Read: our finest words
- Over and Over: Overlord II Impressions
- Wot I Think: Anno 1404: Dawn Of Discovery
- An Hour With… Ghostbusters
- The Quest Journal: Mysteries of Westgate Interview
- Wot I Think: Arma II
- Why Can’t I… Teleport In MMOs?
- And much more...
Revisit: a random post
A Dirty Word
Respond: to our gibberish
- Cooper : “I like the idea of this, and, yes, does remind me of battleships forever too. Which is no bad thing, as that was an excellent ...” on Space! Battles! Gratuitousness!
- Cigol : “Looking good. Maybe the red shield thing could be a pulsing gradient emanating from where it was hit - as opposed to just the whole ...” on Space! Battles! Gratuitousness!
- tapanister : “Just wanted to say that I found the red circle shield thing pretty obvious and just saying, I don't think it needs to be changed. ...” on Space! Battles! Gratuitousness!
- PC Monster : “An interesting beast. I don't like Tower defence games at all, and yet I'm sorely tempted to pick this one up. The battles look amazing ...” on Space! Battles! Gratuitousness!
- cliffski : “I had thought about a system where all of the battles had some incredibly silly original justification such as an argument about hover-car parking spaces ...” on Space! Battles! Gratuitousness!
Discuss on the forum
Play: indie, mods and webgames
Browse: the mighty RPS archive
Kivi’s Underworld Beta
Written by Jim Rossignol on October 17, 2008 at 12:13 pm.
Kivi’s Underworld, the new hack ‘n’ slash from the Depths of Peril chaps, has released an open beta. They’ve asked for any constructive or buggish feedback from playing this to be posted on their forums. Quite a lot of feedback has already turned up, so you might want to take care you’re not repeating other people! Alternatively, you might just want a taste of what is looking like a pretty entertaining indie dungeon crawler. I’ve had quite a bit of fun with it already this morning, and… I really should get back to work.
Get the beta client here, it’s 40mb.
Hello, John here. I’ve spent an hour or so playing it, so here’s some thoughts:
Stripped down until the point where it’s tearing bits of skin off, Kivi focuses completely on the action, with all RPG elements kept as immediate and accessible as possible. In fact, the only window you’ll need to open during a game is to assign skill points, and even these are kept as quick-n-easy as you could imagine.
This means everything else is in front of you as you play. Your inventory has three slots, filled with insta-spells or power-ups. And that’s about it. There are no weapon drops or armour pieces to collect. Instead it’s about the judicious application of your limited bonuses as you enter the fray. And this is all a good thing. Why? Because if you want something more involved, play Diablo II or Titan Quest. If you want something that fills a twenty minute gap (which inevitably turns into two hours and no work done) then look this way. In fact, it so embraces its arcade-like nature that you don’t gain XP but a score.
It’s sweet and fun, really. Can’t say much about the multiple player-characters at this point, as I’ve only got Kivi available. Why not have a quick beta test?
Related Stories:
- Depths of Perilier: Kivi’s Underworld Announced
- Robocute Deathspasm: Plain Sight Open Beta
- Casually Slashing: Kivi’s Underworld Demo
__________________
« Moving Pictures Of Mirror’s Edge | Geek Lust: USB Atari Controller »
Confidence interval says:
That’s what I thought, too. What do you guys do all day? I’m curious.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
danielcardigan says:
“Stripped down until the point where it’s tearing bits of skin off, Kivi focuses completely on the action, with all RPG elements kept as immediate and accessible as possible.”
Space Siege did that and got vilified. I quite liked it though.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Maximum Fish says:
@danielcardigan
I was going to say the same thing about Space Siege. I enjoyed the demo, but never bought the full game because of the criticisms of “over-simplified”, which seemed reasonable to me given that simplifying an Action RPG is like watering down water, and focusing on combat that involves holding in a mouse button until people die doesn’t seem sustainably enjoyable.
October 17th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
danielcardigan says:
If you go into Space Siege without the expectation that it’s an RPG (even RPG-lite) and just play it as a shooter then it’s plenty of mindless fun. Well, not plenty exactly cos it’s quite short and not much replay value. Worth a budget buy at under a tenner for sure.
October 17th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
subedii says:
@ Danielcardigan:
The problem is, if you want to treat it as just a shooter, Shadowgrounds: Survivor somehow manages to look better and play better. And that was developed by an indie company
Incidentally, if you haven’t tried Shadowgrounds or Shadowgrounds: Survivor, I suggest you do, they’re very good (both available on Stardock’s Impulse, and on Steam). A couple of months back they added in some extra difficulty modes for us plebs that were complaining it was too easy.
Anyway, let’s end this off topic discussion.
When it says that that’s a beta client to download, does that mean that this is a strictly multiplayer affair? Or can it be played singleplayer as well?
October 17th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Arathain says:
It’s all singleplayer. It’s a fun little thing too. Stripped down enough to scratch that Diablo itch without overstaying its welcome.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Chris R says:
No item looting? That’s the main reason I still play D2 and Titans Quest, lol.
Yes… I’m an item whore, always looking for the next bigger shiny weapon or armor.
Still… maybe I’ll give this a try.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Hmm-hmm. says:
So, Diablo II was particularly involving, then? Oh, for an action click-fest? ;o)
Guess I’ll have to pass on Kivi, then.
October 17th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Add your comment
Statistical chance of typo-free post: 0.654%
© 2007-2009 Rock Paper Shotgun Ltd
Hosted by Positive Internet
Design by James Willock
Work?
I thought you PLAYED GAMES FOR MONEY!
October 17th, 2008 at 1:09 pm