Review – Pumpkin Jack

Hello!

Pumpkin Jack, developed by Nicholas Meyssonnier, is an action adventure 3D platformer. This “Medieval meets Jak and Daxter” title centers around Jack, once dead, brought back by the Devil to defeat the Wizard so the world can remain in ruin and chaos. Players control Jack through multiple levels, acquiring weapons, riding a variety of vehicles, and fighting bosses on their way to the final encounter.

the story begins…

Content Guide

Spiritual Content: Like Cuphead, players controlling Jack are contracted by a wacky, whimsical version of the Devil, with red skin and pointy horns. 

Jack is a trickster, who did bad things his entire life, resurrected to defeat the hero of this good-versus-evil tale. For Christians, this one immediately sends up a wall of red flags. Yes, the graphics are cartoonish, and there’s no blood, extreme violence, language, or sexually explicit imagery, but you still play as the bad guy. This isn’t normal, as it indicates that evil can become subjective, based on perspective. And that is also the angle of Pumpkin Jack. He is bad, but he helps others along the journey, reluctantly. The Wizard is also truly different despite his role as hero. He steals what he wants, and uses people to stop Jack, showing no remorse.

Spiritual Takeaway: It just goes to show that one’s past and titles aren’t everything if actions do not support them. Jack becomes very put off by helping others, threatening to quit, or attack at nearly every turn. But he never does. Sure, it’s contrivance, purely for progression and gameplay. At one point, because of your assistance, Jack dooms the world even further. But the capacity to act for others still (barely) exists in a doomed rogue pumpkin. How much more are players capable of?

Pumpkin Jack receives a T (Teen) rating from the ESRB.

Behold, the Wizard!

Review
The world is peaceful, and the Devil hates that. He throws it into disarray by unleashing monsters. The people call for a champion, the Wizard to stop the Devil. But Jack is sent to thwart said ‘hero’.

Immediately players are given control of Jack, and learn how he jumps, dodges, and attacks in the beginning stage. The gameplay is fairly simple throughout, with challenges changing up to keep the formula from seeming tiresome. The fighting doesn’t last too long, and it is fairly satisfying. Jack doesn’t have a lock on, but will automatically close in on enemies when near them. The first thing I noticed is that Jack cannot stagger his enemies. They will continuously attack, no matter what is thrown at them. Jack has a dodge button that is quite effective to keep the damage minimal.

Jack’s jump is a little sloppy. He has a double jump, with the second aerial push leaving no room to control where Jack goes. Thanks to the layout, though, there aren’t a lot of tight precision landings, and with some practice, players can figure out what they can and can’t do.

Waaait a minute…

Fighting is impressively varied. Each boss yields a new weapon for Jack to fight with. Jack’s arsenal includes a scythe, gun, sword, and spear are a couple things in his arsenal, and they all attack differently. The right shoulder button acts as your weapon wheel, and you can change at any time with no cooldowns. Jack isn’t limited by a magic bar, so you can always attack with any style you wish.

Speaking of fighting, Jack gains a companion to offer him a ranged attack. The crow is a timid little guy that nests on Jack’s head when the Pumpkin King is still, and flies close to you, talking constantly. The dialogue is done through word bubbles in the bottom right corner, and most of it offers some advice or provides commentary about the current area.

Barrels and destructible objects are scattered around the environment and filled to the brim with health orbs (which sound like the green health pickups from Jak and Daxter), allowing you to refill your health gauge frequently as you encounter the plentiful enemies and traps in your path. A helpful owl that guides you will also provide generous checkpoint cauldrons, which double as a full heal.

Hi-ho Casper!

It’s quite apt for Pumpkin Jack to be releasing so close to Halloween, because this game is just for that occasion. Jack sports a scarecrow design, with a flaming pumpkin head, wielding wicked-looking weapons. The landscapes are dark and colored in mostly reds, blues and purples. Jack will go through pumpkin fields, a warzone, graveyards, and abandoned mineshafts. They are filled with ghosts, gargoyles, resurrected skeletons, and the worst enemy of all…

Fire!

That’s right, in a gimmick like no other, fire is more than just harmful, it’s a game changer. Candles and torches are littered all over. Destroying them could lead to nothing, or it could lead to your next platform catching fire, and the one after that, and the one after that. I caught myself getting into a lot of trouble running around and smashing willy nilly, and had to watch what I did, especially climbing wooden towers!

What is that!?

Be sure to watch out for the game’s bosses. They are usually at the end of a level, and they exhibit easily recognizable attack patterns. But the health spawns only once during the bout. If you die, the game keeps count, and cycles through a few clever quotes on the death screen.

Vehicles sometimes appear to break up the puzzles and fighting. They vary between a horse, a mine cart, and others. These nonstop sections aren’t incredibly tough, but sadly become repetitive. On the matter of repetition, the platforming seems to lose creativity toward the end, often requiring you to climb wooden towers. 

Weeeeeee!

It wouldn’t be a platformer without collectibles. Pumpkin Jack has one collectable: crow heads. There are twenty in each level, and they let the player purchase costumes for Jack. These costumes vary in theme, such as Samurai, Cowboy, Inspector, or Lumberjack. 

Pumpkin Jack is a decent 3D platformer. It isn’t revolutionary, and the challenge is moderate. The graphics and music are reminiscent of A Hat in Time, and it is a short game. But I am beyond impressed with how Pumpkin Jack was made by one developer. I believe with an overall bit of fine tuning, the game will be ready for it’s next necessary step: more content!

Review copy generously provided by Headup Games.

Did I do that?