Rayman Legends is a pointless and merciless platformer. Rayman Legends review of the game Rayman legends on two computers

Less than two years have passed since the largest computer game production and publishing company Ubisoft once again reminded the world of its wonderful series of cooperative platformers Rayman. Crazy design, dynamic basis, a lot of joy for a friendly company and simply a perfectly calibrated game has appeared on the shelves again. Famous game designer Michel Ancel did not reinvent the wheel and again showed his imagination 100%, providing completely new gameplay elements and beautiful locations for the usual mechanics, which means that a friendly circle of friends can again start a digital farce in the world of Reiman.

A whole century has passed since the actions of Rayman Origin, and all this time our heroes have been doing what they love most - sleeping soundly. Only bad luck, while Reiman and the company snored sweetly in their soap bubbles (and don’t ask “why”, because this is Reiman) nightmares continued to increase in the kingdom of dreams, capturing the territory of a bright and colorful world. The plot, as always, is almost completely atrophied, naturally for the sake of the traditions of the genre, it literally does not carry any semantic load and simply immerses us in the frantic and insane atmosphere of the game.

But nothing sends people into digital oblivion more than the look of Rayman Legends, created by brilliant artists who have once again outdone themselves. The surrounding world of the kingdom of sleep is not just simply beautiful, it is insane in its beauty, both in the literal and inverse sense of the word. Futuristic views, strange-looking enemies, funny animations of heroes, crazy content - everything that the eyes can see in Rayman Legends entirely does not just resemble a high-quality cartoon, but rather is one. It is in such games that the line of time is erased; after many years, the graphics will not become outdated at all, in vain due to the fact that there is nothing to become obsolete.

True, compared to Rayman Origin and the sequel, it has somewhat succumbed to modern standards and in some backdrops you can still catch real 3D, which, although at first glance is not particularly needed here, but on the whole fits perfectly into the surrounding world.

Designers continue to pamper us with a variety of locations. Of course, there were some standards, like the water world or gloomy Gothic castles, but even they are trying to stand out from the heap of standard solutions. For example, in an underwater location, heroes can hide in the shadows of strange structures. Well, a level made like Guitar Hero urgently needs to be included in a museum of video game art: every step, jump or blow of the character turns into a nice little melody, but when 4 friends run wildly, jump and do other crazy things, the melody simply turns into musical catharsis. We can remember a lot, including the level in the rocks, where God’s hand helps us, and the location of various confectionery products, where you can punch your way in any way, but it’s better to see it for yourself.

Michel Ansoul did not change his principles in the gameplay structure, simply transferring all the characters’ abilities to the new part without changes (even with almost the same animations). In the first half hour, the game helpfully reminds us of everything that Reiman and company learned in previous games: here you have running, levitation, and changing dimensions. Everything is also pleasantly dynamic, and the co-op is crazy.

The main innovation is the revolutionary gameplay, which was created specifically for the flagship Nintendo Wii U and its strange tablet gamepad. The fact is that now we have another character under our care named Murphy, who is quite successfully controlled with the help of this fancy device. It’s just that in alternative gaming systems, such Nintendo tricks are simply considered bad manners, and after the project successfully emerged from the exclusives of the marioboy platform, and Ubisoft, as usual, released Rayman Legends on other gaming systems, the question arose, how will Murphy be controlled?

And Michel again showed his talent and, with an elegant attack, solved this simple problem, while also making the whole already frantic dynamics more fun. Now the “flying fairy helper” simply flies up and performs a simple action at the first call of one of the characters. And this results in a very interesting cooperative experience - imagine this situation: 4 friends need to get through a chasm with lava, and only Murphy can move the platforms that are needed to move. The first player decided that he was faster and moved the first platform and immediately the second, the Second player decided that he needed to substitute the First and therefore quickly moved the second platform, the Third simply levitated over the abyss and called the 4th platform, and the Fourth player modestly stood on the edge and waited , when he will have to save all three. Well, Murphy rushes from side to side like mad. No one expected such fun...

