Title: Lock’s Quest
Genre: Indie, RPG, Strategy
Developer: Digital Continue
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Release Date: May 30, 2017
THQ Nordic is bringing back the critically acclaimed 2008 Nintendo DS-Game. In this game you “play as Lock, a boy who stumbles upon an invasion of his Village, which triggers a wider war between Kingdom Force and a revived Clockwork Army, led by the nefarious Lord Agony. A gripping story unfolds as you progress through 75 Days of warfare, across a dozen unique maps, aided by a collection of turrets, traps and special attacks. Experience the game as it was meant to be, with a high-quality soundtrack, new high resolution portraits, and revised gameplay.”
Here’s the features for the base game that is Lock’s Quest:
‘Features
- Place Kingdom Force units to defend your capitol in a brand new Endless Mode – Antonia Defense
- Build up your fortifications each day to defend against a timed Clockwork assault. Use dozens of Turrets, Traps and Helpers to stop the advance
- Adapt your building and battling strategies as you access new materials and as your enemy’s intelligence evolves
- Fight alongside your defenses, using context sensitive Special Attacks, and devastating Super Attacks, which impact a wide range of enemies
- Unlock the secrets of Kingdom Force and the Archineers via an engrossing story with a multi character cast, told via hand drawn cinematics and cut-scenes’
And since Lock’s Quest is technically a remaster, there are features covering what’s new:
‘Remaster Features
- New progression system automatically unlocks new turrets at specific story plot points
- Brand new Antonia Defense Battles featuring a new map
- All music remastered in high definition, with orchestrated introduction and ending
- Player controls remapped for keyboard/mouse and gamepad input
- Revamped User Interface, customized for HD resolution, including all new GUI Art
- Character portraits refactored in High Resolution
- Cute pixel characters and maps brilliantly enhanced in high resolution, a new revamped User Interface, customized for increased PC and consoles resolution, including all new GUI Art.
- Endless Mode: Place Kingdom Force units to defend Antonia in this new and special mode
- Unique combination of Creation Simulation and Adventure genres
- Fast-paced building/battling cycles provide instant feedback on the success of your creations
- Strategy elements expand appeal to include more sophisticated gamers
- Enjoying creation simulation via an easy-to-use building mechanic
- Building unique, fanciful structures and weapons (e.g., glue balls, catapults, windmills, etc.)
- Adapting your building and battling strategies as you access new materials and as your enemy’s intelligence evolves’
Check out the release trailer and then read on for the review!
Audio:
This one is simple, straightforward, and easy. Lock’s Quest, being a remaster, took the fantastic sound effects that existed from the DS version of the game, and upgraded them fully. They sounded good on the old game already, but the DS was a small device with 2 speakers. It looks as though Digital Continue as done more than an ample job with the upgrade, knowing that people could be playing this on a system that it connected to surround sound. A random sound doesn’t just come plunging out of all speakers simultaneously, it is mapped out for either 2 speakers or 5.1. The sound effects are classy and clean. Plain as that. 10/10
Soundtrack:
The soundtrack obviously follows suit. It sounds gorgeous coming out of the speakers, whether you have a lot or only a few. The music is coordinated with the scene that you might be in. If it’s light and playful banter between Lock and his sister, you will have supplemental music for that. However, if it’s the start of a day against bad guys and they’re storming your newly built fortifications, the music picks up. It’s faster pace, it has more heart pumping drums and horns. It’s very in tune with the mood.
The music is also really well done. There was never a point where I had to replay a day in the game or rebuild a level and had to go, “Jeez, I’ve heard this song so many times now!”. It was quite the contrary. It was like the music kept me focused, on task, and more than that, it kept me feeling motivated. I’ve definitely had games where the music made me quite literally stop playing because I couldn’t take hearing it any longer. The music scores are simply on point. 10/10
Visuals:
The visuals are not an entire overhaul of the original DS game. Everyone obviously appears the same. But the same way they improved the sound, going from 2 small speakers, to living room speakers, they did the same for the visuals. You had 2 screens of lower resolution on the DS, but now you have anything from a 13″ laptop to a 80+” living room screen. So Digital Continue upped the ante there. They remade all of the graphics so that they still appear like a nostalgic game of old, but made them far more crisp so that they appear proper at higher resolutions. Even the picture that pops up over the dialogue box of the character that is talking is so much bigger and has much more detail.
If you haven’t played the original Lock’s Quest on DS, you wouldn’t be disappointed visually. I’m simply saying that clearly Digital Continue had their heart set on giving us a visually pleasing experience and to do it right the first time. The tiniest things that probably didn’t have detail back on the handheld version is definitely detailed now. You have water that is moving, but now you can see the individual ripples. You have sand that had been walked all over and you can now make out individual sets of footprints. There’s even random no nothing items sprinkled about like rocks and trees and barrels and such. I know those are some strange examples, but if they get stuff like water right, then you know that the parts that actually matter, are tended to quite well. 10/10
I just can’t find how this game could be replayable. Unless you’re someone who is such a gamer that when you love a game, you’d play it again and again. It would appear to me as though the game is a one and done sort of game. It’s got 75 days in it, with increased challenge, but with its repetitious gameplay, I think it would be too boring. I do think that the DS game would suit this type of game better than the PC version since it has 2 screens, it would ease up the annoyances that come with the game. If you were to play the game again, I would say do so on a DS. 2/10
Here are the system requirements for PC:
‘MINIMUM:
-
- OS: Windows 7
- Processor: 2.0 Ghz or above
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities
- DirectX: Version 9.0
- Storage: 2 GB available space
RECOMMENDED:
-
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: 2.7 Ghz or above
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities
- DirectX: Version 12
- Storage: 2 GB available space’
Here are the system requirements for MacOSX:
‘MINIMUM:
-
- OS: OS X 10.9.4
- Processor: 2.0 Ghz or above
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Storage: 2 GB available space
RECOMMENDED:
-
- OS: macOS 10.12 Sierra
- Processor: 2.4 Ghz or above
- Memory: 4 MB RAM
- Storage: 2 GB available space’
And lastly, here are the requirements for SteamOS and Linux:
‘MINIMUM:
-
- OS: Ubuntu 12.04, SteamOS+
- Processor: 2.0 Ghz or above
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Storage: 2 GB available space
RECOMMENDED:
-
- OS: Ubuntu 12.04, SteamOS+
- Processor: 2.7 Ghz or above
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Storage: 2 GB available space’
