Knack

 PlayStation 4
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Nov 15, 2013
User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1369 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 666 out of 1369
  2. Mixed: 353 out of 1369
  3. Negative: 350 out of 1369
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  1. DreamRavy
    Aug 14, 2023
    0
    Played it because it was free on PS Plus, but it's such a clunky game. It looked inventive at first glance, but it's underwhelming in all aspects, the visuals and art direction is so unappealing and everyone looks and act so silly, it was honestly a bit cringe. Gameplay feels like half-done and just not fun to play, it was honestly quite boring. I do not recommend it, not even as a freePlayed it because it was free on PS Plus, but it's such a clunky game. It looked inventive at first glance, but it's underwhelming in all aspects, the visuals and art direction is so unappealing and everyone looks and act so silly, it was honestly a bit cringe. Gameplay feels like half-done and just not fun to play, it was honestly quite boring. I do not recommend it, not even as a free game because it's just a waste of space in anyone's ps4.… Expand
  2. Aool
    Feb 9, 2023
    2
    Story, combat skill, 2p play and the like, all suck. Besides difficulty is too difficult! Enemies are even stronger than knack. Kanck's 2p play is even worse than Kirby's Return to Dream Land.
  3. Xx_ammar10
    May 14, 2022
    3
    It's inferior to the sequel in literally every aspect and it's boring so not worth any dollar
  4. Nautalcritzsm64
    Jan 18, 2022
    4
    Mi chiedo ancora perché ho completato questa imitazione di un qualsiasi action-platform game con un character mediocre e una personalità morente e infantile, e ciò nonostante il gioco è complicato e si muore con due colpi, boh
  5. BlueSubi
    Oct 29, 2021
    4
    Good things: Graphic Soundtrack
    Leveldesign Bad things: Movement Checkpointsystem
    The Enemy's they kill you by one hit and that's not good if the game give you a lot of enemy's in a little area.
    The Projectiles from the Enemy's are not good enough to see.
  6. thirdeye98
    Sep 21, 2021
    4
    I'm being absolutely fair and generous by giving it a 4/10. It's a meh'ish' action platformer with not much variety. levels structures are same and basic throughout the game. It was giving me Dejavu because of it's monotonous nature. The first few minutes repeats itself to the very end. It's very repetitive. But i guess most platformers are repetitive. What i hate is the lack of scenicI'm being absolutely fair and generous by giving it a 4/10. It's a meh'ish' action platformer with not much variety. levels structures are same and basic throughout the game. It was giving me Dejavu because of it's monotonous nature. The first few minutes repeats itself to the very end. It's very repetitive. But i guess most platformers are repetitive. What i hate is the lack of scenic variety and the lack of combat moves. The graphics is sometimes ugly and sometimes decent. It's very inconsistent in that matter. The story is boring. This is the first game that i felt like skipping the cut scenes. Not all of those were bad but most was. Knack as a character is pretty one dimensional and lacks depth but he is not as bland as Aloy. The comparison might seem a bit off, but knack for me is a bit more interesting character than Aloy. Knack looks good while he is transforming. It's also a decent and an interesting game mechanics. And it's the only selling point of this game. Voice acting is fine but the writing is meh. So i couldn't feel much impact. The story is filled with lackluster B movie tropes / clichés . I kinda hate it and it's only worth a play.

    So should you buy this terrible playstation exclusive launch title from almost a decade ago? No. Not if it's above $4. Buy it on sale if you must.    … Expand
  7. Talomustkill
    Aug 6, 2021
    4
    Asquerosamente repetitivo, su jugabilidad es buena, pero muchas veces falla, hacer un dash y golpear a los enemigos es frustrante que a veces funcione y a veces no, de verdad que cansa, sus gráficos se suponen que demostraban lo que podía hacer la PS4? Creo que eso lo demuestra mejor ratchet and clank.
  8. EmuGame218
    Jun 4, 2021
    0
    Worst game EVER. Not becase this is PS4 exclusive, but becase this is a bad game
  9. Xplocion
    Mar 13, 2021
    3
    The good:
    Many particles.

