15 Jul Dive into the rich gameplay of The Smurfs – Dreams!
This year, our friends the Smurfs will be fighting Gargamel in fantastic settings, in their new adventure for PC and consoles: Dreams. Here, we’re going to take a look at the various actions you’ll be able to perform with your controller in hand. Without smurfer ado, let’s get started!
A variety of jumps to handle some tricky platforms
In The Smurfs – Dreams, players will begin in the center of the Smurfs’ village. There, a giant magic pillow will transport them into the world of dreams, where they will need to save their sleeping friends. Following a more linear tutorial stage, players will be able to choose which order they want to complete the levels in. To control the player character, with a Nintendo Switch controller, for example, the left joystick is to move, the B button is to jump and the Y button is to run, while the left triggers are to greet other characters, and the right triggers are to throw objects or use gadgets.
Once you’ve grasped the controls, you can begin to master a central element of the gameplay: jumping and platforms! Thomas Freund, Lead Level Design at Ocellus Studio, explained to us how The Smurfs – Dreams offers a whole range of jumps: “You can do little or big jumps by varying how long you hold down the button. Your Smurf can also come down more slowly by kicking their feet if you tap it again after a jump. They can even stay in the air for a few seconds using a magic bubble if you press Y after a jump, and then leap off the bubble to cover some more distance.”
This wide range of movements will help you overcome the many challenges in the environments, including platforms that move, shrink, bounce or disappear before your very eyes. And then, there will be enemies standing in your way! These include the “Little followers”: persistent beetles that will stay hot on the heels of your Smurf. Or the “Turrets”: little spiders that will shoot at you using a canon mounted on their back. You will need to keep all your wits about you to overcome these foes, particularly the end-of-level bosses, like The Hungry One, a voracious giant with a bottomless stomach…
Puzzles and objects for obsessive completionists
And that’s not all, because The Smurfs – Dreams will require much more than just reflexes in the face of devious enemies and treacherous platforms. The adventure will also be dotted with mentally challenging puzzles! “We think these puzzles will add diversity and depth to the experience,” Thomas Freund told us. “They could involve finding the right order to press buttons in, spotting something that can only be seen reflected in a mirror, or escorting a dragonfly to its destination.”
While some puzzles will have to be solved to progress through the adventure, other optional puzzles will reward curious players with various items: Sarsaparilla to buy costumes for your character, stellar mushrooms to unlock secret levels, reels of thread to unlock special outfits… In The Smurfs – Dreams, it will pay off to explore all the nooks and crannies, to earn extra levels and beautiful items that will make you the best-looking Smurf in the village!
With so many things to do, the most committed players will be able to spend a dozen hours discovering all the secrets. But the game is also designed for less experienced players, who will be able to complete the game without too much trouble. If you liked Super Mario 3D World or Sackboy: A Big Adventure, we think you will love The Smurfs – Dreams. Don’t expect to be in totally familiar territory, though, as you may be surprised.
You can add The Smurfs – Dreams to your wishlist now, on Steam, Epic Games Store and PlayStation Store.
