Kill Knight is unlike any twin-stick shooter you have ever played. While the core of this intensely intense action game is shooting constantly as enemies swarm in, making you dodge and shimmy your way to every corner of the game’s cramped arenas, you also have access to a sword, which adds to the game’s (at first) overwhelming array of mechanics.
In other words, Kill Knight is a tightly nested twin-stick shooter, but that’s precisely how it was intended to be—to separate the wheat from the chaff. This is a throwback to classic arcade sensibilities; it’s a twin-stick shooter game with a focus on chasing high scores, but it also has a lot of similarities to games like Dark Souls, Hyper Demon, and Doom Eternal. With excessive action and a skill ceiling that seems to go on forever, it is brutally demanding yet never harsh.
Thankfully, it’s also a ton of fun. Although there is a steep learning curve, I was immediately drawn in by Kill Knight’s fast-paced, gratifying gameplay and its cleverly layered mechanics, striking lo-fi brutalist design, ominous atmosphere, and menacing soundtrack.
Kill Knight gameplay is a fast-paced combination of swordplay and gunplay, counters, and enhanced screen clearing. It’s a whirling vortex of destruction. In this game, waves upon waves of opponents constantly close in, pushing you to move constantly, kiting monsters to give you just enough breathing room to clear them out, running to reposition, and lining up your most potent attacks.
The five stages of Kill Knight, or Eldritch Layers as the game rather poetically refers to them, all unfold in the same manner and host the same overwhelming horde in the same sequence because the game lacks randomized unpredictability. Depending on where you are on the death floor, they’ll spawn in different locations, and you don’t always have to finish one wave to begin the next (certain targets serve as triggers). Although it never seems repetitive, the action is ideal for a high-score challenge.
The arena itself reorganizes beneath your feet to keep you always unsteady, evoking the spirit of Australian indie classic Assault Android Cactus. You’re always on the defensive, and you have to use every fighting mechanic just to keep yourself alive through the several waves, much alone dominate them. And they sure as hell are plentiful.
There’s only so much that can be understood right away, even with the lessons. You must play more and more, many, many times over if you want to get better. By doing this, you’ll progressively acquire a sense of the destructive dance of this game and the roles that your three main weapons—the heavy, the sword, and the pistol—all have to play.
Although the handguns are your standard damage dealers, they shine when you get the hang of “overdriving” their firepower by utilizing the active reload system in the game. Although the mechanics of this are comparable to those of the Gears of War series, the advantages of various pistols for precisely timing your active reload vary. While the Exhausters have a rotating spread shot burst, the Revolters—yes, that’s what they’re called—allow you to line up and take out columns of adversaries with your rounds. In the interim, you can employ overdrive in various ways by tapping a separate button. Why not give your sword extra power for a whirling attack or a dashing slash that would make any Hyrulean hero proud?
The sword is a fascinating addition. It’s more of a utility in moment-to-moment battle; it’s not very strong, but every kill you score will replenish your heavy weapon ammo. This means that farming the weakest mobs with your sword while making sure your potent heavy weapon is online is a crucial component of Kill Knight’s rhythm. Additionally, wielding the sword gradually increases your surge meter, which grants you access to a super that clears screens.
The various mechanics are also leveraged by enemy designs, which promote particular strategies. When a wrath blast is delivered to an opponent with a demonic carapace, which is essentially a bright purple shield, it will burst (yet another mechanic; I’ll get to that in a moment). While adversaries with weak places can be stunned and subsequently eliminated, other enemies will charge up, giving you a chance to “pulse counter” them and even slow down time. It is a complex jumble of systems. Making the most of every square inch of the arena and sprinting to capitalize on the fleeting immunity period is essential for survival.
Nearly every mechanic has a push/pull component. Blood gems, for example, are dropped by enemies and have two different uses. One way to increase movement speed and kill power is to just walk over them. The alternative is to strike the right bumper to absorb them and turn them into wrath. This unleashes a destructive special attack known as a wrath blast, which is also your only supply of health orbs—which, considering how harsh Kill Knight is, may be necessary to survive.
Hence, combat is a never-ending conundrum in which you must prioritize targets, maximize your weaponry, avoid damage, and attempt to keep up with the relentless barrage.
For a business started in 2011, this is PlaySide business’s first console release, which is kind of crazy, but understandable considering that the company’s background is in mobile (and, more recently, PC gaming). Nevertheless, the legendary Australian group is putting on a (medieval, but also uncannily eldritch) show with Kill Knight, showcasing their talent and the extent to which they can execute a genuinely laser-focused vision. Because in the end, that’s what makes Kill Knight so amazing. This game has quick fame. There’s no mistaking it, from the low poly character models and obnoxious neon brutalist visual look to the whole auditory design and amazing score.
The greatest compliment I could give Kill Knight is that, despite not being a typical player, I’m completely engrossed in this game. It’s incredibly difficult for me, but I’m getting better every day. I pick up new abilities, discover new lines, and become more aware of what will be thrown at me. To what extent shall I go? It’s difficult to say, but Sever mode—Kill Knight’s ultimate showpiece—will likely be the gaming enthusiast’s pinnacle achievement. In a single uninterrupted sequence, you will face off against remixes of each of the five layers. That will only be for the most brave and skillful, and it will be intriguing to watch how far players can push themselves in such an intense task.
All of the above is a fancy way of saying that I think Kill Knight, which hits PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox on October 3rd, will be a huge hit. Don’t pass this one up. It is a ruthless murderer.
