Blade Kitten review

Blade Kitten is a surprise. A good surprise sometimes. A bad surprise other times. You begin enjoying yourself, but Kit Ballard, our strange cat and human hybrid bounty hunter, just has to utter “Win, Get!” Hearing Internet memes spoken aloud reminds you of how stupid they sound.

There's a story here. You land on planet Hollow Wish and immediately fall under attack from another silly-looking bounty hunter. She steals your stuff. She blows your stuff up. Naturally, you chase after her and adventure begins. More story seeps in, but it's hard to care unless you have an attachment to the comic. Ignore the story and enjoy the environment. Bright and colorful, it's a beautiful place brimming with feelings of Ancient Rome displaced into a modern land. Out of the urban, the hills roll while gigantic creatures chase you. The world is fantastic. Superb.

Then Kit speaks again. Kit is such an obnoxious character. Hollow Wish can visually lure you in all it wants, but Kit will test your tolerance. Kit feels like nothing but a sexualized fan fiction character. Unlikeable to anyone but the direct audience of the character. Our guess for the audience? Deviant art addicts. So try ignoring Kit. Combat is simple, but that's why it's fun. It involves positioning yourself around enemies and then employing proper attacks and blocking. Environmental and spatial puzzles freshen things up after clearing hundreds of enemies. Complexity isn't everything.

Blade Kitten feels quite capitalistic. Collecting money is what you do if you're not destroying robot guards. Irritatingly, the game constantly teases you with flashing coins in the corner of your screen. It is nonstop. It is impossible to simply concentrate on the game. Stop dangling the carrot, we get it. You want us to explore the world. We know it's great looking, now stop it. While aimlessly collecting money, watch for how Krome Studios made sure not to block your character with the foreground. It's a neat idea that displays a cool visual effect.

Summed up, this is about platforming and beating foes up. Blade Kitten is simple, but simple is fun when such a fantastic world surrounds you. Kit's characterization makes immersing into Blade Kitten's world difficult, but at least attempt the adventure. You may not want to kill Kit the whole time. Maybe.

Oct 8, 2010