E3 2008 Preview
With a little bit of risk and a huge amount
of creativity, Rare is venturing forth to deliver a brand new Banjo-Kazooie
experience in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is out to change
the platforming genre with implementing driving elements and a tremendous
quantity of customization. Players can tinker and change vehicles to their own
liking with body parts, engines, wheels, weapons, armor, and much more. With
over 5,000 body parts already incorporated into the game, one’s imagination will
run wild with creating their fantasy vehicle.
For long-time fans of the series, they
should be happy to hear that standard platforming is incorporated into Nuts &
Bolts but at a rather small scale. Players can jump and climb up buildings, use
Kazooie for basic attacks such as swinging her in a circle, and interact with
hundreds of characters in the game. Also, old characters of yesteryear have
made their way back including Mumbo Jumbo, Gruntilda, and Humba Wumba.
The storyline follows the Lord of Games
pitting Gruntilda against Banjo and Kazooie for one more gigantic battle to
determine who the ultimate victor is in their grueling grudge match. While the
Lord of Games hasn’t been seen in any of the trailers or videos, he’s guaranteed
to show his pretty face later in the game.
Back on track about the vehicles, they can
ultimately wear down and become broken, so gamers must be aware of getting new
parts to replace the old and continue to upgrade when they have a chance. If
players are weary on the inclusion of customizing vehicles in their favorite
platformer, then they should be glad to know that they can complete the game
without ever creating their own vehicle.
Delivering brilliant worlds to travel
through, Nuts & Bolts has among the most beautiful environments players will
ever set eyes on. Full of colorful details and tributes to past Banjo-Kazooie
titles, Nuts & Bolts delivers breathtaking graphics. In terms of size, Showdown
Town is the largest world that Rare has ever created. The farther gamers
progress in the game the more parts of Showdown Town will become accessible for
gamers to adventure through.
In addition, players downloading the
upcoming Banjo-Kazooie title on the Xbox Live Arcade will benefit from
interactivity between Nuts & Bolts. Outside of that, there are multiplayer
challenges provided to play through along with the ability to jump online and
share your blueprints for your vehicles with friends.
If players are new to the Banjo universe,
Rare has incorporated totem poles that’ll deliver information and history of
Banjo’s past adventures. Also, Banjo Land, a world mixed of environments from
past Banjo games, should provide gamers with a chance to see where Banjo has
been before.
As creativity is pushing forward Nuts &
Bolts, gamers won’t miss out on Banjo’s humor and entertainment. It’s really an
ingenious game as no other platformers have done what Banjo is attempting with
putting a lot of originality back into the genre. With over 100 challenges to
complete and a vehicle creation at the heart of the game, players should be able
to retain a lot of replay value out of Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Gamers
can look forward to Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts this holiday around a November
target date.