In Rayman Legends, there are still small “koloboks” that need to be collected in order to be transported to another level; also at the level you need to free small incomprehensible creatures that are hidden or simply enclosed in a complex puzzle or obstacle. There are still difficult moments that you can go through later, because the levels are now non-linear and you can open neighboring ones.
Rayman Legends is one of the best platformers that not only can be played in co-op, but you MUST play with friends and get a lot of fun from it. In addition to the main mode, there is another warm-up mode (quite funny), a gallery of heroes and levels. The game will not let you get bored and Ubisoft has not only reached the level of the previous game, but also surpassed it. We can only say - quickly go play if you are a fan of cooperative entertainment and just a player of any stripe and age.

Platforms: PC | PS3 | Wii | Xbox 360

Game modes: On one screen (4)

Released: 2013

Ubisoft, after almost two years, has again declared itself to the gaming world. The company is the largest, and its project is the largest among its kind! You probably remember about the Rayman platformer with a co-op mode, which you used to play for hours? The game was simply fantastically calibrated, at the same time pleasing with its dynamics and design, bringing great pleasure to the company of players. Now the project is back, remaining just as well thought out and stylish in design. Again, game designer Ansel tried, again showing miracles of imagination. The mechanics remained familiar, but new interesting locations and additional gameplay elements were added. And again you can sit for hours playing Reiman!

A full hundred years have passed since the action presented in Rayman Origin. The heroes managed to get a good night's sleep over the course of a century, and now they are ready for new adventures! However, happiness passed while the characters snored rhythmically in their soap bubbles: evil penetrated everywhere into the colorful, bright world, and now the kingdom was completely defeated in the power of nightmares and horrors. The creators respected the main traditions of this game genre, and completely atrophied the storyline. The plot makes virtually no sense, but the frantic pace and crazy gaming atmosphere, as always, are present.

The design (back to the design of the project) is simply stunning. Just the appearance of the locations and backgrounds makes you forget everything else when you start Rayman Legends. Since there is a kingdom of sleep around, the surroundings correspond: beautiful, simply fabulously unreal and crazy. Some futuristic landscapes, strange-looking enemies, cool animation of the main characters and stunningly crazy content. This is not a great cartoon, but even more so - a cartoon in which you are the main character. Even after several years, the game graphics have not become outdated in any way - there is nothing in it that is outdated, everything is so attractive and interesting. Although, upon closer examination, you can “catch” real 3D in the background - maybe unnecessary for this project, but still fit normally into the game world.

The designers have again developed a bunch of locations, continuing to pamper gamers. Typical standards remain, such as castles in the Gothic style or the water world, but they also have certain changes. Underwater, for example, there are some strange structures and structures in the shadows of which heroes can hide from enemies. And the level, which looks like Guitar Hero, can easily be considered a masterpiece: any action of the character, be it a jump, steps or hits, evokes an interesting accompaniment melody. And when all four players in co-op mode run and jump at once, the speakers generally sound like catharsis. In general, it is better to see each level for yourself, otherwise you will not have a complete picture of it.

Further on the gameplay: comrade Michel Ansoul did not change the structure, and transferred the abilities of the heroes to the new toy practically without changes, even the animation remained the same. At the same time, at the very beginning, for about 30 minutes, the toy will remind you of everything that you have already managed to go through and understand in previous releases of the game: how to run, how to levitate or change dimensions. And it’s interesting to play alone, and even more so with friends in co-op mode.

Let’s return again to the talent of Comrade Michel: he didn’t just correct the game dynamics, but made them much more interesting and fun. A simple example: if you need to make your way through an abyss in co-op mode, then the necessary platforms can only be moved by Murphy, and no one else. It's a lot of fun!

And as before, in Rayman Legends there remain small “koloboks” intended for collecting. Without a sufficient number of them, you cannot move to the next level. And you also need to free a whole bunch of obscure creatures that are either hidden somewhere in the depths of the location or imprisoned in a puzzle. But the levels have become non-linear, so you can skip some details and return to them later, but for now, open a new level and gain experience.

