |
| 10. | "Nocturne in Blue" | 3:42 |
| 11. | "ER..Uh..Ummm" | 2:15 |
| 12. | "Mother is Near" | 4:05 |
| 13. | "Welcome Mat to the Dark Lobby" | 3:07 |
| 14. | "Mother Lovin' Lullaby" | 1:52 |
| 15. | "Theme Armikrog (regurgitated, reconstructed, remixed and reprised)" | 2:26 |
| 16. | "The Squarely Beast Gets All Mixed Up" (bonus) | 2:51 |
| 17. | "The Officially Rejected Unofficial Armikrog Theme" (bonus) | 1:36 |
| 18. | "Scaly Maps in a Thin Disguise" (bonus) | 3:08 |
| 19. | "Yet Another Abandoned Theme (Narrated)" (bonus) | 2:12 |
Reception
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armikrog received mixed reviews from critics, most appreciating the fun art style and catchy music. However, some were disappointed with lots of bugs, poor gameplay and short story. It received an aggregated score of 56.89% on GameRankings based on 19 reviews[7] and 57/100 on Metacritic based on 39 reviews.[8] Armikrog received many updates after its release date, the latest being 1.05, fixing various bugs and adding the custom cursor.[14]
References
- ↑ Horth, Nick (September 8, 2015). "Armikrog delayed once again, pushed back to September 30". Game Watcher. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
- 1 2 Pitcher, Jenna (May 29, 2013). "The Neverhood's spiritual successor is a claymation space adventure called Armikrog". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
- ↑ "Armikrog's claymation style is screwing with my head". VentureBeat. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (May 31, 2013). "The Neverhood creators launch Kickstarter for spiritual successor Armikrog". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ↑ Sanchez, David (June 27, 2013). "Dr. David's Indie Roundup: A Hat in Time, Armikrog, Tenya Wanya Teens, and more". GameZone. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
...this spiritual successor to The Neverhood has hit its goal and is closer to being a realized project. Additionally, the Wii U stretch goal of $950,000 was also reached...
- ↑ "Armikrog Cast & Crew". Imdb. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- 1 2 "Armikrog for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- 1 2 "Armikrog for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- ↑ Waxman, Becky (October 16, 2015). "Armikrog. review". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
- ↑ Cooke, Caitlin (October 6, 2015). "Review: Armikrog". Destructoid. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- ↑ Marchiafava, Jeff (October 5, 2015). "Unfinished And Uninspired - Armikrog - PC". Game Informer. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
- ↑ Espineli, Matt (October 30, 2015). "Armikrog Review". GameSpot. Retrieved October 30, 2015.
- ↑ Morrison, Angus (October 8, 2015). "Armikrog review". PC Gamer. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- ↑ "Armikrog Updates". Steam. Retrieved 24 February 2016.