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Energetic

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Developer: Frictional Games
Publisher: Frictional Games
Genre: Adventure > Platform
Released: May 31, 2005
Players: 1

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- Energetic Review

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Energetic is a free jump & run game with an educational background, written by a trio of Swedish game developers. Players control a robot on a quest to aid colonists in their struggle against the aliens who are stealing their energy and polluting their home world.

The robot has a limited energy supply to use its gadgets �€“ ranging from simple lights to see-in-the-dark weapons, rocket boots and a stealth device. By installing �€œenergy savers�€? in the colonists' houses, eventually there will be enough surplus energy from wind and water power plants for the bot's batteries to slowly recharge on their own �€“ until then, though, players have to process coal, oil and uranium to refill that energy supply. The interesting part about this is that these non-renewable sources of power cause pollution, reducing the planet's health level, which is a game stat just like the bot's own health and energy.

The more pollution one causes, the less friendly the colonists will be; though it seems as if, except for a few warnings, their mood will not affect the game at all.

Eventually, by finding the right balance of renewable and fossil energies to get by without destroying the planet, one can solve the various quests the colony NPC have in store and win the game.

Graphics: 6
Energetic is a bit of a concept project, and makes use of textured backgrounds and 2D volumetric lighting, lots of alpha blending and some simple 3D effects. Unfortunately, none of these really shine, and the textures and sprites especially leave a lot to be desired. The main character design is rather sketchy and could use a makeover. The volumetric lighting is neat, but makes the game difficult to play. In dark caverns you have to jump around corners but you have no idea what's behind them because everything is shrouded in shadows. The textures are bleak and repetitive; excessive bump mapping aggravates this repetitiveness. Most NPCs look the same, and the frequent graphics glitches don't improve the overall impression.

Sound: 7

The sound effects are nothing to brag about, but they seem all right. The music is pretty good at times and changes with the mood of the current level. Everything could be of higher quality, though �€“ things sound a bit muffled at times.

Game Play: 6
The game starts with a brief tutorial and gets more interesting as soon as the energy management part begins. The game allows you to save your progress at predefined save points. The difficulty is high, sometimes frustrating, and you're left alone finding the right amount of coal to burn to restock your energy in the beginning. The �€˜Jump & Run�€™ parts are sometimes good, sometimes bad because of the very imprecise controls and collision detection. More often than not, you'll find yourself damaged by enemies you thought were several pixels away or stumbling off ledges that your feet suddenly sank into. The faster you move, the more such glitches occur. The worst issue in my eyes is that enemies respawn quite frequently, and that you need precious energy to subdue them. This can cause you to waste all your energy while looking for the exit in a convoluted underground maze, leaving you with a ruined planet and, in the worst case, unable to get out because you do not have enough energy to jump.

Value: n/a

This is a freeware game, but since it's not much more than a nice distraction, I can't say that it's a must have for anybody. Since it's free, however, there is no real reason not to download Energetic and check it out. It's of particular interest to aspiring game developers.

Concept: 7
The idea is cute and indeed you start to find yourself pondering how and when to install energy savers, and what gadgets to use. Some of the gadgets are fun �€“ the rocket boots, for instance. Others are dangerous, such as the grenade launcher. However, the game is quite short �€“ only some 120 minutes of entertainment according to the developers, but it took me about twice as long because of the high 'difficulty' level and the dead ends you can get yourself into.

The one thing that bothered me the most is that you can only play the game with the default key layout. No game pads or joysticks are supported, a deficit that is sorely felt in the jumping & spelunking parts of the game.

Fun: 6

I honestly don't know what to think of Energetic in terms of fun. Usually when that happens, it's a sign that a game isn't fun at all. But listening to the neat music and messing around with various gadgets can be quite entertaining. On the other hand, the quests to fulfill are often confusing and rarely appealing. The poor English localization of the game harms both playability (�€œWhat is it that they want?�€?) and educational value. Energetic has some mild humour and a few punch lines, but usually the jokes aren't very funny.

Overall: 6
Energetic is a cute freeware game with an interesting idea behind it. It could, however, be much better, especially when it comes to the balancing and controls that are the culprits in many frustrating moments. The faceless colonists lessen Energetic's appeal a bit because at times you find yourself wondering just why you have to save their planet in the first place. A little polishing would have gone a long way.

By: Moritz Voss
Posted: Friday January 13, 2006