Even after whatever the heck happened with Mighty No. 9, there are still indie games taking the Kickstarter route for success. And why not? It’s very promising, and allows people to get directly involved in a title’s progress moving forward. And the latest game to do so is Deka Duck, which will launch its campaign on the fundraising site later today.
In the game, you play a superpowered duck (no, not Howard) that finds himself on an island loaded with robotic baddies. Along with being able to blast them to kingdom come, he also has a unique throwing ability. With this, he can grapple to reach new areas, as well as grab enemies to use as projectiles.
We played the new Steam demo that just came out and it’s filled with promise. The hand-drawn visuals are an absolute blast, even if they remind us of Mega Man a little bit. And the soundtrack is top notch, at least based on what we’ve heard. It’s a much smaller demo than expected, but it does give a taste of what’s to come.
You can check out Deka Duck for yourself with the demo, but we wish the developers at Asteristic Game Studio the absolute best in getting it funded. The more people that get their feathers ruffled by this one, the better.
Deka Duck Stacks the Duck Deck
Dr. Less has seen better days. On the run from the Intergalactic Police, he finds himself crashed on an uncharted planet. What’s more, the police followed him and are closely behind. With his back to the wall, he utilizes his daughter’s pet duck to create an unlikely hero – the powerful Deka Duck!
The game features a combination of shooting and throwing, which works to great effect. Obviously blasting is an absolute essential, especially when it comes to boss battles and clearing out enemies that get close to you. But the grapple ability is a huge plus. Not only can you grab onto enemies, but you can also throw them like projectiles. You can also latch onto upper platforms and even hop on an enemy’s back to get over a dangerous field of spikes. (Why are these here in games anyway?)
The controls are very precise thus far, even if the game is still a very light work in progress. But the team at Asteristic understands what makes a platformer like this work, even if it feels a bit similar to Mega Man. Hey, solid gameplay is solid gameplay, and we’re here for it.
How Does Deka Duck Perform?
We did only play the one small demo of the game thus far, so obviously there’s still work to be done on Deka Duck. That said, it looks remarkable in its early state. It utilizes hand-drawn visuals with both the characters and backdrops, creating a neat Saturday morning cartoon-style aesthetic that works really well. The frame rate is stable as well, though, again, it’s early days yet, and we have yet to see more levels. We’re confident it’ll be up to par, though.
Likewise, the audio thus far is excellent. The music sounds like a perfect fit for an adventure such as this, and the sound effects are about what you’d expect with all their cartoony destruction.
(Also, we tested this demo on Steam Deck and it works like a charm!)
Here’s To the Power of the Duck!
The fate of Deka Duck now lies with Kickstarter, with the campaign set to kick off later today. But based on the demo, this is something we’re definitely cheering on. It channels the goodness of Mega Man, but with its own creative gameplay twists and a beautiful hand-drawn style. Hopefully it’ll see great success, and eventually branch out to other platforms, including Xbox and Nintendo Switch 2.
For now, though, definitely check the demo out. It’s worth ruffling your feathers over.
Looking for more charming indie platforming? Read our review of Big Hops!
