Microsoft's Monday morning reveal of Killer Instinct felt like meeting the girlfriend that gets away and years later (almost 17 to be exact) that lucky chance of getting reunited happens. That's until the actual meeting and eventual realization that she's only a shadow of her former self. The spark one was attracted to is gone but that women is intent on reliving her glory days.
That's exactly how Killer Instinct felt after a few rounds using the Madcatz arcade stick that's supposed to coincide with its release. One of the first troublesome omens about Xbox One's Killer Instinct comes from the fact that development comes from Double Helix Games with "supervision" from Rare. It's obvious that the best employees of Rare during its heyday with Nintendo have all gone elsewhere. Then there's the added understanding of Double Helix's development history. Silent Hill Homecoming was serviceable but G.I. Joe: The Rise Cobra and Front Mission Evolved just flat out sucked. The second omen comes from some free-to-play structure which involves starting only with Jago and purchasing other characters later on. Sure, Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate and Tekken Revolution are also attempting freemium content but both installments are frequent enough that many will be familiar with many of those series characters. Outside of dedicated fanbase, who really cares about the series compared to Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? This is why it's suspect that Microsoft would make the reboot free. Maybe because Microsoft doesn't have as much faith in the series as they are leading people to believe. By the looks of things now, Killer Instinct doesn't look like the series is ready for prime time.
In the demo, only Jago and Sabrewulf were available to fight on one stage that looks set in some snowy mountain temple in some Asian country. Killer Instinct's fighting engine takes a few things from its predecessors but nothing else. Things like combo breakers and one round fights through two life bars are there but combos feel too easy to pull off along with the timing feeling completely off. Landing those extremely long combos felt skillful in past games when done correctly but the Xbox One reboot allows players to start a combo by pressing any button after landing an attack needing a clear opener. Playing as Jago, he retained signature attacks like his fireball and flying kick but loses his ninja slide. Sabrewulf seemed to lack his flip kick and cartwheel attacks in the session played. The only new feature noticeable was a buffer move characters can use once a match. Most importantly, there wasn't a guide available from Helix to show signature features such as ultra combos and finishing move like ultimate.
Killer Instinct doesn't look all that great from a visual standpoint at this moment. Textures and character models at best look bland. Double Helix mentioned that Jago's character model features eight different cloth physics and Sabrewulf has real time fur, yet, it didn't visually feel like they were being used. Outside of some slick lighting, the particle effects looked amazing. During a Jago vs. Jago fight, two fire balls connecting exploded into what looked like a million particles. Sound wise, it sounds like Killer Instinct thankfully. There's that extravagant voiceover who provides commentary on the fight and nostalgic fight music.
Though a release date hasn't been announced, hopefully time will lend to some much needed improvements.