    The bad:
    Story like “I want to be Pixar” (and I can't). An entertaining debut game that soon ends the novelty of the particles. Much more emphasis on cinematics

    Meh !:
    As a technical demo it is good. As a Game that hooks you and opens the library of a new generation is painful. I personally don't know anyone who liked this game.
  10. Reterer
    Feb 4, 2021
    0
    Truly made by bubbling baboons but knack 2 is whear is is at knack is a a joke of a game
  11. WillJohn46
    Feb 2, 2021
    4
    This game was really rushed out, and if they gave it more time it could've become the new ratchet and clank. Sadly that didn't happen. And the combat is ok at best. Flaws aside, Knack is actually a good mascot.
  12. GatoxGalacticos
    Oct 31, 2020
    0
    Knack is a pretty bad game, the graphics are pretty meh, the graphics are just made to showcase the capacity of the ps4, and the gameplay is just boring repetitive and frustrating
  13. kirrwed
    Sep 5, 2020
    4
    The graphics are nice and the controls are somewhat intuitive. There is nice scenery and some intuitive puzzle solving throughout that utilizes Knack's nature. Those things give the game a few points.

    However, there are far more flaws as follows: • Very redundant. Levels go on forever with repeated mini fights against the same enemies over and over. • The aim of the special attack    The graphics are nice and the controls are somewhat intuitive. There is nice scenery and some intuitive puzzle solving throughout that utilizes Knack's nature. Those things give the game a few points.

    However, there are far more flaws as follows:
    • Very redundant. Levels go on forever with repeated mini fights against the same enemies over and over.
    • The aim of the special attack can be sketchy and will sometimes target some breakable object off-screen instead of the enemies on the screen.
    • Knack's toughness and strength are frustrating because they are not consistent. He can pick up cars or tanks and throw them at enemies. And yet it takes him up to 3 hits to defeat a beetle. As well, later in the game there are times when the prompt to pick up cars or tanks simply doesn't appear.
    • On a related frustrating note, he can do amazing things in cutscenes that he cannot do in gameplay, such as scale bare walls, fences, or jump tremendous distances.
    • The game is very on the rails, which isn't necessarily bad, but it suffers from no option to rotate camera in some areas where you can't see enemies or paths off-screen that are affecting the moment. There are times when you think hitting attack will make Knack zero-in on the nearest enemy but because the camera angle is so awkward or far away, he will sometimes punch air and be left in a vulnerable position because his swing motion leaves him in stunlock for a second every time.
    • Closing gates that prevent backtracking - what's the point of this, especially in a game where there are treasure pieces to collect. Once I came upon a fork and wasn't sure which was a path to a hidden item and which was the continue path. I chose the latter and a gate immediately closed, so I wasn't able to explore the other path even though it was only a few feet back.
    • Treasure collecting is nearly useless unless you plan to play over and over. It takes forever to complete a set and get the powerup. I got one powerup on first playthrough at the very end and I found a ton of secret items besides.
    • From a story perspective, the characters act highly irrational multiple times and some of the dialogue and decisions are laughable.    … Expand
  14. LG_Fox_Brazil
    Jul 6, 2020
    4
    Tedious gameplay, boring story, characters that are completely unlikable, a gameplay that is, at best, okay, and a multiplayer component that looks like was an afterthought. Stay away
  15. Brianscott13
    Jul 4, 2020
    4
    O pior exclusivo de Playstation 4 que joguei. Sensações horríveis assim só senti ao jogar Crackdawn 3, Bleeding Edge, State of Decay, Resident Evil 6.
    Já sua continuação "Knack 2" é bem melhor. Digno de nota 8(Knack 2).
  16. ElMonforte26
    Oct 6, 2019
    3
    Plataformeo falto de emoción al igual que todos los apartados del juego, un juego debe ser mínimamente desafiante para ser divertido, o estar enfocados en la historia, estética o libertad e interacción, pero esta basura prefiere justificar la falta de diversión con que quieren abrirse a un mayor público.
  17. njja02
    Jun 17, 2018
    2
    One of the most unbalanced piles of crap I've ever played. Boring combat, boring story, boring level design, almost everything is bad. If I'm being honest, I thought the first couple of missions were a little fun. But I think that mostly had to do with the so-bad it's good nature of it. But it eventually got super old and repetitive.
  18. AdrianTank
    May 26, 2018
    3
    The story is **** the gameplay is trash it makes me want to vomit i never even completed it, it's so boring.
  19. CyberRobotnix
    May 23, 2018
    3
    I will tell that straight up to your face, but this game is mediocre, it is not boring, it is not badly done so why is it mediocre? This game is basically what would happen if Dark Souls and Ratchet & Clank had a baby, the fact is you die way too quickly and for literal feces thrown at you, it's not even fun nor interesting unlike Dark Souls and the game is really dull, like it's a beatsI will tell that straight up to your face, but this game is mediocre, it is not boring, it is not badly done so why is it mediocre? This game is basically what would happen if Dark Souls and Ratchet & Clank had a baby, the fact is you die way too quickly and for literal feces thrown at you, it's not even fun nor interesting unlike Dark Souls and the game is really dull, like it's a beats 'em all, but like most bad beats 'em all (Sonic Boom Rise Of Lyric for instance) your character has a pretty basic moveset that will never evolve over the time which makes that it feels repetitive. Hell, go complain about Breath Of The wild, but atleast you could try every different weapons and test them on enemies and whatnot, the game might not have a lot of different enemies, but you could atleast experiment with them, in Knack you can't because not only you have a very generic moveset the likes of Crash Bandicoot and the character is not fluid unlike Meat Boy nor the heroine in Celeste, but also that same moveset doesn't evolve at all. I think I put an emphasis a bit too big on the gameplay whilst the real problem is especially the fact that it's not fun to get stuck in a level because it's borderline too hard!

