Is there anything more divine than not only winning a race, but crushing your opponents in the process? Harold, the new game from developer Moon Spider, seems to think so.
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Harold even does you one better. It literally makes you divine. The game puts you in the role of a Guardian Angel in training. Your job is to watch over humans and ensure their happiness in life. Or something. Actually, your job is that of a petty, mischievous interloper who meddles in the affairs of mortal races. Footraces, that is.
Yes, you're fixing thousand yard dashes in the name of helping out poor, pathetic Harold. Why is this ginger-haired, skinny weakling more deserving of help than that pudgy guy who is always in 5th place? Because Harold is yours, dammit, and winning is everything. Because you're not going to let your classmate Sera get the best of you.
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Not that you'll win a lot. In fact, you'll come in third or less most of the time.
Harold features 12 different Death Race-esque courses, filled with spike pits, crocodiles, frozen water and all manner of things looking to hinder your progress. As a benefit of your divine providence, death is merely an inconvenience. Running through the level, you'll gather up various Wingrings, halo-infused clouds that add to your Puff Power meter - which allows you to, quite literally, strike Harold with some divine lightning (and therefore make him move faster).
It is a poor player that blames his or her controller for the failings of skill. While skill is required in Harold, luck and an expert sense of timing are of higher importance. At the least, a key remapping option would be appreciated in future updates.
There is no one frustration that is a dealbreaker. Add them up, though, and you have a game that leaves you leaves you behind from the moment and then kicks you down for not finishing first. I do mean that literally. Every race begins with Harold somehow missing the starting gun and having to play catch up.
Harold feels like a work in progress. The core gameplay is fun, the storyline is culled directly from some high school anime adventure and the hand-drawn visuals are a joy to look at. None of my complaints can take that away and all of them can no doubt be fixed at some point in the future. Until then, though, I'll sit this particular race out.
