Author: | Balu | (186 Articles)
Balu is tech-Gaming reporter @DNA, Bangalore. He started Game Bashing as a personal blog, a few years back. He writes on PC gaming, Gaming scene in India apart from doing game reviews. Feel free to mail author or tweet him
As appeared in DNA, Bangalore on Apr 12
Hanuman: Boy Warrior, the first console game to be fully developed in India, is a great concept with poor graphics and average gameplay. Yet, it’s poised to be a runaway hit in the market, says NT Balanarayan
Screenshot from Hanuman Boy Warrior
There are good ideas and then there are bad ideas, but not all good ideas necessarily turn into good videogames. Hanuman: Boy Warrior is an ideal example of a brilliant idea gone horribly wrong. It promises the world, but delivers little. The game narrates the story of Hanuman as he
grows up from a vanarabala to a strong God.
The game opens with Hanuman angering a sage and being forced to live the life of a simple boy in a jungle. He’s taken in by a kind villager. Just when he gets used to the village life, asuras attack and turn the world into stone. Hanuman’s adventure begins from this point. He reveals his identity and sets out to stop Shirkasur, a rakshasa who has command over all five elements — air, water, wind, fire and ether; he is armed with a gada and the ability to restore life to creatures turned to stone.
Along the way, you (the player) will encounter rakshasas of various sizes and temperaments. Some will just circle you with swords; others will treat you like a pest who needs to be squashed. But luckily, Hanuman has a gada and the asuras are not too smart. Unless you are playing in hard mode, fighting these minions is just a cakewalk. The level of difficulty keeps rising as you progress, but the fights against the bosses (super villains), although lengthy as they are meant to be, are a little too easy.
The developers have drawn inspiration from God of War 2, one of the biggest successes on PS2. The similarities range from melee combat to storyline. But in terms of quality of gameplay, Hanuman is just the opposite of God of War which is dark, gripping, entertaining and pretty tough at stages. Ironically, the thing Hanuman was so good at doing — jumping great distances — is the toughest part of the game. There are certain sections of the game where you will wrack your brains trying to get that perfect jump. And when you fail, you might end up cursing the very God you are supposed to be worshipping!
The game might also provoke a few thoughts on the depiction of Indian mythology. Here, it turns out that Hanuman, who is chiranjeevi (immortal), can’t swim, and drowns just like lead in water! Maybe it’s the weight of his gada that pulls him down. This game might be enlightening for those who do not know about this stage of the God’s life. The graphics are nothing to boast about. The developers should hang their heads in shame for they are poor, even by PS2 standards. Agreed, the console has been around for ten years, but we have seen the levels of rendering it can produce. The semi-pixel shaded graphics look like the result of poor, hurried development. It seems like a desperate attempt at creating an Indian style of animation.
Hanuman looks good in the cover image but in the game, he isn’t as interesting. The environment is too bland and the low-poly makes it look like a PC game developed back in the ‘90s.
However poor it may be, it just might sell well in India because it appeals to the Indian mindset. We don’t want the next generation to be totally ignorant about our mythology. But surprisingly, it is not preachy at all — no sermons on time and maya. Having said that, on the whole, Hanuman: Boy Warrior is disappointing.
Rating: 2/5
Author: | Balu | (186 Articles)
Balu is tech-Gaming reporter @DNA, Bangalore. He started Game Bashing as a personal blog, a few years back. He writes on PC gaming, Gaming scene in India apart from doing game reviews. Feel free to mail author or tweet him