Most endless runner games have one thing in common. They provide high entertainment value. Whether its collecting coins, dodging obstacles, or avoiding pitfalls, there’s always so much going on you’re rarely left disappointed. One Epic Knight includes much of the same endless twists and turns, plenty of obstacles, and cool character customizations and upgrades, but stumbles in its ability to deliver a wholesome running experience and in making the trip to the dungeons an exciting one.
Booby Trapped And Built to Kill
What lies within the dungeons of One Epic Knight are gold, loot, and other hidden treasures. The googly-eyed hero of the game, is certainly no knight-in-shining armor looking to rescue damsels in distress. Oh No, he’s not. He’d much rather go after hidden treasures and so begins his journey into the trappy dungeons. There’s plenty of gold strewn all around the dungeon floors to please the queen; plus special shields, swords, crystals, and other cool stuff that will help the knight fight the dungeon’s monsters and pick up extra scores. The temptation to grab these glitterati is certainly the lure to an early demise because the dungeons are heavily booby trapped.
In fact, the traps are so cleverly set up that you have to keep your eyes and ears peeled every ticking fraction of a second to avoid them. There are rotating spiked logs, steely spikes that suddenly pop out of the ground, swinging axes and sharp motor blades that swish across the path, spiked gates that come crashing from above, treasure chests that gobble you, green spongy blobs that suck you in, devious dungeon monsters that attack you, and the most hateful and annoying deep gorges that appear out of nowhere to cut short your gallant runs at every conceivable opportunity.
A few minutes into the game, you will be convinced of one thing. You are going to die more times that you can count, and not because of your careless gameplay, but rather because the game ensures that you don’t make it very far, for very long. The deep gorges are an example in point. It is simply impossible to notice them against the dungeon’s background when you are twisting and turning, and no matter how quick your reflexes are, you’re sure to fall into one of them pretty soon. Similarly, the dungeon path is a three-way lane and if you are at the fag end lane and need to make a quick turn you need to be super agile to swipe two places or else your dead meat.
The Bad And The Good
The single biggest let down to One Epic Knight is the game controls. It’s really hard to go wrong with simple controls such as swiping up down, left and right, but One Epic Knight somehow manages to do just that. You are most likely to find yourself cursing and swearing a lot when you swipe to the left but find yourself heading straight into a wall. Considering the pace of the game, the developers could have considered tilt controls, or at least tried to slow down the pace of the game just a little. But they haven’t and this singular flaw lets down the game very badly. In fact, much of the cool upgrades and portions become less important as you are entirely focused on staying alive for just that little bit longer.
One thing that developers Simutronics Corp did get right with the game, though is the hero. Despite the pitfalls that lay ahead, he keeps you in good spirits with his warm ups and little bits of silly remarks along the way. Witty, delightful and somewhat original, his idle chatter keeps you going for a while. But then again, that starts to get stale too, especially when you have to do a re-run every minute or two and listen to the same lines over and over again. Another element I like about One Epic Knight is the little bit of combat action that happens while running. It is really fun when you’ve got a protective shield and can ram into a monster and smash him to smithereens, and well… have some cool dialogs to deliver with that action as well!
One Epic Knight excels in its 3D graphics, with the dungeon pits being its only sore point. The animations and witty dialogs make a winning combination and are certainly the highlight of the game. The musical score is perfect, blending well with the game’s mechanics and there’s hardly a wrong note there. Additional interesting elements can be found in the Store. You can buy portions, upgrades, trinkets, and outfits using in game currency or IAPs. There are also tons of feats you can accomplish, treasures you can discover and customizations to try out, if only, you haven’t given up on the game already.
An Epic Disappointment
One Epic Knight definitely looks the part, but fails to match up to the standards set by games such as Temple Run or Subway Surfers. If you have simply run out of games to play, One Epic Knight may be worth checking out. It’s not a game you will want to pick up and play again and again, but its worth a download if only just to get a few laughs out of one brave little Epic Knight who tries valiantly to charm his way into your gamely heart.
