Kong: Survivor Instinct - A MonsterVerse game with barely any monsters
2.5D platformer game Kong: Survivor Instinct is set after the events of the movie Godzilla Vs Kong, dropping players into a crumbling city still reeling from titanic brawls.
As a father desperately searching for his daughter, you must traverse the ravaged landscape, parkouring across buildings, smashing through doors, and witnessing the sheer destructive power of the titans firsthand.
The game boasts an intriguing premise: using a device called the Monarch ORCA Σ, you collect sound bites from titans to call upon their aid.
Being set in the Monsterverse, fans can expect a bevy of familiar faces and references. Characters like the nefarious Alan Jonah and terrifying Skullcrawlers from Kong: Skull Island make appearances.
Players will even face off against the Abaddon, the giant spider titan glimpsed in Godzilla: King Of The Monsters.
When I tried the game, I found myself liking the immersive environment and visuals of the wrecked city.
The ruined buildings and roads create a believable post-apocalyptic feel and the sight of titans wreaking havoc in the background adds a chilling layer of realism to the experience.
Exploring and combat mechanics are pretty straightforward to grasp, but the gameplay gets repetitive after a while. It doesn't help that the voice acting felt flat and on-the-nose, leaving little room for emotional investment.
The narrative also often faded into the background during gameplay.
The pacing felt uneven, alternating between tense moments of fleeing from colossal titans and painstakingly slow crawls through the devastated city, that left me wondering whether Kong was having more fun than me.
While the thrilling chase sequences were a highlight, missing a jump or mistiming a step meant a frustrating restart from the beginning of the sequence.
The most disappointing aspect? The lack of titans themselves. For a game set in the MonsterVerse, encounters with these awe-inspiring creatures felt surprisingly scarce, leaving me wanting more from this monstrous world.
Overall, just like how the main character carefully navigates through the city, you too should approach this game with patience, lest you get stomped on by a very angry monkey (if you can find him).
Kong: Survivor Instinct will be released on Oct 22, available on PC via Steam, Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Look out for a discounted launch price, down from its usual $24.99.
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