Lockehorn

Lockehorn is a Nitrome game released on Thursday December 15th. On December 9th 2011, Nitrome revealed a screenshot of a game that they said would be released between December 11 and 17th. This game puts the player in control of a Elk called Lockehorn, who has to push a Slab of Ice into an Alter to melt it and free the Elk.

The game received an update on January 19th 2011. This update contains Battle Mode, a feature that allows two players to fight against each other (similar to Test Subject Arena), as well as a new 'Easy Mode' and bug fixes.

Controls
Player 1

← ↑ ↓ → - Move Lockehorn/Move ice in direction (when against Ice) Player 2 ? - Move Blue Elk/Move ice in direction (when against Ice)

Story Mode
In each level of Lockehorn, the player, using their slab of ice, has to kill every Snow Spirit by crushing them against walls, or pushing them off edges (if there are any). The player will freeze if they touch an enemy, fall off the stage, or are hit by a hazard. They can also be crushed by there own slab of ice if not careful. The player will also lose the level if the slab of Ice falls off the stage.

Throughout the game, hazards and different snow spirits are encountered. When all enemies are killed, the Alter will open up, and the player has to place the slab of Ice on the Alter, which will melt it. When the creature is successfully brought out of the ice, the level is cleared. 1/5 of the levels have two Ice slabs, and the player having to melt each one to complete the level.

Due to the intense difficulty of Lockehorn level 15-20, Nitrome included an "Easy Mode" with the Lockehorn Update on January19th 2012. What Easy Mode will tone down has not been revealed yet.

Multiplayer Mode
Multiplayer Mode is a mode that is only playable with two players, each person using the same computer. Player 1 controls Lockehorn, while Player 2 controls a Blue Elk. The objective is to gain the most points. Pots can be smashed to yield Coins; which can be used for points. Vegetables will fall from the sky, for players pick up Powerups. A picked up Food item will increase how fast the player moves (ability) and how fast they can push the Ice Slab (strength)

How much increased pushing power the player has is determined by the Powerup bar. Orange pads are placed around the level that allow the player to gain points by placing the Ice Slab on. The objective is to prove that the player is the true leader of the elk.

Levels
There are levels for Story Mode of Lockehorn.

Level 1
This level has two Snow Spirits, and the alter is in the middle.



Level 2
This level has 12 Ice Flames and 4 Normal Spirits, also with 12 pots placed in the corners. There's one alter and it's also in the middle of the screen. Although this is the only level in which the player finds Freeze Flames.

Level 3
This level isn't so hard, but it's a bit tricky, there are 16 pots but only 2 Normal Spirits, there's also wind that goes left and then right all the time, the Alter is also placed in the middle.

Level 4
On level 4, there are 2 bomb layers, 1 alter and 4 normal spirits, with 12 small pots.



Level 5
On this level, there are Icicles falling from the sky, and two sides in with the player can move the Ice Slab on. There are 19 pots and two empty spaces; the Ice slab can go through these spaces, but the player cannot.

Level 6
On this level, there are 32 Small Pots and 4 big Pots, 1 Alter and 4 Sacred Spirits. There is an easy way to get all the points and beating the level easily.

Level 7
This level has a technique to beat easily; First the player should push the Ice Slab at one side, making it contact with the bouncing blogs, but the player needs to be careful, because there are empty spaces where the player can fall if not hurrying up. There is 1 Alter at the other side of the level, 8 Normal Spirits and 12 Small Pots.

Battle Mode
Battle Mode has 14 stages.

Snow Spirits
Snow Spirits are the enemies in Lockehorn. They are the main objective of Lockehorn, and have to be destroyed. There are three types of Snow Spirits, ones that normally walk, ones that at certain points become hyper and home in on the player, and ones that are completely stationary.

Freeze Flames
Freeze Flames are blue flames that come out of the ground and freeze the player if contact. They can be stopped for a while by sliding the slab of ice over it, however they are only stopped for a very short time, so the player should be fast.

Ice Slab
The Ice Slab is a slab of ice the player has to melt at the Alter. It's also used for crushing enemies and Pots.

Pots
Pots are encountered in almost every level, and can be smashed with the Slab of Ice to reveal Money.

V 1.0
Version 1.0 is the most basic version of Lockehorn. It was the version the game was released in.

V 2.0
Nitrome updated Lockehorn with Version 2.0 on January 19th 2012. This update will bring a new "Easy Mode" to the game, bug fixes, and Battle Mode.

December 9th, 2011
Nitrome previewed an image of this game on December 9th 2011, as well as saying this game would be released next week (between December 11th and 17th)

January 13th 2012
Nitrome announced a multiplayer mode for Lockehorn, to be available in the Lockehorn game. An image was also previewed.

Problems with Release

 * Strangely, a page for a Nitrome game titled "Lockehorn" was discovered on Nitrome's site a day before its release, during a server problem on Nitrome.com.
 * When the game was released, it could only be seen from the front page that it had been released. Clicking the animated image took the player to the Lockehorn page, but since it didn't exist, it lead the player back to the from page of Nitrome.com, where the animated image was.

Trivia

 * The music is influenced by Aztec culture.
 * Lockehorn makes known of its version, version is 1.1, as seen in the title located below the letter N. This is odd as the name of the version is not usually shown in Nitrome games, only games which were updated.
 * The ice slab can only crush a maximum of five enemies at the one time.
 * The font used in the credits is the same font used in Onekey, this can be noticed by looking letters N of the font. This is unusual, as Nitrome usually uses new fonts when making a new game.