Kill Team Video Game review

Since I first found out about Kill Team I was quite excited and eager to play it. The trailer looked very promising  and it generally seemed like a fun little game. When it came out, about a month ago, I had to threaten my brother with grievous bodily harm in order to give me his Xbox. He has a totally pimped out PC and a PS3 so it's not like he would run out of other games to play!

The game is 800 points on Xbox Live (around 10 Euros) and it was very fast to download. After a short but sweet intro I was ready to start the campaign. You can choose between four different characters who play differently enough to each other to justify their existence. From fightiest to shootiest they are : Vanguard Veteran, Librarian, Techmarine, Sternguard Veteran (even though he looks more like a Devastator). 

The graphics look like they've been copy pasted from Dawn of War 2. The game and the controls are simple enough. It's a vertical shoot-em up with a top-down viewpoint (even though the camera changes angle some times) in the vein of Commando.

The only real problem I had with the controls was the shooting (which is kind of a big issue now that I think about it). You use the right analog stick to shoot in a certain direction (while you move your little man with the left) and that was a bit frustrating for me. It's supposed to have an auto-lock system but I don't think it works very well and even now that I've finished the game it's still hard for me to shoot with pin point accuracy. 

If you can remember this, you are too old!

Because of this it's easier to start the game with a fighty character. The Vanguard Veteran was the best for me and I was able to carve my way through the game levels with my Lightning Claw. However in certain parts of the missions you are required to shoot at certain object in order to progress and it can be extremely difficult with the VV or the Librarian (since their long ranged weapons don't pack much punch and they cannot be upgraded). I had to replay these parts over and over again and it stopped being fun at some point.

Nevertheless the game is quite easy to beat. It has only 5 levels so experienced players could master it in one day. Playing the same levels with a friend is great fun and gives it some replay value though. Since the controls are very basic anybody could join you even if they are not gamers themselves. I finished some levels with my wife and Leonidas and they thought it was a fun game even though I am not sure if they knew exactly what they were supposed to do most of the time. 

Not much point in giving out any tips since the game is easy enough. Couple of things though. On the Carnifex chase level (sounds fun eh?) keep shooting at the bombs on the left and righ twhen the 'fex is on them to slow it down (took me a while to figure it out but then again I am a bit slow). I've also found that the best upgrades are: Health + Melee Damage for the Vanguard Veteran, Special Move Charge + Melee Damage for the Libby, Ranged Damage + Special Move Charge for the Techmarine and Special Move Charge + Special Move Enhanced for the Sternguard Veteran. And even though I started with the VV because he seemed easier to play, on the later levels I switched to the Techmarine since the Meltagun is just awesome.

So if you own an Xbox and you are a 40K fan you should definitely check this game out. I mean, why the hell not? The Space Marine demo is coming out in two days for the Xbox and I can't wait to give it a try. I will keep you updated.