Rayman Legends was and remains one of the best platformers for both a single player and a group. It is more interesting to play it in co-op, which brings a lot of pleasant impressions and pleasure. Well done to Ubisoft for constantly maintaining playability and interest in new, albeit “next in the series” projects. Happy co-op!

In November 2011, the first game about Rayman was released on seventh generation consoles - Rayman: Origins. Before this, of course, games in the series were released on the Xbox360, but it was more of an endless “milking” than full-fledged games. For example, Rayman: Raving Rabbids is constant mini-games and a story not so much about Rayman, but about crazy rabbits with a strange “fixation” on plungers.

So fans were enthusiastic about the release of the new game. The series returned to its roots and promised to be not only two-dimensional (like the very first game about Rayman on PS1), but also to give the opportunity to play as your favorite heroes – Rayman and Globox.

During the development process, Ubisoft managed to win a grant from the French government to support artists - all within the framework of the "games are also art" approach. The game engine, UBIart Framework, allowed artists not to bother at all with how their drawings were animated and how key frames were created; it was enough to just draw and draw, and the game designers would arrange everything there themselves.

Well, they made the game - at first as a small, downloadable indie hack for XBLA/PSN for ten bucks, but as the work progressed more and more people worked on the game. As a result, it grew into a full-fledged retail release - Rayman Origins.

Unfortunately, the game had a number of shortcomings that would have prevented it from becoming mainstream entertainment for all ages - firstly, the obsessive 2D platforming and its price. In an era when everyone has more or less learned how to make 3D games, asking for a 2D game (even a very good one), of which there are tons on iPads/Androids, as much as 60 euros (the approximate cost of a box with a game in Europe) is somehow, well very arrogant.

The second fact follows from the first - since this is a platformer, especially a cooperative one (you can and even need to play together), this is entertainment only for a couple of evenings or for a fun company.

It’s fun and easy for two (three, four) to play - you help each other, if someone dies - it doesn’t matter, the “bubble” hanging with you can immediately burst and run on again all together.

But playing this game alone is pure torture.

It’s not that it’s hellishly hardcore, we’ve seen more difficult platformers, it’s just that at some point you realize that you spent about forty minutes on a level, wasting your energy and time, while two people can run through it without straining in about three minutes.

And of course, the further into the forest, the scarier it is - I played the first part together with a seasoned eight-bit hell (see Battletoads) friend, but we ended up watching the ending on YouTube - it’s so brutal at the end, it’s hard even for two of us to cope with.

I don’t know whether modern children have played a platformer of this type or not (I suspect that if they have, they haven’t played it for long), but I’m afraid that its complexity only scared them away from games of this genre.

And now, almost two years later, the sequel is Rayman Legends. Has anything changed?

In short, nothing at all. It's still a very beautiful and very well-drawn platformer. One of the few games running on modern consoles in honest Full HD at 60 frames per second. A game that shows with every frame how much soul they put into it. A fun, funny game. A game that is fun to play.

And a game that is difficult to play alone - multiplayer makes the difference.

As if knowing this, Ubisoft compensates by generally lightening up the difficulty, as well as adding variety to Rayman's typical runs through the level. A bunch of different mini-games, side missions and a whole ton of secrets and hidden tasks.

The mechanics of the game have changed slightly - in addition to jumping, running and gliding in flight, there is also the need to sometimes control the fairy frog Murfy, who opens doors for you and neutralizes enemies and traps. This is done with one button, and in the version for Wii U and PS Vita it is also controlled from the touch screen. It's not a big change.

The world is practically not connected at all by plot - we are again fighting evil and saving the oppressed - now it’s just a set of stories, myths (that’s why Legends is in the title) about all sorts of different things and each level is now complete madness and a hymn to the diversity of the world and the creatures living in it .

Did this make it better? Yes, everything is much more fun and beautiful than in the first (Origins) part, it is easier and more interesting to play, but I am still waiting for a full-fledged three-dimensional Rayman 4 - and unfortunately, it is difficult to get this game to play its main target audience - children. Having died twenty times on a level, they quickly get bored with this.

