Bucket Knight Review on Xbox

Bucket Knight is best described as a run-and-gun plat former, where you take control of a Bucket Knight who is in the search for the Holy Grail so you can buy a house after the bank refused him a loan. The Swines.

The game has already been on Steam since September 2019 and this is a direct port that boasts twenty five levels and a limited collection of guns.

Gameplay

The games premise is pretty simple. You want to buy a house, but a house costs money, and the bank isn’t going to lend you money for nothing. So you decided to search for the holy grail in order to sell it and buy a house. Pretty basic, but the story isn’t really what this game is all about.

The game comes with no tutorial, so working out what buttons to press and what the collectibles do, is part of the course. You start by dropping out of a portal and its up to you to get through the current level, gunning down enemies, collecting coins and avoiding hazards to get to subsequent portal to order to finish it.

The control system here is a bit strange, with ‘Y’ restarting the level, and ‘X’ opening a menu up to allow you to purchase guns. This can be a bit of a nightmare early on, when the control system is ingrained to memory and you accidentally press ‘Y’ and find yourself at the beginning again. ‘B’ is your standard jump button, but pressing it again quickly, but not too quickly, will allow a double jump. Perfecting the timing of this button Is going to be one of the hardest elements your find in the game. This has a late 80’s sense of platforming controls, which for some are going to find abit unnerving. However, to me this helps the games overall theme as it pushes the player into concentrating and focusing more. An options screen that would show off the controller layout or even options to change button binds would be appreciated, however.

The games level design is nice enough, with it loot and keys being spread out to ensure that you need to explore to find your way out. The levels also change dramatically, with fast platforming levels being added to really change things up from your standard search and gun. Level are very mostly easy to complete and can be done so in about five to ten minutes. Each level has had special care in its design, specially the location of health items and general enemy placement.

Speaking of enemies, there is a limited but varied collection with each one having a special attack, that will need to be countered. These come as general gunners who can hit you at distance, flying bats/skulls at prominent jump locations, and suicide bombers ready to take you out with as soon as they spot you.

Loot is in the form of coins and they are a big thing in this game, and collecting a large amount will allow you to unlock three more guns besides your trusty pistol, as you progress. The guns available are a machine gun, a shotgun, and a minigun, and from the sound of it you would think this sounds amazing. However, each of these weapons don’t really add to much variance to the gameplay. The machine gun and mini gun just add a short burst to the weapon, which I soon ignored when I worked out pressing fire more was quicker and more effective. Though I do believe the mini gun does provide abit more hitting distance that the machine gun. The shotgun is pretty much the only weapon that changes things up as this provides an angular spread and plus one damage. This was great for hitting enemies on ledges or pits without having to jump down and face getting hurt by their weapons. It soon became my weapon of choice and one I used till the very end.

Graphics

From the beginning you are able to change from a CRT view (old tv replica for you youngsters) or just a normal flat version. For those who are older this will bring back some serious nostalgia, and its has been replicated very well. For others, it will probably feel very unnatural and annoying. But still, it’s a nice nod to us old farts. Visually the pixelated graphics game reminds me of an long lost era where the colour palette was simple and the emphasis was on fun. It retro style is designed to look back to when gaming visuals was in its infancy, and in this, it succeeds in this perfectly.

Sound

Music here is basic and there are only a few tunes for you to listen too as your going through the game, however as it recycles a lot, you will often forget it exists at all. Gun fire, damage and loot collection however, have some nice retro effects that do give the game the bump it needs to feel abit more alive.

Verdict

This leads me onto the rating of the game:-

Now I rate games in order of, avoid, on sale, great purchase and must own. My rating for Bucket Knight is "Great Purchase’’

This is a game for players who want something quick to complete and at the same time hit that nostalgia itch for old retro platforming. Achievement hunters will love this game and for the price, and it is actually quite a fun little title when you only have a hour free.

The game is currently priced on Xbox at £4.19 or approx. $4.99 and depending on skill and patience would give you about 2 hours worth of gameplay.

I think the developer knew exactly what market they were aiming for and for those who are limited on time, and a fan of retro platforming, this will be ideal. For the rest, well it’s a fun little escapism whilst your waiting for other titles to hit.