Updated ‘Henry Hatsworth’ Impressions

« Prev Post: This is What the ‘Resident Evil 5′ Box Looks Like

» Next Post:Hands-On with ‘Zubo’ (DS)

Updated ‘Henry Hatsworth’ Impressions

Tue, Jan 13, 2009

It's been a few months since we shared the company of Sir Henry Hatsworth, the gentlemanly star of EA's "Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure." This title captured our attention back in August, when we got to spend some hands-on time with the puzzle-platformer hybrid at the EA Studio Showcase. Last week, at CES, EA was showing off the tea-swilling, color-matching hero once again, and we had a chance to see, upon further reflection, whether Henry's dual-game mechanics had lost their novelty and appeal. (Pro tip: They hadn't.)

After we explainined our prior hands-on experience with Henry Hatsworth, EA was kind enough to let us skip the usual introductory portion of the game, and play a level roughly halfway through Henry's adventure. The game still plays as we described it in our prior hands-on preview, but we've now learned that, once the game is done easing you in, things become genuinely difficult. There's more to Henry Hatsworth than simply swapping screens once in a while in order to recharge your energy; if you don't learn quickly how to manage the puzzle screen for effective platforming -- and for plain old survival -- the old boy is done for.

The level on display was a seaside region, with plenty of watery pitfalls and aquatic critters to keep Henry on the move. It's also home to some larger, tougher enemies who will not be defeated by a simple blast or slash. Here, I was shown another of Henry's puzzle-platforming crossover moves: While matching blocks in the puzzle screen will charge Henry's gun energy, it also charges any of his shots in progress. In other words, if Henry fires at an enemy, but swaps to the puzzle screen before impact, once he's performed several matches he will return to find his mid-air shot has become significantly larger and more powerful.

These bigger baddies, too, cause bigger problems for Henry's puzzling prowess; when defeated, they become special "skull" pieces in the puzzle which can only be matched to other skulls. Needless to say, these enemies are few and far between, so until Henry's killed three of them in order to create a puzzle match, he'll have to keep a close eye on the puzzle screen to make sure those skulls don't creep up too high.

This, in turn, proved to be the most revealing thing about playing a tough level of Henry Hatsworth: For once, without a game guide leaning over my shoulder to constantly remind me of what I ought to be doing, I genuinely lost myself in the platforming gameplay long enough that the puzzle actually became a threat. That's how solid the platforming design is: The upper half of the game could stand on its own, if it had to. I was having such a great time just platforming my way through Henry's world, that I completely forgot about the puzzle game until the pieces began to climb up onto the top screen, and I had to frantically scramble for puzzle matches before I got into real trouble.

Far beyond its novel dual-game design, Henry Hatsworth will offer a reasonable challenge to devoted platforming enthusiasts. We asked EA how close the game was to completion, and we were told that "Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure" is expected to ship in March, making our hands-on demo, more or less, the finished product. I, for one, cannot wait -- when I've got the full game, I'm going to finally beat that underwater level where you run from the giant fish that's eating the stage.

Also, we found out that you won't just drink tea with Sherlock Holmes. Henry VIII is there, too. Good show!

CES, CES 2009, EA, Hands-On, Henry Hatsworth, Nintendo DS, Platformer, Preview, Puzzler

This post was written by:

Jesse Henning - who has written 474 posts on GameCyte.

Contact the author

« Prev Post: This is What the ‘Resident Evil 5′ Box Looks Like

» Next Post:Hands-On with ‘Zubo’ (DS)

3 Comments For This Post

Brendon Lindsey Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I have been waiting for this game for months.
Jesse Henning Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Patience, sir! Tea time is nearly upon us.
Brendon Lindsey Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
And what a glorious tea time it shall be.

1 Trackbacks For This Post

Henry Hatsworth Preview « Handheld Wii Says:
January 14th, 2009 at 11:22 am
[...] Preview Here [...]

GameCyte