Imagine the most generic video game setting that you can. It’s sci-fi, of course, with an abundance of chrome-plated, neon-soaked, space prisons bursting with grotesque slobbering mutants, vicious cyborgs and pistol-toting, visor-wearing punks. It’s all big swords, big guns, and even bigger biceps. Envisage all of that in your mind and you will be seeing the world of Kiborg.
Kiborg is an old-school third person action brawler, a game ripped straight out of a bygone console era. Though, unlike the early noughties games it mimics, Kiborg exists within the most populous genre of the 2020s, a roguelike. You take on the role of Morgan Lee, a bald, burly, gloriously moustachioed amnesiac who is stuck in a SMASH TV-like game show. You fight your way trough a vast prison, your gory exploits broadcast to the violence loving audience, in an attempt to reach the shuttle on the roof and your freedom.
Of course, this being a roguelite, you’ll die numerous times in the process, starting from the beginning of the game again, but this time you are slightly more powerful thanks to spending your hard-earned collectables on some permanent upgrades.
Borrowing from the classic Arkham Asylum combat style, Kiborg is a surprisingly punishing and gruelling roguelike, thanks to having far too many enemies who will gladly wipe out most of your health bar with just one hit. Matters aren’t helped by an obtuse parrying system, one with input timing that never really clicks. Sometimes you’ll counter like a master, other times you’ll get obliterated, even though you’re convinced you are tapping the right button at the correct time. In the mindless third person punch ‘em ups that Kiborg apes such inconsistencies didn’t matter, but in a roguelite, controller precision is everything, and Kiborg is far too rough around the edges in this regard.
Take dodging, which rarely sends Morgan in the direction you want him to go, resulting in a hefty health bar deduction as the usual punishment, particularly if you’re trying to escape an area attack. Gun play is dodgy too, quick firing often auto-aiming at the wrong target, resulting in a waste of the very limited ammunition you possess. Then there’s the combos, which thanks to the inconsistent input timings usually result in Morgan doing something you didn’t expect, so you just stick to the far more effective three-punch combo and spin kick to see you through.
If the difficulty wasn’t so grindy, these issues could be forgiven. But having to trudge through the cheap first-level boss and repetitive enemy types and samey environments again and again to make any progress soon gets tedious.
Yet, there is some old-school charm to be found here. The cybernetic implants you collect on every run are fun, each one radically changing Morgan’s appearance, bestowing him with a robotic head, a cyber-heart, or blades for hands. You can even summon allies to help to take off some of the pressure – even if your intimidating spiked wheel minion thingy gets stuck on the scenery all the time, the big hammer-totting goon is a lifesaver. Character builds are varied because of this, resulting in some hilariously over-the-top special attacks that resemble something straight out of the WWE.
The game’s reliance on its gunplay in later stages is frustrating, as this is by far the weakest aspect of its gameplay. Shooting rarely satisfies, resulting in a minor health bar reduction on most baddies, rather than sending them flying across across the room in a spray of gore as you would expect from the massive shotgun you are wielding. Bosses are walking difficulty-spikes and eminently frustrating, but levelling up Morgan until he can hack through an army of regular baddies in a visceral ballet of violence is undeniably thrilling.
Indeed, this is when the game is at its best, mindlessly punching your way through a room of foes. If only there was more of that, and less of the lacklustre roguelite elements, then Kiborg could have been a worthy contender for your time. Instead, this is likely only one for the curious.