It’s been tested, but it’s much more fun for children (the game is like a full-fledged cartoon!) to watch someone play it than to suffer themselves. This means that it remains for us, adults, to look for like-minded people and go through it under the supervision of our household members.

Bottom line: 8/10, so much “soul”, but I would like even more.

PS: The PS3 version of the game was reviewed.

Look for where to buy cheap steam license keys for PC? The online store for computer games will gladly help you buy a key for Steam and avoid the need to visit dozens of stores. You can order any key without getting up from your chair, and within a minute it will be delivered to the e-mail specified during purchase. This will take a lot of trouble off your shoulders and allow you to get the game you want on time. You can place an order regardless of where you are at the moment, which, you see, is very convenient. the site works for the CIS countries: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. But also on the site you can buy the game without regional restrictions/region free.

What advantages does our online store offer? The most significant fact is the presence of thousands of steam games that you can always buy very cheaply with a discount of up to 95%. At first glance, you can get lost among such a variety of games to choose from. Do you want to purchase a game for activation on Steam? The "Steam Keys" category will help you find the product you are interested in. Having a wide range of keys costing from 10 rubles will allow you to choose the right game with the desired genre and game mode. The store has been operating since 2010 and provides its customers with a wide selection of modern video games for many popular services, such as: Steam, Origin, Uplay, GOG, Battle.net, Xbox, Playstation Network, etc. You can easily buy the right steam game for entertainment and relaxation.

Games on a local network, games with co-op, games for free, origin keys, Steam Gifts, Steam accounts, as well as games with multiplayer, all this is contained in the catalog. The online store steam-account.ru operates around the clock 24/7. All operations, from selecting a game to activating a purchased key, are completed online in 2-3 minutes. To place an order, just follow a few simple steps. Select a product, click the "Buy" button, select a payment method and indicate your valid email, after which the game will be sent to it within a minute, so you can always pick up the game in the "My purchases" section. You can pay for your order in the store using one of the methods convenient for you - WebMoney, Paypal, Yandex Money, Qiwi, Visa, Mastercard, phone bill or other electronic payment system.

The store often holds competitions, which gives you a chance to get a steam game for free. But why do you need to buy computer games on the site?? It's simple. We have very low prices, regular promotions and sales, delivery within one minute, prompt technical support, a wide range and extensive experience. And what’s important is that we love all our customers!

This site has not been endorsed by Valve Corporation and is not affiliated with Valve Corporation or its licensors. The Steam name and logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Valve Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All rights reserved. Game content and game materials (c) Valve Corporation. All product, company and brand names, logos and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Our licensed games store works only with trusted official dealers, therefore we guarantee the quality of all products, without exception. The keys have a lifetime warranty.

Over the past few years, we've all somehow gotten used to the idea that 2D platformers are only for indie developers. The costs of creation are much lower than those of large projects, and the means of self-expression are even greater than in the “full-fledged” gaming industry. If anyone tried to send to retail shelves a beautiful three-dimensional blockbuster about how a little boy is constantly crushed with stones, eaten with teeth, torn into pieces, or routinely impaled on spikes, the unfortunate publisher would be dragged through the courts by the whole world. But as a small, seemingly frivolous platformer, Limbo feels great. We're keeping quiet about the fruits of the apparently not-so-ordinary brain of Edmund MacMillan (Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac).

Another thing is that sometimes large companies also look into this niche, remembering their glorious eight- and sixteen-bit past. SEGA is trying hard to return Sonic to his former greatness, Nintendo suddenly remembered that, in addition to Mario and Zelda, it has an excellent Donkey Kong Country series in its bins, and the French from Ubisoft brought out their mascot - the funny kid Rayman.

Something comes to mind

In the vastness of our homeland Rayman has never been popular, unlike the same Sonic and Dunkey Kong. Many people remember his name in the title of the hooligan collection of mini-games Rayman Raving Rabbids, but nothing more. Only a few of the most enlightened and educated people know that Rayman was invented by the French game designer Michel Ancel, and the first game with his participation was released on PlayStation in 1995. There, a teenage-looking boy without a neck, without arms and without legs, but with a head, hands and feet independent from the body, wandered through two-dimensional colorful levels and, as usual, saved the world from some dark but cute monsters.

