If you’re going to start
a war, you’d better be prepared to take cover. You should also be ready to take
aim and take out the enemy. When you’re done doing that you might as well take
over the place. That’s the premise of kill.switch – take cover, take aim, take
over. And that’s just how the game plays, in a clever, exciting way.
kill.switch is like Metal
Gear Solid on steroids; you’ll spend more time killing than sneaking. The
controls feel a little odd at first, but give this game a few minutes of your
time and it will give you more than a few hours of fun. Being a game of
dodge-and-shoot, kill.switch was designed with a combination of MGS and
first-person shooter controls. The analog sticks control your camera and
character movements. R1 has been designated your fire weapon button. One of
the differences comes in how your character reacts to his enemies. He generally
stays pointed in their direction, regardless of where you’re running.
Every level has either
walls or objects to hide behind or lean up against. That’s what you’ll spend
the majority of the game doing; finding the best spot to hide from enemy
gunfire. But the best spot to take cover is not always the best spot to attack
from. Your enemies may be out of site, or standing at such an angle that your
shield is also a weight that must be lifted from your shoulders. You try
desperately to get closer. Enemies surround you, firing from all directions!
Soon enough you’re lying on the ground, wondering what went wrong. Deep down
you know that you should’ve been a little less like Mace Griffin, and a lot more
like Solid Snake and stayed hidden. If you’re in a safe spot but can’t kill
your enemies, remember that you’re in a safe spot. Leaving it won’t make their
situation any worse, but you’ll become more vulnerable just for trying.
The firing mechanics are
what make this game entertaining. You’ve surely heard of kill.switch’s
blindfire feature. Blindfire allows you to hide behind a wall or an object (ex:
a small pile of tires) and fire your weapon without putting yourself in harm’s
way. You won’t have much control over the aim, only the direction that the
bullets fly in. It’s not going to make you win the war, but when enemies are
coming and the situation doesn’t look good, blindfire can save your life.
kill.switch’s offensive
cover system is pretty much the whole game. Any time you take cover behind a
crate or an old, beat-up vehicle you’re using the offensive cover system. It’s
very cool and very effective. See how many sneaky sniper shots you can pull off
without getting caught. The aim controls are very precise, so if you’ve got the
skill, you can make the kill.
When life is starting to
look a little brighter and you think you have a shot at winning this war, the
enemy becomes stronger! The AI is impressive, to say the least. It enables to
enemies to hide behind walls, peak over and fire just as you would. They don’t
always have set patterns either, preventing observant players from getting an
easy kill. If additional weapons are available you can be certain that your
enemies will use them. Gun emplacements are powerful weapons that have a nice
protective shield to block incoming bullets. Imagine trying to take out an
enemy soldier who has one of those. Throw in a few additional soldiers, all of
whom are cautiously firing and patiently waiting to take you out. These are
some of the things you’ll have to contend with in this game.
That’s okay. I can stand
that, and I really enjoy the fire-heavy gameplay. What’s bad about all this is
that this is all you get. It’s a great game, but how many times can you
experience the same thing? Repetition is always so severe in games like this,
where one style of gameplay is emphasized from start to finish. Trying to add
variety with silly mini-games or some other useless diversion would have been
awful. The development team deserves praise for sticking to their goals.
Repetition is a hard thing to overcome. kill.switch has some replay value in
it, but shooter fans, especially those who want Metal Gear Solid to be faster,
are the ones who will really appreciate this game.
Gameplay: 8
Before you enter
this war, stop by your local Bullets ‘R’ Us and pick up a few thousand of your
favorite round. Ready? Good, because this is one journey you won’t survive
without lots of firepower.
kill.switch’s gameplay is all action. There’s a sneaking element to it,
especially if you’d like to pick off a few unsuspecting enemies and increase
your chances of survival. But you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to.
You can thrust yourself into battle and still make it out alive – if you’re good
enough.
The
enemy AI is tough. They’re not the smartest enemies in the world, but they do
know what they’re doing. They’ll hide behind objects and wait for you to make a
move before attacking. Or they’ll continually attack, hoping that you’ll slip
up enter their stream of bullets.
Very
cool. If not repetitive, this game would have scored a lot higher.
Graphics: 8.5
Pretty
backgrounds, decent animation, and excellent object detail.
Sound: 8
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Dodging fire is
not as easy as it looks! "You can run but you can’t hide." The opposite is
true in this game. You can shoot from a safe place (like a wall), but if you
attempt to run and shoot, it doesn’t matter where your enemies are because they
will always outnumber you. Multiple bullets toward you, only one bullet toward
them. See the advantage they have? You’ve got to figure out their weaknesses
and take advantage of them. Hint: being sneaky when possible helps.
Concept: 8
If Metal Gear
Solid was a third-person shooter (as opposed to a tactical espionage action
game), it would probably play a lot like kill.switch. For proof on this theory
check out Konami’s Cy Girls, an action-oriented version of MGS.
Overall: 8
It’s guns gone
wild in this action/shooter from Namco. Aside from being repetitive,
kill.switch is an awesome game. At times the action gets really intense, with
multiple enemy soldiers attacking from all angles. Even more intense is when
they’re all hiding behind something and you are standing in the middle with
nothing but a box to shield the forthcoming attacks.
Metal Gear Solid fans
will dig this one, but don’t forget that kill.switch is primarily a shooter.
It’s all about the thrill of the kill, not the peak of the sneak.
