A World for Keflings Review
A World for Keflings
The Keflings are back in this deceptively addicting sequel currently available on the xbox live arcade for 800 points. A World for Keflings is NinjaBee’s follow up to the xbla smash hit – A Kingdom for Keflings. In AWfK your avatar is thrust into a world populated by Keflings. Your avatar towers above them Gulliver style as you silently roam their world to help them build up their towns. The ultimate goal is to help the King build a castle for his kingdom.
Having never played the first game, I can’t compare the two but I will say that having played this one I am definitely interested in picking up the first one. For starters, Keflings has style and humor to spare. This game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Yes, you can abuse your Keflings and they will smile and ask for more but not only that – you can look good doing it. The cartoony caricature of a universe totally fits around the xbox avatars (even if they are towering over the townspeople). Keflings plays somewhere between real time strategy and a farming sim. Mix Warcraft and Harvest Moon with your avatar and add a touch of farmville for the social sharing side of things and you’ve pretty much got A World for Keflings.
The music in this game runs in a loop based on your settings but it’s an enjoyable loop. I would buy the soundtrack for it if I could. It reminds me of the carousel from RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 & 2. Speaking of which, Keflings could probably be thrown in with Halo Wars as great examples on how to do strategy games without a keyboard and mouse. I didn’t long for a keyboard and mouse, but I did get the feeling it would be an easy transition. But back to the music… the story in the game will take quite a few hours and the catchy tunes really keep things upbeat.
The gameplay seems to hold up very well, I didn’t feel that I was at a loss for features or improv- ements but I’m sure that is the benefit of being a sequel. My primary gripe with the game overall is that apparently the Keflings can be forgetful or maybe slightly spiteful. After setting up transporter Keflings I would find them searching the far ends of the map for new materials for no reason. I’m not sure why they feel the need to walk miles out of their way to harvest wool instead of taking from the huge pile right in front of them. The secondary gripe is that I couldn’t set Keflings to transport goods from a building’s output unless there were goods already there for them to move. The game runs at a leisurely pace, but when time is a factor you don’t want to have to wait for those kinds of things. Other than that, the game is great.
This is also a great couch game to play with a friend since there is local and online co-op. The drop-in drop-out style is a big help for those big harvesting and building projects. The downsides are the possibility of stranger danger and mean friends. I am more worried about a friend knocking down all my buildings in my little Kefling world than random people dropping into my game, however – not properly defaulting the game to prevent this is a huge oversight. Hopefully a patch or a title screen notification is in the works. Aside from that the co-op gameplay is great, playing local split screen is a joy in itself. The screen stays full when the two characters are in close proximity, and splits when they go apart – I geeked out over that one. You can build custom pieces for your towns and you can share these pieces with your friends.
All in all, I got my 800 points worth but I don’t know if I will go back to play it over. However, I am anxious to see what they do with DLC. I’d like a reason to come back into the world. This is an easy 4 out of 5 game that I highly recommend to anyone. A World for Keflings is very easy to learn, easy to pick up and play, and easy to get lost in well.
Ups
Great game with good controls
Provides great hours to allards ratio
Couch or XBL coop
Encourages you to share items with friends
Downs
Some small annoyances in directing Kefling’s tasks
Default setting allows strangers to enter your game
Bottom Line
Buy this game!
-BigRob029