xXBChaceXx
|-Game
News, Reviews, and Rants-|
UUUUUUULTRAAAA COOOOMBOOOO
It’s
been nearly 20 years, and Killer Instinct has made its next-gen debut,
exclusively on Xbox One. I remember my first time playing the game; I had
rented it from Block-Buster (When they were still around) for the SNES and
played round, after round, after round against my Uncle as Jago, who is still
my favourite fighter. The lengthy combo counts, the sheer and utter hype of the
announcer when he shouts, “C-C-C-Combo Breaker!” and the excitement of pulling
of a 100+ hit ultra-combo, made me fall in love with the series all over again.
Killer Instinct on Xbox One stays true to the past, with deep, innovative
refinements to the gameplay, and graphical enhancements.
The
basic combo string in Killer Instinct is as follows: Opener, Auto Double,
Linker, Auto Double, and finally an Ender to cash in all your temporary damage.
This is only the bread and butter, and can be interchanged, as the engine
allows players enough wiggle room to mix things up. You can reset a combo by
intentionally letting the combo drop, mixing your opponent up, and locking them
of a Combo Breaker for 3-5 seconds. The execution time is lenient, as compared
to others of the fighting game genre, giving the player ample time to input the
next attack in their combo string. This allows players to skip (I personally
wouldn’t recommend) the in-game Dojo training mode, and jump right into a local
versus, or an online exhibition/ranked match.
So,
your opponent just landed an opener on you, are you forced to watch for the
next 10-20 seconds, as they complete their full combo? No! C-C-C-Combo Break
it. Killer Instinct’s classic combo breaker system makes a full-fledged return,
allowing combatants to take an active role into the % deduction on their
wavering health meters. At first, the system may seem like some sort of
glorified rock-paper-scissors mechanic, however, it’s far from it. Your button
presses much match the exact auto-double or linker combination as your
opponent. If you nail the timing, and the right press, the combo is broken, and
the temporary damage is shaved off. Timing is key factor. If you can predict
when your opponent is going to break, you can perform a C-C-C-Counter Breaker
(The announcer is so hype!) which will break the combo breaking attempt, and
lock your opponent our from breaking for several seconds. Attempting to break,
or counter break is entirely risky, however, the risk/reward is entirely
satisfying.
The
lack of offline options can be somewhat disappointing, but it should not dissuade
you from delving into this seriously polished fighter. KI’s never ending
survival mode is a great way to rack up KP, which is the in-game currency of
Killer Instinct which allows you to purchase alternate customizable gear for
the characters, new stages, costume colors, titles, emblems, CD cuts of the
original BGMs, and even the original announcer from KI (Chris, for those of you
who didn’t know his name. Mike is the 2013 announcer). Dojo mode has a 1-32
stage training sessions which teach you the basic and advanced techniques that
will help shape you into a better KI player (Highly recommend new players try
this). There is also local versus, which can be played as player versus player,
player versus computer, or computer versus computer.
Online
is where all the fun happens in Killer Instinct. This, however, is limited to
only exhibition matches, which are 1-on-1 with no spectator options of
additional players, and ranked matches, where two players compete to climb the
ladder. Netcode is a huge factor in online experience, and Killer Instinct has
the absolute best, nearly lag-free fighting game experience. Minimal lag allows
players to execute combos more accurately and efficiently, and avoids the
simple annoyances of dropped combos.
Killer
Instinct is free-to-play and free to download via the Xbox Marketplace; you get
one character for free- Jago at launch-
and the other five are available for either $5 each or $20 for all six
and the additional 2 (Spinal and Fulgore) which are scheduled to be released
sometime in January and March respectively. The $40 dollar “Ultra edition” will
snag you alternative costumes (as they are launched), the original KI classic,
extra customization options, and all eight characters. Double Helix has announced
that a Season 2 will be available depending on how well the game is received by
the community, so, fans may see other classic KI characters making a return,
such as Riptor, TJ Combo, and Cinder. At the present time, the lack of an
in-depth character roster is underwhelming, however, the current six available
characters are extremely well balanced, and stick to the archetypes of rusher,
zoner, grappler, and many in-between.
Killer
Instinct is a refreshing experience within the fighting genre, and appeals to
both the casual and hardcore fighting enthusiast. Each and every hit made
against an opponent looks and sounds like it hurts, the dynamic music adjusts
to exactly what is happening on screen, and the announcer brings so much hype
and excitement to the fray. I hope that more characters are added in the
future, I would love to see TJ Combo make his re-appearance, as well as 8-player
spectator lobbies. Double Helix delivered a high-quality fighting game
experience, meeting expectations, and surpassing them. I hope that, with time,
they make continual improvements to their game, strengthening the foundations
of what is a great fighting game.
VERDICT:
8.5/10 A great fighting game experience that only needs to
be refined and built upon.
No comments:
Post a Comment