Heroes of Hat (XBLIG): "A University Project Well Done"

I have been extremely fortunate to have the support that I've gotten from my readers, and game developers. Like I mentioned in my "Special Thanks" section this blog would not be as successful as it is without the support I have received. Between being able to convince retail developers that I can post a proper review, and the several requests I've gotten from XBLIG developers about doing reviews things have really started to improve for "OtakuDante's Gaming Inferno". In all honesty I never dreamed my blog would take off so well. It makes me really happy to know that game developers such as "Utah Game Forge" are interested in what I have to say about their game. While I don't review every game that is requested of me though I do my best to pick ones that I think have something special about them. I try my best to stay away from the clones though, because I believe that even an indie game developer can create original games if they are serious about what they do. In this review I'll be covering my thoughts on "Utah Game Forge's" "Heroes of Hat". I tried my best to do a full playthrough of the game, but ultimately I fell short due to the game's co-op requirements. As the game suggests this is a (Up To) 4 player co-op game, and it is best suited for multiple players.

When I first started up "Heroes of Hat" I realized that the team of developers behind this game really poured their all into the making of it. There were plenty of menu, and title animations that many XBLIG developers stray from nowadays. This particular game, "Heroes of Hat" used 3D graphics as it's main attraction, and succeeded very well in it's overall presentation. What's really neat though is that "Utah Game Forge" also included an "Extras" section detailing their character design process, and the thoughts that were going through their minds as the designs were being thought up. It gave me insight on a part of game development that I rarely see in an indie game. I always love learning about what goes into making a game since I have some ideas of my own, and hope to one day use my creative skills to become a more active part of the XBLIG marketplace.

Past the impressive menus, and animated loading screens lies a 3D platformer unlike any I have seen. "Heroes of Hat" follows the exploits of a goblin named Zugg, and his three clone-like companions. Zugg, and his comrades have an interesting set of skills that allow them to gain abilities from the different hats that they find/wear. Each hat in the game allows Zugg, and his friends to perform various things within the levels such as shoot arrows to form moving platforms, and fire arrows to defeat enemies. Utilizing these special abilities in the proper ways will allow you to make progress. The good thing about "Heroes of Hat" is that there are visual hints located throughout the first levels giving the player the proper guidance needed to get them through the game.

The levels within "Heroes of Hat" are designed in a semi-3D way similar to games like "Donkey Kong Country". In "Heroes of Hats" you, and your friends' goal is to make your way from start to finish using the special abilities of the hats you collect. Along the way you can also collect special papers that aren't really required to get you through each level. As you play you'll find that accessing certain areas in the game will require the use of your hat abilities. Some areas will also require the flipping of switches, the use of vines, the use of various platforms, and other puzzle solving skills making the game more challenging as a result. The enemies within "Heroes of Hat" also greatly enhance the challenges at hand. These dastardly denizens are merciless no matter what difficulty setting you choose, so patience is sometimes a virtue in this game. The good news though is that the game features book shaped checkpoints located at different spots within each level/stage offering you the opportunity to start over from your latest location. Like most platformers out there you are given a life gauge, and lives in which to complete each stage/level. The only difference in "Heroes of Hats" is that you seem to have an infinite supply of lives. If you die enough times though the enemies will come back to life complicating things.

"Heroes of Hat" is a good game in some significant ways, but lacking in others. The visual presentation is superb for a game of this nature. I think "Utah Game Forge (The Developers)" did well with the resources they had, and made a visually appealing set of characters and stages/levels. I do recall something about there being music within the game, but honestly as I'm typing up this review I'm not remembering it very well. Some video game music is definitely memorable, but in "Heroes of Hat" I don't think that's the case. With that being said though the music isn't bad. The game also had individual sound effects to go along with all the interactive features in the game which is a plus. As far as the AI goes the some enemies seemed to be a little aggressive, and would often attack relentlessly without giving me the chance to get out of certain predicaments. This was part of the reason I was unable to finish the game on my own. I ended up making it to the second stage, but the bombing jester just wouldn't let me get past the moving platform area. In a way it was kind of frustrating. I could see how having more players to aid you would likely work out better though. In closing I think this game is best suited for those who have friends that are willing to play the game with them. Since there is no online mode Local co-op is the only way to go. If you have some buddies willing to play "Heroes of Hat" with you then definitely get the game. It's not that bad.

 EMAIL FROM THE DEVELOPER (Utah Game Forge / Damean Lyon)

Before typing up this review I requested some background on the development team. The following email is the response I got from the developer.

The team is a collaboration of 15 students from the University of Utah. The program is EAE (Entertainment Arts and Engineering Studies) where we study everything from programming to film and video game art & development.

Our senior/capstone project is an XBLIG game of our own design.  2 Teams are made - for HOH 4 artists and 11 programmers. We all pitch games - Jon Futch the Lead Programmer had the initial concept - and then we take a few weeks to do rapid prototypes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRHwu7EpXqo. Jon told me his main inspiration was Little Big Planet & Castle Crashers - but much of our combat elements had to be removed due to deadline. 

After that we have some industry pros and friends from EA, Smartbomb, Epic, Wahoo, and Disney Interactive come and help us decide which is the best to push forward on. Heroes of Hat was a unanimous decision and we began immediately. We had about 5 months to create and release the game on XBLIG to be able to pass the course. After a lot of hard work and some late nights we were able to push out a game that we were passionate about.

Each team member has a development blog that discusses there week by week sprints