Action Henk is a time trial platformer. It resembles the game Trials, the downloadable hit from a few years ago where you are given a dirtbike and a physically questionable track to race down to beat the top time.
In Henk, you are an action figure (the titular Action Henk) and are ostensibly being played with my an unseen child in his or her bedroom. Just as Henk is an action figure, his racetrack is Lincoln Logs, Hot Wheels tracks, skateboards, and other kids toys strung together into a raceway for Henk and his nemesis to run down.
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The game controls really well. Jumping and sliding, the two main moves you perform, are snappy and have immediate response. Nothing gets bogged down in elaborate animations and it results in a game that you feel like you are truly in control of, which is great in any game and absolutely vital in a trials game where shaving off seconds (or fractions of seconds) is a big part of the appeal. Another thing the game nails is how quickly you can get back into the action. A quick hit of the B button (playing with an Xbox controller) restarts the level immediately. No reloading, no downtime. With levels only being 20 or 30 seconds (typically) it really promotes binge playing through and aiming for your best time.
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PLAYTIME: 40 minutes.
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The most dire problem with the game up to now is the fact that the levels can be distracting, and I find myself trying to jump onto pieces of the environment that are just decoration. The levels rotate as you run through them (though it is strictly a 2D game in terms of movement) and this is normally fine, but on occasion during the rotation things will flood the foreground and background in such a way that it is hard to tell what you are trying to jump onto. In one stage in particular there is a toy police car that swings in front of you as you are jumping over a gap. It looks like the car is your goal, but it's not, leading you to unwanted deaths. Once you realize this, you know what to do, but it's deflating when so much of the game up to this point has been something you can play by sight and not by memory. The game is still holding my interest (I'm through 5 of the 9 stages, though I've not tried to get a gold medal on every level which is certainly what could add some replay value) and I'll have my final thoughts soon.
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PLAYTIME: 60 minutes.
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FINAL THOUGHTS
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Action Henk is a surprise. I expected it to control worse than it does and be less fun than it is. With multiplayer being dead (or maybe servers discontinued) there’s not a ton of incentive to play past the built-in ghosts, but those ghosts are fun none the less. They do present a challenge, but there’s something more genuine feeling when it comes to playing against humans. One of the more appealing aspects of trials games is active human competition. Look at TrackMania. Even though there is no player interaction the game feels more alive and the competition feels more immediate when people are competing for the best laps in real time with you. It’s a shame that Henk doesn’t have an active player base anymore, because I think there is room for a 2D trials game out there like this. It’s more inviting than Trials, both visually and mechanically, and offer simple but addictive gameplay. Overall I think it’s worth a look, especially if you have friends. The developer made levels are mostly there, and there are quite a few options available on the Steam Workshop to keep you busy if a thriving online community isn’t what you are seeking.