Killer Instinct Has Arrived On PC, 'Part Roguelike' Solo Mode Coming Soon

Killer Instinct [official site], which originally appeared as an Xbox One launch title, has arrived on PC. It's in the Windows Store and is free-to-play but will only work if your PC is running Windows 10. Any purchases you've made on the Xbox version will carry across if you download the game on PC - those purchases are mainly characters, only one of the roster being available for free each month - and you can play against people on both platforms.

The PC launch coincides with the beginning of the game's third season, which will bring a total of eight new characters (4 now, 4 later) and a big singleplayer mode, with crafting and recruiting as well as punching.

I deliberately embedded the Xbox branded version of the trailer because it insists on referring to the game as an exclusive despite the PC launch happening alongside the release of the trailer, and the Windows 10 version being plugged in the final frames of the video. I know 'exclusive' tends to mean 'not on the other console' but it still seems odd that "NOW WITH CROSS-PLATFORM PLAY" isn't a bigger deal than a meaningless "EXCLUSIVE".

Whatever my quibbles about all of that nonsense, I'm genuinely interested in the solo mode. The two best fighting game singleplayer modes I've ever encountered were in the Soul Calibur series - entries II and III if memory and wiki research hasn't failed me entirely - and Shadow Lords, Killer Instinct's campaign, sounds like it might be along the same lines.

Shadow Lords is part ladder, part arcade mode, part story mode, and part roguelike, all rolled up into one unique experience.

· Your ultimate goal is to beat Gargos and his forces before he takes over the world. How fast that happens is completely up to how you play!
· Choose any character to “main” and assemble your team from across the entire roster of KI characters. Uneasy alliances abound!
· As characters are added to the game after launch, they’ll also come with new Shadow Lords content.
· There’s a lot of stuff to earn and craft in this mode, all of which can be obtained by playing. KI Gold will allow you to accelerate to get to some rarer stuff sooner to help in your fight against Gargos and his minions.
· The game features persistent items and elements that carry across multiple playthroughs.

I can't provide any further insight because as soon as I get to the phrase "your ultimate goal is to beat Gargos" I fall off my chair laughing. If you want to try Killer Instinct and are a Windows 10 user, here's the store page. It's free, remember.