Created by the fairly new, Moonspider Studios, Harold has been created by both veteran and talented new developers. It is their first game, one that deserves far more attention than originally given, and took quite a good while to get to us. Harold follows gifted a young guardian in training, Gabe (yes they totally have to go through school, college and everything) who to pass, must go through a challenging task, getting a runner through a marathon. Not only that, but unless the runner is in the top three, they will not get a scholarship.
So, who does our talented and young hotshot Guardian Angel in Training get? Does he get the serious, Mr Mini Drago, or maybe perhaps the ever so determined Macho Man? Nope, he gets Harold! Harold isn’t exactly what you’d call athletic, and he certainly isn’t someone you’d expect to breeze through the race. However, there is one thing that sets him apart, and that is his never give up attitude, as no matter what, through thick or thin, he will try his best to win the race.
Serphial Malach, on the other hand is the daughter of esteemed Raziel Malach, and is jealous of Gabe’s ability to pass without even lifting a finger while she has to sink her head in books all the time. However, with the recent turn of events, she finally thinks she has a chance to beat Gabe with her own expert runner. Unfortunately for her, her father Raziel sees great potential in Gabe and decides to mentor and teach him some tricks in order to get the unlikely Harold through the race. This of course, enrages Serphial even more and she gets determined to beat Gabe no matter what.
So, as you can see, the game has quite the storyline, one that is told with excellently drawn visuals and brilliantly narrated cutscenes. It really is polished and of a solid quality, and there wasn’t once when I wanted to skip them. The game itself is really well drawn and the animations are really smooth and amusing.
The gameplay is quite interesting, and basically requires you to help craft a path for Harold through different treacherous terrains. Different zones have different hazards that you must keep an eye out for, and each has different control techniques that must be used in order to overcome them. Not only can you use them to get Harold through a zone faster, but you can also use them as an obstacle against the other racers. Each obstacle is really clever and fun to control and is designed specific to their terrains.
Harold also has a power up, which you can activate after collecting two pieces of items. Basically what it does is, is that it gives Harold a boost and he runs with great speed for a limited time. However, like any other racing game, you have to use it strategically for the best result and spamming won’t help. Each new terrain type begins with a tutorial level where you can learn how to manipulate different types of obstacles, ones that I mentioned being specific to their terrains before. These small levels have stars up to three each that you can collect, similar to most casual and mobile games. Then, there are the challenge modes in case you are feeling particularly determined.
At the moment though, the game only supports controller movement which really frustrates me. It isn’t that it has bad controls, but for a PC game that has taken such a long time in development, there should be no excuse whatsoever; especially considering this is on the PC. I genuinely know some people that for some useless reason, don’t even want to touch a controller. Then again, an Xbox 360 controller for windows isn’t particularly cheap.
Anyways, what binds the game and really elevates it to a whole new level is its excellent (which is an extreme understatement) music, which has been composed by the ever so talented Olivier Deriviere. The music is both beautiful with rhythmic and light melodies, and exciting with progressive and fast paced lyrics. The music has been implemented so gorgeously well, that it elevates the better you do, and keeps getting more exciting as you start passing more people.
This is honestly the first time I have seen the music used in this way, focusing on both the player’s performance and progress. The gospel like singing is so beautifully done, and the lyrics are really encouraging and overall make sense. The music to this game is like peanut butter to jelly, a match made in heaven. In fact, if it didn’t feature music as good as this, I don’t think there would be much of a reason for me to personally play it. Of course, not to undermine the creativeness and hard-work of the entire development team, but their game would be really be lacking a unique ingredient if the music wasn’t this good.
Overall, everything about this game is charming and enjoyable, except for the mandatory controller requirement. Everything from the visuals, gameplay to the music (especially the music) is mixed so well with each other and the story will keep you playing through each different terrain types. Trust me, this is a game you do not want to miss, especially the brilliant soundtrack which can and should be purchased alone, but as Olivier says, only after playing the game as that is what it is crafted for.