Is Knack too difficult?

When I bought my Playstation four I got 2 games with it as part of an the offer the retailer was running. I got Killzone Shadowfall with the console and got offered another game of my choice. This game I chose was Knack. The game is set in a world where everything is powered by these mysterious Relics, a metaphor for our desire for Oil. With the power of these relics The doctor has found a way of bring to life a new-being, the protagonist of the game – Knack.

Gameplay mechanics: Knack is your typical 3rd person platform / action game beat-em-up where you run through the levels jumping and attacking as you go forth. As you progress throughout the game Knack can add more and more relics to the frame of his body. When Knack increases the amount of relics to his body his strength increases and movement changes. As you progress through the different levels you’ll be playing Knack in varying amount of sizes, in all honesty the smaller you are the harder the game is. When you are larger it’s a lot easier to attack your enemies out of their reach.

The more relics you acquire the bigger you get

Now I’m an experienced gamer and would rate myself as above average at the level I play at but even for my this game is a challenge. My main gripe is how difficult the game is for something that is aimed at a young audience. The enemies do seem to find a way of catching you off guard and even when you watch their patterns of attack it isn’t usually enough.

Knack can even use Ice to substitute relics to bulk up

This could be compensated by allowing you to recover energy from your enemies when you defeat then; unfortunately this isn’t something you have access to when you first start the game and have to discover secret items to create the devices that can give you these perks. Even though I can progress through the game, it does feel like most of it is not using any skill but remembering the sequences of attack thus essentially just muscle memory.

Knack is a good game that looks great for one of the first games to come out on the PS4 but in this gaming generation the health system for me is what really lets it down and feels dated. Personally Knack is one of those games that seems to be enjoyed more when you play the game in lots of small doses. Playing it in this manner before the frustration kicks in is the best way to play.