Heinrich Maneuvers- Knights Contract Review

Recalling the Salem trials, the game’s opening cinematic shows a number of women awaiting execution for witchcraft. Arousing suspicion by not succumbing to the devastating plague sweeping the land, this compassionate coven have actually been assisting mankind battle the growing pandemic. After the executioner’s blade severs the head of a blonde witch named Gretchen, her blood pools into a mysterious pattern, overtaking her assassin. After a jump cut, the unlikely duo is reunited, with Heinrich the executioner cursed with immortality while the reanimated witch has used alchemy to elude death. To break the remorseful Knight’s torment and free the land from pestilence, the pair is tasked with killing Dr. Faustus- a intellectual who bartered his soul for eternal youth and limitless knowledge.

Evoking Ico, as well as Game Republic’s own Majin and The Forsaken Kingdom, Knights Contract is the latest game to present players with a symbiotic team of protagonists. Players are in constant control of the hulking Heinrich, a hero burdened with both the weight of remorse and his oversized scythe. Capable of the customary light and heavy attacks, the executioner also has a robust select of non-compulsory combos, for players yearning for a bit more sophistication. Forgoing any type of blocking, Heinrick’s repertoire is as beefy as it is satisfying- capable of slicing a cluster of foes into a swath of crimson mist. Impervious to death, incapacitation or even slivering present a temporary setback to our hero, who can be reconstituted with a furious button-mashing sequence.

Unlike the invincible Heinrick, Gretchen is susceptible to the wrath of antagonists, ending the game if her life bar is depleted. While the flaxen witch shows trails the behemoth with a reasonable amount of aptitude,  she is disposed to being grabbed by foes, compelling players to keep close when enemies draw near. Additional motivation to protect Gretchen is created by her magical abilities, which are rescinded when she is her captive.

Complementing Heinrick’s melee attacks are the witch’s formidable spells, which can make piercing  spikes rise from the ground, rain down meteors, or even leave giant gaping mouths hungry for enemy flesh. Although each attack is regulated by a cool down time-  if performed on a critically wounded beast, Knights Contract permits players to execute a dazzlingly gruesome finisher. Once Gretchen banks enough spirit power from fallen foes, she can even unleash the Witch’s Embrace- a mighty move which makes her swell in size and crush opponents between her thighs.

Although Gretchen and Heinrick’s tag-team attacks offer a consistently satisfying way of defeating enemies, they are hardly effortless. One early bosses required players to secure its limbs to the ground, entailing a press of two shoulder keys, a face button, and a flick of the left analog stick in short succession. For better or worse, most boss battles become wars of attrition, with Heinrick revitalizing the witch’s health at every available opportunity. Each epic struggle is capped by a quick time event, requiring gamers to start the fight anew on a single errant button press.

Graphically, Knights Contract sporadically impresses with detailed textures, evocative lighting or visual foreshadowing. From the game’s phosphorescent caverns which glow eerily to the bits of shed skin which grow in size and frequency before confronting a serpentine boss, rich details abound. The game’s monster designs are particularly inspired with combatants whose armor break away to reveal sinewy membrane or otherworldly beasts whose toothed orifices look amply intimidating. Regretfully, the title succumbs to a intermittently dodgy framerate and obtuse viewing perspective.