We've always said, "Why don't we have more games featuring globs of goosh as the heroes?"... well, okay, maybe we don't always say that. But games like the Sling series or World of Goo have shown us that you don't need one of those pesky skeletal structures to be likeable. Frequently baffling but often charming, Huje Adventure stars just one such hero in this physics platformer from the same developers who brought you that Goo-esque homage, Huje Tower. Only, this time instead of building towers out of creatures, you're exploring an unknown asteroid!... also by building towers out of creatures. It's okay, we think they like it. Or, if they don't, their mouths are so small their piteous screams shouldn't bother you. Bonus!
Played mostly with the keyboard, move your squishy little explorer with the [WASD] or [arrow] keys, and tap the [space] bar to temporarily activate slow-mo-mode. If you come across the tiny Hujos, you can use them to build sticky structures by clicking on one and dragging them where you need 'em. You can build bridges or towers to help you traverse obstacles, since the hero will stick to them when you draw near. In each level, the goal is to reach the pink coral like creature at the end and fling yourself shrieking into its gullet. Just kidding! Well, about the "shrieking" part anyway, since your amorphous avatar seems only too happy to do it. But keep an eye out for spikes and enemies, since three hits will do you in and force you to restart the level. Apparently, there are a lot of vital organs under that gelatinous countenance.
Analysis: Huje Adventure does a little bit of everything, with varied obstacles in each level ensuring the gameplay feels fresh as you go along. The main problem is that it's occasionally let down by its own physics, which depend on things happening just so to allow you to proceed. It can be frustrating to have to restart a level just because blocks didn't fall in a certain way, or, as is more often the case, you fell into a pit that simply had no way out. It really feels like the game needed just a bit more polishing, or perhaps just more testers. The time mechanic, while interesting, also doesn't feel as useful as it could have been, since everything, including you, is slowed; sort of defeats the purpose of activating it to help dodge obstacles.
Easily Huje Adventure's best feature is its presentation, which lends itself to a wonderful feeling of discovery as you explore the beautiful environments and drink in the, um, unique narrative. At any moment you can be swinging across icicles, creating a bridge of living, gooey creatures, or fleeing from a spiked rolling ball, Dr Jones style. And frequently, the levels are really cleverly constructed, making triggering the proper series of events to get you to your goal all the more delightful. If you have the patience, Huje Adventure is a fun and rewarding experience with all the squish you could want, right there in your browser.
The last Huje game was basically the same as Tower of Goo, and the comments called it on that point. This game is much more patform orientated and it excels because of it. It still holds on to the same humour as ToG but this time it takes what 2DBoy did and turns it into a workable game alongside it, rather than trying to occupy the same space.
The visual effects are some of the best in a flash game that I have seen and for once you have a blob that can jump properly.
I like the game. My laptop can just about run it and there seems to be a few bugs but it is a good enough game to keep at it.
excellent game and graphics!
but you really need a fast computer for this one, I gave up after the first levels.
The first couple of levels were cute enough, but the game kept hosing every browser I tried it in. I didn't like it enough to keep trying to find a way to get it to run.
Sorry to hear about those having difficulty with performance. Admittedly, my computer is a bit of a behemoth as far as specs go, but I had no difficulties or slowdown whatsoever.
Best advice I can give is to make sure your computer is dust free. Compressed air is your friend. You will be amazed at the havoc a single dust bunny can do to your PC's performance. Pay special attention to your fans.
Great game so far, but is it just me, or do the links to games (including picture links) not "do anything" when clicked recently on the site (last day or so)? I'm in Firefox 3.5.7, but need to middle click in order to open in a new tab. I've observed this with Huje Adventure, We the Giants and First Person Tetris though haven't tried any other games yet.
Not a biggy, but seems like there's something wrong somewhere...
[Edit: Have you changed how Firefox treats pop-ups? All image links on JIG use a Javascript pop-up window to display the game. All the games you mentioned behave as usual for me in Firefox 3.5.7 -Jay]
Seems like a nice game, but I keep hitting a bug on level 2. As soon as I find the spiky ball, I get stuck going right and jumping. I end up dead-ending against that tall wall just to the right, and all I can do is restart the level, only to have the same thing happen again. Frustrating.
What's the name of the first one?
alaira - on level two you need to go high to get around the pit with Bob (the spiky creature). There are a set of red blobs and then an ice cube to use to get you over that pit.
The game also has a memory leak which means each level played (including reruns) causes more and more memory to be used until your computer runs out. I can just about manage two levels before I need to restart the game so as to avoid this issue. Those having problems running the game at all probably have machines with only a small amount of memory.
If you want to play the bonus levels then you need to play them on the bubblebox website. On my machine at least this means playing through all 20 normal levels again and I can't be bothered.
i like it, i really really do, infact, i love it!
its like a completly original subsection of the "towery goo balls connecting to make a tower like thing" genre
I haven't tried this yet, but I will.
I just read the review.
One particular part seems uninformed to me.
The comment about the slow time not being useful because it slows you down too?
Have you ever heard of bullet time?
Have you ever played Free Rider 2?
Really?
Since when do you expect slow motion to not work that way?
Maybe in Braid. :D
@MdB - I know that, but my problem is that my jump and right keys get stuck after I come back from that screen that shows the picture of the spiky thing and his name, so I don't have the ability to aim in order to land on the ice cube.
Not amazingly creative and original, but it combines familiar elements in a interesting and fun way. I like it :)
gish + world of goo= huje adventure! ^_^
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