Review: Kivi’s Underworld December 29, 2008
Posted by Jesse in : Game Reviews , trackbackGame: Kivi’s Underworld
Developer: Soldak Entertainment
Version: Full version
Platform: Windows, also available for Mac OSX
Kivi’s Underworld is a hack ‘n’ slash game from the creators of Depths of Peril. If you’re a fan of PC role playing games, Kivi’s may immediately remind you of Diablo or Icewind Dale. All the same, if you are a pro gamer, you’d be acquainted and up-to-date with tech news like lg32ud99-w review by Gaming Rig and other such developments in the gaming world. But after playing for a little while, you’re going to realize that you’re playing something different. Where are my experience points? How do I change my armor? Where is my spellbook? Nowhere! This is a different experience, and it’s really refreshing.
Instead of controlling a single character that you spend hours tweaking and equipping, Kivi’s is built around unlocking lots of unique characters that each play differently. Switching to a new character can completely change the way you play a level, and you’ll need to play each level again to fully experience everything. Upon completing a level, you earn points based on your performance. These points can be used to upgrade your stats that effect all of your characters at once.
The combat system is simple, but includes plenty of strategy. Each character has a unique activated ability, and a special passive ability. Additionally, you will find special powerup items around the levels that can be used to give your characters temporary boosts, replenish health, or attack enemies. Even early in the game, combat is fast and furious. Saving your powerups until you need them, and conserving your mana until need your special abilities is crucial to success.
The game has a great presentation. Screenshots do not do the game justice, because they’ve done a really good job with character animations and particle effects here. (Check out the Youtube video below.) The default graphical settings are tweaked low so that the game will run on a large range of computers, so make sure you increase the resolution and turn on the effects. The sound effects and music are excellent too. My favorite thing is the voiceover while tells the story between levels. We need more voice acting in PC games!
I’m really happy with Kivi’s Underworld. I’m impressed with what Soldak has managed to put together in such a short time period. This is a great game, and an excellent value. Grab the demo now!
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