KIBORG Review

Roguelikes have been growing on me over the last couple of years and what I love about them is how different they can be from one game to the next. KIBORG is a game I knew very little about until the review codes arrived, so I went in completely blind with this one. Developed and published by Sobaka Studios who have worked on and achieved success with Redeemer and 9 Monkeys of Shaolin, we see a fresh IP from a talented team. This game grew on me the more I played it and becomes incredibly moreish as you progress.

Let’s Crack Some Skulls

When you start your time wih KIBORG you’ll spawn into a hub area where you can practice the attack and movement mechanics. Here you’ll also be able spend currency in the skill tree area and observe weapons. Starting a run is as simple as running out of this zone where you’ll be able to pick a weapon and an implant for your body. As you progress through each floor you’ll be met with a wave of enemies which vary in design and also sometimes their difficulty.

Admittedly for the first few hours I was trying to style out the combat without using the lock on feature. Locking on makes combat easier and gives the Batmak Arkham game approach where you can snap from one enemy to another. You can get by with button mashing but actually you really need to be strategic into when you attack and block because you’ll need to conserve your health. Combat does feel quite satisfying especially when you nail combos and start smashing multiple people with melee weapons whilst reeling a few shots off with a firearm.

I Need Some New Implants

Implants can play an important role into the success of your runs with each giving a different buff or ability to enhance your power. You won’t have this choice until you unlock through the skill tree and you may get lucky enough to be offered more implants throughout the runs. You’ll get to select one before you start but achieving a full set of implants across the body seems to be a rarity that I never achieved in over ten hours of gameplay. It appears to be completely at random as you progress through the floors.

Visuals & Audio

Visually KIBORG is pretty enough for its genre. It isn’t going to win any awards for the how it looks trophy, but I’d put it on par with a good looking Xbox One title. For the entirety of my playtime I did not suffer any bugs, glitches or hiccups whatsoever and the game ran smoothly throughout. Character movement reminds me of the Batman/Spiderman games where you can almost snap and bounce between each enemy.

I did feel that the backdrops and design between floors does become very repeated throughout but the combat does keep you preoccupied enough to not take too much notice. It has an element of Super Smash TV to it if you’re old enough to remember that retro classic, in how it goes from room to room with power-ups inbetween. Volkov can come across a little random and tedious at times with his voice lines, but I suppose it adds to the intensity of the atmosphere. The soundtrack is is high intensity generic music to add to the fast-paced combat.

Final Thoughts

When I first started my time with KIBORG I was in two minds whether I was enjoying it or not. The first few runs are punishing whilst you gauge how the game functions and how to time and perfect your attacking and defending. The experience really blossoms when you start to unlock more within the skill tree which in turn allows you to become a little stronger each time you start a run.

Replayability is there if you want to keep repeating runs and try and max out the skill tree whilst reaching the end game. It sure is a challenging game and there is a repetitive nature to it after several hours. However, the varience in weaponry, implants, floors and enemies within them could give you enough longevity to justify its reasonable cost for a polished and finished brawler.