izigame.me

I'm not gonna pretend like Kong survivor instinct is a perfect game, far from it. Janky animations, sluggish combat and platforming combined with a very short runtime make this game not worth it at full price. But does that mean you shouldn't play it? No, I don't think it does actually, i'd say it's worth it at a steep discount so around 15 bucks or less. I picked up the game on sale in a bundle with the cub, which i already owned, so it 'only' cost me 18 bucks. That is still a bit much for what i got but i had a free day to fill so i figured might as well. I don't regret this though as i was sufficiently entertained for about 7 hours as i completed the game with 93% of the achievements unlocked. What i enjoyed most was just exploring, because while it is very linear and as a result not a great metroidvania, the world was still very believable. Collapsed buildings, crumbling infrastructure and lots of attention to detail in the backgrounds, the 2.5D style was used to great effect to make a believable world that shows the true power of these titans.
I'm not a big monsterverse fan myself as i played this game more for the metroidvania tag than anything, but seeing these beasts rampage through the environments was still cool to behold. Sometimes they became part of the gameplay in escape style sequences which were epic but only moderately challenging due to some clunky controls. Said controls didn't bother me as much as they would in most MV's because while i prefer an agile and responsive player character such as Ori, this game makes you play as David, an old man climbing through a crumbling city. The movement thus feels appropriately clunky as you're only a human, not some super powered mutant or chosen fantasy creature. In this way i actually even enjoyed playing in this setting for a change. I would even like to see a similar style used for a 2.5D zombie surivival crafting horror game but i digress. The movement is deliberately sluggish because the game tries, as the store page says, to go for realistic platforming and i think they succeeded here.
Combat takes a similar approach as David is clearly not a fighter yet duty calls to whip out a steel pipe and knock some goons over the head. Combat can quickly go either way but if you're outnumbered you're really disadvantaged which further added realism to the gameplay. Now i won't pretend that i loved the combat, but i didn't mind the slower deliberate pace it took. I would have liked to see some more enemy variety especially on the monster side of things but it's servicable. What did really rub me the wrong way was the delivery of the voice lines both in and out of combat. Like i said, david is clearly not a fighter but when you actually kill the enemy goons he doesn't feel particularly remorsefull. In general the delivery of the voice lines is rather flat, lacking any emotion or impact. The story in this game as a whole is really weak mostly because of this. I did not expect a masterpiece in storytelling from a kong game but at least writing and deilvery that felt servicable, which this is not.
What also didn't help is the central mechanic of summoning titans to clear rubble so you can progress. As you explore the levels you find pieces of a signal and once you collected them all you can summon them. David literally stayed around despite the clear danger this entails, there's one case early on where he summons Kong to clear a building that is already nearly toppling over towards him. When kong arrives David just stands there and only when the building finally falls towards him does he start running. I know it's only a game with suspension of disbelief and all that but this really just pulled me out of the experience. Maybe i'm making too big of a deal out of this but it just felt immersion breaking in a game that is otherwise rather immersive when exploring the environments. Climbing over rubble, opening locked doors and scavenging supplies all while avoiding the gaze of these monstrous titans before you just go standing out in the open summoning them to your exact location.
Still though seeing them in action, especially when they're destroying a building you are frantically running through or even battling one another it's really cool to see. I reckon that fans of the monsterverse especially will love this moments but do note they're used sparringly. You could see this as a downside but i think it makes the encounters that you do have more memorable. The escape sequences are also this game's version of bossfights and work as a good way to integrate the titans with gameplay of a mere human. David's a rather lucky man as anyone else would probably die rather quickly but conveniently collapsing walls or floors are there to save the day! I don't want to mock these segments too much though as they are genuinly entertaining and one of the game's highlights. I already mentioned the level design in some capacity before but i just wanna reiterate that the levels despite their linear flow have a good flow to them and you even backtrack some times with newfound tools like a hammer or grappling hook to explore new areas.
In this way the game is indeed a bit like a metroidvania but it's rather light on these elements. If you're looking for a great MV look elsewhere but if you like exploring 2.5D environments i'd say it's still worth a go. The visuals are crisp and the game ran moderately well on my good ol' GTX1070. I had some fps drops left and right especially in the more mazelike/condensed areas but as a whole i think performance was servicable. I had no bugs or crashes either so that's always a plus and not a given these days unfortunately. Lastly there's the music which was fitting and at times good even. Not amazing or memorable but the main theme for example did have some soul to it which the rest of the game has in some parts too. It's clearly an IP game and thus not bursting with passion but as far as these sorta games go it's pretty well executed. Like i mentioned at the start of my review, pick this game at a steep discount for 15 bucks or less because it's vastly overpriced for what it is, but if you got a day to fill and money to spare this game can sufficiently entertain.