Kill The Bad Guy Review

Kill The Bad Guy Xbox One Review Screenshot 1

Kill The Bad Guy is a somewhat isometric 3D puzzler, where the answer to the puzzle should always result in killing a target using the environment around you. I say somewhat, as the camera can be controlled to help you navigate the space and see objects within it.

The game starts very simply, placing you on a road. There is a ‘Bad Guy’ walking down the road. You are then shown a few controls which enable you to hijack a car and plough it straight into the bad guy with a bit of timing.
This basic principle is what will repeat throughout the game. You see where the guy is walking, you hunt around the environment for any objects that are controllable, and then you either rearrange them, combine them or use them alone to result in the killing of the bad guy. You can also pick up his tooth that flys out from him as he dies for extra points, this is a bit strange but is an extra element to focus on as the mayhem unfolds. There are also passports of the bad guys hidden in the map too, this again will result in extra points and achievements.

Kill The Bad Guy Xbox One Review Screenshot 2

There is basically one game mode which takes you down a journey of multiple killings with different puzzles to get there. As you can imagine they increase in difficulty as the game progresses and levels unlock one at a time as you progress though the campaign. Timing is everything and understanding which objects can be combined is the key to understanding what tools you have at your disposal. Before you start each mission, there is quite a bit of spiel about the characters you are set to kill, but in all honesty this information is filler at best and creates content where there isn’t any need.

The game mechanics and controls are one of its redeeming features. It is easy to navigate around the space to inspect objects and intractables which you can use to pursue your later carnage which helps you feel more at ease with the somewhat cumbersome physics in the game. These physics I am referring to are the physics of the objects as they collide together or as the bad guy gets killed. You would think for a game all about killing the bad guy, this would be the main attraction to look at. Unfortunately this is where this game falls short for me. I expected more than the guy to just explode into a few parts or fall over with hardly any blood when getting hit by a car. The bad guy in many cases falls apart as if made of twigs. I would have expected rag doll physics at least before any sort of severed limbs would be visible. Especially as rag doll physics normally come as standard in most game engines, and its especially surprising to see it in a game that is lacking in any other graphical labour intensity.

Kill The Bad Guy Xbox One Review Screenshot 3

The game itself is simple to look at which is part of its charm. But with this in mind, the visuals of this game are very sparse in elements. Imagine Mirrors Edge, but without any scenery past the point in which is necessary to interact with, or possibly even imagine The Sims with a few empty generic buildings and a few objects you have placed yourself as the entire scenery for a game. Well that’s this game. It’s strange that the creators of this game would create so much back story for each kill character, but lack in any environmental detail. Attention to detail seems to be pushed in the wrong direction, or at least it is unevenly spread.

With this said, the level construction of this game is quite varied in its approach, and the difficulty does increase. This is a game however that relies on knowing your environment, not knowing how to control it. With this in mind, it is quite easy to YouTube the levels you are stuck on to understand how to get yourself past a level. The enjoyment comes from working it out yourself. So not watching too many gameplay videos, if any at all in advance is going to help you enjoy this game.

In summary, this game does do what it asks you to do on the tin, but in a way that is very lack lustre. If you treat this game as a crude puzzler where you have to some how interact with a guy who walks around an empty town, then you won’t be let down. If you were expecting blood and guts and visually amazing glory kills, you will be. Its intention is a great idea, but its outcome is not. ‘Knock A Guy Over’ isn’t as catchy, but would be more accurate.

 

REVIEW CODE: A FREE Microsoft Xbox One code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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