I remember the first time I heard of Pumpkin Jack. The game's sole developer, Nicolas Meyssonnier, shared a GIF of the work in progress on Twitter and it just happened to hit my timeline - thank you, algorithms. I fell in love immediately.
Visually, Pumpkin Jack looked both nostalgic and modern, like so many recently remade 3D platformers of yesteryear, and it walked seductively through what looked like a perfectly macabre setting for October. It seemed like an amazing concept, but there's only so much you can glean from a GIF.
Fast forward several months and the terrifically fun game has arrived on schedule, just in time for the Halloween season. Luckily, this Headless Horseman makes it to town with all his charm intact.
Pumpkin Jack Review: Simply Spooktacular
Pumpkin Jack is a 3D platformer that any fan of the genre will instantly recognize. The pumpkin-headed anti-hero is new to the games, and it's a never-before-seen Halloweentown that he jumps into, but the mechanics of his traversal as well as the enemies that oppose his tricks and treats are all of a piece with the greatest of the genre.
Meyssonnier did not shy away from comparisons in pre-release. In fact, Pumpkin Jack is billed as an homage to games like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter in particular, though it's MediEvil that will draw the strongest comparisons to anyone other than the developer. Indeed, like Guerrilla Cambridge's now-defunct undead adventure, Pumpkin Jack fits the Halloween season like a Fortnite costume on a tween.
Every aspect of Pumpkin Jack is designed to be enjoyed right now, in October. On his exploits to rid the world of good, Jack bounces off graveyards, explores haunted mines, and even invades Santa's Village to inject some macabre Burtonesque into the snowy hamlet, all while the excellent original music paints a scene of spooky fun.
Each level glows like a new Jack-O-Lantern with vibrant oranges, greens, purples and more, and a hint of misty mist envelops the world, ensuring each level looks like the light-hearted holiday hit it wants to be . This is a game designed for Halloween fans and very clearly by them.
While October is clearly the perfect time to soak up Pumpkin Jack, its mechanics ensure it can be enjoyed all year round. A platformer lives and dies by a combination of its leaping fluidity and camera controls. Happily, I found no issues in either case.
The double jump ensures that Jack always hits his target and the level design cleverly guides players, using environmental cues rather than guide arrows. It's a surprisingly immersive game for something akin to a reverse episode of Scooby-Doo.
The combat is just as enjoyable, and while it can be a little messy at times, there's still enough skill to know when to dodge around a horde of skeletons and other ghouls to ensure that this is not a totally insane affair.
Each level also offers a new weapon to your radial menu, such as a scythe, a shovel, or a magic wand that unleashes a flurry of spells like shotgun shells. I've found that which weapon you use is mostly down to personal preference, as they're about equally viable in almost all cases, but the creativity and aesthetics behind each weapon is fun throughout the game. about six hours.
Each of Pumpkin Jack's half-levels guarantees a few game beats. They all focus primarily on the aforementioned well-designed 3D platforming and beat 'em up combat. They each introduce puzzle sections of a familiar type, like building light bridges or playing something like Memory. Each also takes time to smash through these sections with on-rails moments like a runaway mine cart, racing through the woods atop a ghostly horse, or rickety go-kart racing against demons that stand in your way. .
These are mostly fun and fairly forgiving, with the exception of the roller coaster-like mine cart, which sometimes requires precision that feels unfair, especially when its fail state of a deathblow can push players frustratingly start over often.
Each level also ends with a boss fight, which is more full of tropes than a stadium of red barrels, but I didn't mind that. Pumpkin Jack doesn't reinvent the wheel designed by its genre predecessors, but it doesn't seem interested in doing so.
When boss battles are all about jumping over that attack, dashing it, then hitting a glowing spot, you get it right away. It uses the language of video games that seasoned players will know and new players will quickly pick up on, which is good since the game is usually a treat for young, inexperienced players as well.
When it's not so suitable for this audience, it comes down to two things. For one thing, there are no difficulty options, and while it's not a difficult game for anyone who's played the games that inspired it, Pumpkin Jack may require modest controller proficiency that players little hands just won't have it yet.
Secondly although the game has no voice acting there is a story told through speech bubbles but Jack treats everyone rudely that as a parent I found some of his impatience for anyone which he encounters a bit tiring. There are also some fun moments, like when you go up against a pair of witches concocting vegan beer, but I found myself wishing for a version of the antihero where he wasn't so mean to everyone when my son was playing with me.
I think that approach also comes from the era that brought in Pumpkin Jack. It feels very 1990, very Ed, Edd and Eddy, to have your main character constantly talking to everyone. But today's cartoons, like Adventure Time and Steven Universe, are more expressions of friendship and honest feelings.
It's been groundbreaking, and since Pumpkin Jack takes so much from a bygone era of mascot and cartoon-driven fiction, it misunderstands -- or willfully ignores -- this welcome sea change. In turn, he may feel a bit at odds with himself, hostile to younger fans who will inevitably be drawn to this game like their nostalgic parents.
Still, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who wouldn't consider Pumpkin Jack dazzling to watch, and as the gameplay holds up too, it makes for a fantastic alternate Halloween stream for those looking for something totally festive without the scares. .
Examen de Pumpkin Jack – The Bottom Line
Benefits
- Reliable and sensible controls allow for fun 3D platforming
- Familiar but enjoyable puzzles, boss fights, and mechanics
- A beautifully spooky setting and excellent original music
The inconvenients
- A somewhat hostile and condescending sense of humor
- No difficulty option
I've written extensively this season about the many adapted games that will launch before Halloween. Normally I focus on horror games, the really spooky stuff that gamers like to find before the unofficial candy-filled holidays. But in Pumpkin Jack, players new and old will find another way to celebrate the spellbinding season.
With levels reminiscent of beloved 3D platformers and an irresistible audio-visual experience, playing Pumpkin Jack this Halloween is thrilling and youthful like cheaters finding the house that hands out full-size candy bars.
[Note: Headup Games provided the copy of Pumpkin Jack used for this review.]