Sometimes it seems that artists have gone a little overboard with mind-altering substances. However, even if it was so, it only benefited the game.

Basically, in Rayman Origins the 2011 model will have to do about the same thing. Residents of the glorious Soviet-built panel houses will be especially fascinated by the plot. Rayman and his friends were relaxing in nature, while the whole company was snoring such an incendiary beat that it really disturbed the inhabitant of the lower floor, the dead pensioner Varvara Nikiforovna. Rayman’s group took the knock on the “battery” as a signal to action and only turned the “music” up louder. For which she paid: the old woman from hell became enraged and began to take terrible revenge on the youth. But instead of calling the police, the cunning granny quickly organized a strike force from the inhabitants of the afterlife and imprisoned smiling pink balls, clearly female, who are responsible for harmony throughout the world, in cages. You can even look for deep philosophical implications in all this farce, but we advise you not to get too carried away, since, as usual, you will have to sort out the problem.

16+16+16 bits

Although it’s hard to call anything in this game a “problem”. She is positive to the last pixel and constantly radiates joy and fun, even when Rayman ends up in hell, where devils in huge cauldrons are preparing a stew of sinners. Moreover, unlike many other seemingly two-dimensional games, where all the scenery and characters are actually three-dimensional, Rayman Origins really looks like a good old, hand-drawn flat platformer. And this is where the lion's share of its charm lies: the game is incredibly beautiful, each of its six worlds is made with the greatest attention to detail and delights with such magnificent landscapes that sometimes you even stop for a minute to admire the most beautiful rainfall in the jungle or the breathtaking underwater world. And these are not empty words: the last time we saw such magnificent work by artists and animators in two-dimensional games... perhaps never.

Cooperation in action! By the way, pay attention to the landscape of inhuman beauty.

While remaining essentially a classic 2D platformer, Rayman Origins plays in a completely modern way. The difficulty increases gradually: if the first levels fly by with minimal effort, then by the middle of the game you already have to sweat a little to get to the finish line, and closer to the end you watch Rayman bursting like a soap bubble ten times in a row.

But, what’s most surprising, it’s not annoying at all, because the difficulty never goes beyond a reasonable limit. In fact, the player himself lays out a rake in front of him, trying to collect as many yellow fairies as possible (they play the role of bonus coins) and find all the secrets that are hidden in abundance throughout the levels. At the same time, lives are endless, and checkpoints are placed with royal generosity.

It’s also impossible to get bored from monotony, no matter how hard you want. In each of the worlds, Rayman acquires new abilities, and the levels adapt to them, offering something new to do. First, our hero will learn to punch painfully in the eye, then to soar above the ground, spinning his hair like a propeller. Then the good fairies with curvy figures will give him the ability to dive, walk on walls and even change his own size. At the end of each world, a large pink mosquito comes to Rayman's aid, and the game turns into a natural scrolling shooter for five minutes. And in the secret levels you come across a big-eyed chest that thinks (quite correctly, however) that Rayman is about to give him a black eye under his only eye, and begins to run away with terrible force, simultaneously preparing quick traps for the hero.

Figure it out for two

If you're going to imitate the classics, then imitate them to the end. What 2D platformer would be complete without the ability to play as a multi-player? According to the latest fashion, Rayman Origins can be played by four people at the same time, and not online (there is no network mode at all), but on one console and without dividing the screen into small rectangles (remember, remember “Sega” and “Dandy”). So the game is very conducive to live communication. The four heroes rush around the level, sometimes helping each other, building living towers in order to reach especially inaccessible bonuses, but more often - getting in the way, fooling around and getting underfoot, receiving a sea of ​​positive emotions in the process. In terms of the amount of positivity, the game can easily compete with LittleBigPlanet.

Scary? We're having a lot of fun too.

However, in our opinion, Rayman Origins is best played with two players. In principle, any person is suitable for the role of a partner - from a younger brother to a beloved soulmate. In this case, you will be able to show good results, looking for secrets, and at the same time laugh heartily.