    Think whatever you want, but hell this game is really not fun, if atleast growing up meant something advantageous to the gameplay, but no! You still die in a few hits if not immediately! I like the concept, but damn the game needs a fix!    … Expand
  20. HTGamer
    May 18, 2018
    2
    Knack is a cartoony version of the old God of War games, only it comes with a bad story, a barely basic level design, forgettable enemies, and very repetitive gameplay. Knack is supposed to be aimed at children, but its unforgiving challenge and lack of balance (even at the Easy difficulty setting) means only hardcore and relentless gamers will ever play this game. Getting constantlyKnack is a cartoony version of the old God of War games, only it comes with a bad story, a barely basic level design, forgettable enemies, and very repetitive gameplay. Knack is supposed to be aimed at children, but its unforgiving challenge and lack of balance (even at the Easy difficulty setting) means only hardcore and relentless gamers will ever play this game. Getting constantly one-shot from every mob is not fun. I played Knack on the Hard difficulty setting through to the very end, and the game was brutal even for someone like me who enjoys Dark Souls and Bloodborne. The final boss fight in particular can be BS even though it's based on patterns, just like the old school games.

    Knack reminded me of the 1st Crash Bandicoot game which was a notoriously hardcore 3D platformer back in 1996. There is a connection between these games because Mark Cerny (the brilliant software engineer, and lead architect of the PS4) had a hand in the design of both. Maybe he's not the best game designer, possibly he's still stuck in the '80s arcade era of unfair games, but I still expected more and better from him.

    I got Knack for free through the Playstation Plus subscription, but I'd advise everyone else not to spend money on it. If you have nothing else to play, you may give Knack a try.    … Expand
  21. RepentantSky
    Mar 8, 2018
    2
    This game is an absolute mess. It's not always easy to tell where you are, the camera works against you far more often than it should, and despite gaining more health the bigger Knack grows, you take more damage, so the extra health isn't really extra health so much as it is a way to increase your attacks damage, while making you feel weaker. The story is also laughably bad, and I refuseThis game is an absolute mess. It's not always easy to tell where you are, the camera works against you far more often than it should, and despite gaining more health the bigger Knack grows, you take more damage, so the extra health isn't really extra health so much as it is a way to increase your attacks damage, while making you feel weaker. The story is also laughably bad, and I refuse to call the doctor character, The Doctor, because that's insulting to any Whovian past or present. The combat is also horrible as all hell as all Knack can do when fighting is punch, and use supers, of which only one super is really useful. The acting is also horrible, and don't inform characters enough. The game is simply bad. However, because it works, and because I have played worse, I can give it a 2/10, but no more. This game was free this month for PS Plus members, which is why I got it in the first place, but even if price affected my choices, I would still say don't bother. The game is horrible in just about every way possible. Games on PSone play better.… Expand
  22. Laffn14
    Feb 20, 2018
    3
    Painfully average. The difficulty is rage-endusing due to it being 2-3 hits to kill Knack on Normal.
    Boring levels, repetetive chapters. The only thing holding it up is that it isnt the worst game ever, and believe it or not, it can actually be fun for like 5 minutes.
  23. Bunterboy
    Feb 9, 2018
    4
    Tedium.

    Repetition. Tedium. Repetition. Those four words basically sum up this game in its entirety. It is a substandard platformer that, while having a reasonably interesting premise around 'Knack' being able to grow etc, etc, it's literally the extent of the imagination on show here. I got it free with PS Plus (thankfully as paying for it is a waste of money, unless it's    Tedium.

    Repetition.

    Tedium.

    Repetition.

    Those four words basically sum up this game in its entirety. It is a substandard platformer that, while having a reasonably interesting premise around 'Knack' being able to grow etc, etc, it's literally the extent of the imagination on show here. I got it free with PS Plus (thankfully as paying for it is a waste of money, unless it's 2.99) and I've completed it and recommend that you don't. Game-play is dull and all of the 'good' characters are unlikable. I think that 'Knack' suffers from Stockholm syndrome as he does exactly as he's told, unquestioningly, he's got a real weird relationship going on with that professor.

