PRE-GAME
In the underworld of Southtown, rival gangs battle each other for
control and power. Headed by Duke, the gang Mephistopheles has
cemented itself as the most powerful and ruthless gang in Southtown.
Six months ago, an assassination attempt on Duke's life sent
Southtown into chaos. Now
it's up to a band of insurgent gang members, led by the brothers
Alba and Soiree, to retake Southtown from the Duke! Who will emerge
as the true King of Fighters?
EYE-SPY
THE
HOOK: King
of Fighters has finally gone 3D! No more sprite based fighting here
folks, just down and dirty polygon butt kicking with all your
favorite KOF characters.
HOW IT LOOKS AND FEELS: In the graphics department KOF: Maximum Impact is
above average, but just barely. The arenas are modeled nicely with
detailed, animated backdrops such as falling waterfalls or cheering
crowds. However, they are all fairly uninspired and very reminiscent
of most 3D fighters out there. Worse yet, stages are not
interactive. Forget about multi tiered fighting or interactive
environments. These levels are straight on square arenas. I was
under the impression we'd left those behind years ago.
Character models and designs fair quite a bit better.
The transition from 2D sprites to 3D models is seamless. Terry
Bogard looks like the Terry we all know and love. Sadly, the
fluidity of animation present in SNK's arcade games seems to have
been left behind. Characters suffer from stiff attacks and motion
that, while not terrible, may leave some series fans a bit
disappointed.
Control wise, KOF plays like most fighters. Two punch
buttons, two kick buttons and the d-pad. I appreciate the fact that
many of the combos and special moves in the games are fairly simple
to execute. It's nice not to have to memorize thirty-button
combinations just to pull off a grab. Yet the combo and fighting
systems seem to encourage wailing on your helpless opponent while
they lay on the ground. It's fairly easy to knock someone on their
back and then open up a nice 10-hit combo when they have no chance
of countering. Maybe it's the style of fighting they intended but it
feels cheap at times.
HOW
IT SOUNDS: Remember MIDI music? The beeps and boops that conjure
up images of 16-bit games? Well I hope you like that sort of
nostalgia because King of Fighters is about as close to 'modern
MIDI' as you can get. Prepare for the horror that is generic rock
fighting music. How could I best describe it? Say you went down to
your local used CD store and just randomly chose an album from some
obscure mid-80's hair metal band. Now go home and convert that music
into synthesized instruments, then throw in a few fake violins and
drums. In addition to wasting precious money on what could possibly
be the only Bulletboys album ever purchased, you my friend just
re-created the King of Fighters soundtrack. Any tracks that exhibit
a breath of originality are quickly overpowered by guitars that
don't really sound like guitars.
EXTRAS: Not a whole lot. All the characters except for Duke
are unlocked from the beginning. You do earn a biographical profile
for each character you complete the game with. The profiles give you
a little extra back story and they allow you to view the character
models and costumes. You also unlock the characters "rigging
costume" which is essentially a set of odd and sometimes
humourous accessories that are worn by the character. Alba for
example wears a ninja mask and two swords on his back while K' has
spiked biker gear on. Nice to look at, but pretty pointless seeing
as you can't fight with the rigging costumes on.
CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE:
The opening and ending
CG's are beautifully rendered, however they are the only ones
present and they're fairly short. Sorry kids, no pretty endings like
in Dead or Alive.
BEST PLAYER: Balance is very well done in KOF, however I'm quite
partial towards Alba. He has a decent balance of speed and power.
His special moves are also extremely easy to pull off and they can
counter a large amount of attacks from the other characters.
CHEAT CODE YOU NEED: There aren't any cheat codes that I've seen yet,
however passing the game with Alba & Soiree unlocks Duke. And
frankly, as cheap a character as Duke is, he might as well be a
cheat code. If you can't pass the game with Duke then you might want
to consider pottery making as a new hobby.
CHEAT CODE YOU WANT: Unlock Back story cheat. I'm not a King of Fighters
veteran and while it's fairly standard for fighting games to have
obscure disconnected plots, I have no idea what's going on. Who the
hell are all these people?
OH
MAN! MOMENT: Being air juggled three times by Duke as he revels in
the fact that his Special Meter never depletes. Oh, did I mention
that it appears at times that Duke's special move can't be countered
and that it takes away close to half your life bar? Yeah, try not to
throw your controller to hard.
GLITCH ITCH: Nothing earth shattering. You'd see the occasional
phantom punch that doesn't seem to connect but not much beyond that.
FAN SERVICE: I think it would be safe to refer to the female
characters in this game as jiggly. I can't find a more apt word then
that. The sheer fact that fans of the series are finally able to see
their favorite characters in full 3D is fan service enough for most.
END
GAME:
I
tried to like King of Fighters: Maximum Impact but it just didn't
happen. There is nothing overtly original about this game that sets
it apart from every other 3D fighter on the market. It seems dated
and it lacks the innovations shown in modern 3D fighters.
Unlockables are scarce; the combo system is easy to use but
unsatisfying at best; the storyline is utterly confusing; the
graphics are reminiscent of second year PS2 quality. And the music!
Oh god, please don't even talk about the music.
Sound effects are your standard grunts, wheezes and screams. The
phoned-in character voices are hardly compelling but they do give
each character a slight touch of personality. Good, but nothing
worth writing home about. One of these days I'm going to visit a
recording studio while the voice actors are doing these sound
effects. Not so that I can interject my opinion into the process
mind you; I simply want to see how they do it with a straight
face.
Most disappointing of all though is that under the
hood, King of Fighters: Maximum Impact is a 2D fighting game
masquerading as a 3D fighter. Throughout my hours spent with the
game I never once felt any sense of depth. The developers include
controls for side-stepping but they seem almost like after thoughts
and side-stepping is pointless. The side-step moves aren't even
binded to controller buttons by default! Forget about smashing your
opponent through the floor into a new stage, or using the
environment to your advantage. This is down and dirty box arena
button mashing.
On the plus side there is a large amount of characters
to choose from and they all feel distinctively original. Each has
their own pros and cons and people should be able to find a
character that suits their own fighting style.
The
included "Mission Mode" is a nice touch as well but not
quite as fleshed out as it could be. Each "mission" is
really just a match with preset conditions that must be met so that
you can move on to the next level. They don't stray to far away from
the likes of "Half your life bar is missing!" or
"Perform a 15 hit combo on the enemy before time runs
out." It's an added bonus but hardly worth getting excited
over.
King of Fighters is not a bad game. It's average in
most respects. If you're a long time fan of the King of Fighters
series then it's definitely worth a try. You'll get a kick out
seeing your old favorites in full 3D. For the rest of us however
there are better fighters on the market and your money is best spent
elsewhere.
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