    And to all the people on here who gave it a 10. I want to give you all a hug as you have all obviously experienced some immense trauma in your life if you feel that this game is perfect. Don't let your damaged outlook hurt you any more. I hope you are ok.    … Expand
  24. Ishi123
    Feb 8, 2018
    2
    It took me about an hour to deduce that this was probably the worst game I'd ever played. It's a complete disaster. No other word fits this game better. Just a total failure of a game. I'm glad I got this game for free on PS+, otherwise I'd be calling up Sony to get my money back for this.
  25. supercriticguy
    Jan 15, 2017
    4
    I bought this game because the characters and setting looked interesting, and because I was in the mood for a solid platforming game. I figured that the game's low review scores were related to how "for kids" the game looks, so I ignored them. I shouldn't have.

    The characters and the setting are not interesting. The platforming is good, but is minimized in favor of (frustrating,    I bought this game because the characters and setting looked interesting, and because I was in the mood for a solid platforming game. I figured that the game's low review scores were related to how "for kids" the game looks, so I ignored them. I shouldn't have.

    The characters and the setting are not interesting. The platforming is good, but is minimized in favor of (frustrating, clunky) combat. The game is completely linear and boring. There isn't much else to say because Knack comes off as a bare-bones shell of a game. You walk forward, slog through the game's one linear path full of unchanging enemies, watch a cutscene, and then the pattern cycles for the entirety of the game.

    I like Knack's sound design, graphics, and music. Unfortunately, that's all I like about Knack.    … Expand
  26. mydinura
    Sep 21, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. here comes the money uh oh its knack baby yeah you like that **** dont you yeah you like that knack
    unfortunately, knack would only sell 3 copies because it's the worst game of all time    … Expand
  27. MrWill
    Jun 27, 2016
    3
    With an unappealing cast, repetitive and frustrating combat, baron platforming and level design and an embarrassing frame rate, Knack proves that videogames aren't always any fun. Sluggishly pondering through corridors to beat up some more enemies with little motivation from the games plot with extremely precise combat becomes a frustrating and uninspiring.
  28. ieatdirt
    Sep 8, 2015
    1
    I was looking forward to playing this game since i love platformers but it was horrible! The score i give is very deserved and i am very disappointed. I thought this would be a very good game with all the hype it was getting but it seems i was wrong. 1/10
  29. Termin8ter
    Jul 8, 2015
    4
    Knack in one of the most boring games I have ever played. The missions are very repetitive and the controls are lousy. I watched the trailer to this game and had very high hopes for it, but it turned out to be very average.
  30. dubloon7
    May 26, 2015
    1
    This game is utter garbage. AVOID at all costs, to you, to your PS4 and to your Dualshock4 controller.

    The primary issue with this heap of crap is the problem with a 1 or 2-hit death. this game was designed for children, but is so difficult even on the "normal" difficulty the game restarts every 5 minutes. Knack will die in 1 to 2 hits, whereas the enemies EACH take 3-5 hits; health    This game is utter garbage. AVOID at all costs, to you, to your PS4 and to your Dualshock4 controller.

    The primary issue with this heap of crap is the problem with a 1 or 2-hit death. this game was designed for children, but is so difficult even on the "normal" difficulty the game restarts every 5 minutes. Knack will die in 1 to 2 hits, whereas the enemies EACH take 3-5 hits; health restoration is practically non-existant; trophiues are locked unless you play Sony's retarded iOS shovelware game.

    graphics are more for PS3, sound/music is standard, voice acting is sub-par, story is standard

    AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!!    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Best PS4 Game of 2013
5
#5 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2013
5
#5 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 83 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 46 out of 83
  3. Negative: 28 out of 83
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Feb 13, 2014
    75
    Knack isn't a bad combat platformer, it's just mediocre. It's a kind of God of War for casual players and the fighting works actually quite well. Some boring factory levels should have been cut, though. [Jan 2014]
  2. GameCritics
    Jan 26, 2014
    40
    I have absolutely no idea what caused Knack to be the kind of game that is, because it just doesn't make any sense. Whether it's the case of being a a vanity project that went unchecked or just another could-have-been that lost its way while rushing to meet the PS4's launch date, the bottom line is that it's a misguided title too simple for adults and too difficult for children.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Jan 10, 2014
    25
    An awfully boring, repetitive and uninspired game that does absolutely nothing to show PS4’s capabilities but a lot to ruin your day. [01/2014, p.66]
See all critic reviews »