Combat systems in arena brawlers, especially those pitting you against several enemies at once, tend to put gratification above technicality. Grab a baseball bat and swing for the fences, making blood spurt and enemies hit the ground hard. KIBORG presents similar grisly sights, only it’s clear from the outset that the technical side of things has seen significant effort, making every failed dodge feel like it was your own fault, and every lengthy combo not so much a result of button bashing but rather skill. It goes beyond melee thrills too, balancing its attention to ranged combat almost 50/50. This makes for a package that’s well rounded however you play it.
The concept is pleasingly uncomplicated. You play as moustachioed muscle man Morgan, out to defeat rooms full of enemies within a grimy disused tower block – with each floor ending with a boss battle before ushering you into a different themed floor with all new adversaries. Along the way you’ll get to choose which weapons to take into battle, assigned from a gradually increasing randomised pool, and can augment abilities via cybernetic implants that alter Morgan’s appearance significantly. Only one life is given, with runs lasting around 30 minutes once familiar, and it’s possible to restore health in a few different ways. After Morgan hits the dirt, you’re able to invest XP into a super-sized skill tree, unlocking more weapons, boosting defences, gaining more HP, and even upgrading the tower completely so its vendors have next level items. This, in theory, will improve chances of success on future runs.
All the while, you’re tormented by a grotesque mutant who talks with a thick Texas-eqsue accent. He fills the role of a commentator, with Morgan’s bloodshed televised – ergo making the tower an elaborate gameshow set. Outside of the occasional live stream projected onto backdrops, though, the idea of blood thirsty citizens tuning in to witness your struggle is curiously underused. There isn’t even a faux counter showing current viewing figures. Occasionally a softly spoken female AI will step in, explaining newly introduced mechanics and such. KIBORG does a good job of explaining things throughout, in fact, commencing with a training dummy and a move list refresher, before highlighting actions that you may be overlooking mid-battle. A good thing too, seeing every button on the controller is used in some way, be it locking-on, dodging, blocking/parrying, or manually aiming firearms.
Let’s not complicate things. You are, for the most part, either punching, kicking, or bludgeoning enemies to death or taking them down from afar with a variety of shotguns, rifles and meaty handguns. The depth lies within how you shape Morgan throughout his run, turning him into a melee powerhouse – with attacks potentially recharging health and energy – or a walking gun rack with the most powerful ranged weapons and ammo reserves that refill steadily. Weapons degrade over time, and firearms often have limiting magazine sizes, so you need to balance durability, manage reserves – perhaps saving them for bosses – and think about finding a new melee weapon before the existing one breaks.
Morgan deals out heavy hitting kicks and punches like his life depends on it, able to dash from one enemy to the next while throwing a few sidearm blasts into the mix. Invest in the combat side of the skill tree and you can unlock beat’em up style combos, while the ranged side allows for pistol dual-wielding. There are a lot of options to explore.
After defeating special enemy type, Morgan performs a brutal finisher while ripping out their augments for his own use. Drones are amongst the augment types, freezing or burning foes, and it’s even possible to summon various goons/mechs that’ll draw attention and fight alongside you. One run was akin to commanding a mini army, spawning several creatures at once. Curiously, a lot of upgrades are tied into Norse mythology, essentially turning Morgan into a ‘Thundergod’. You’ll doubtlessly notice a few other thinly disguised pop culture references, such as the ‘fluorescent tube light’ weapon – available in such colours as red and green.
The randomised aspect isn’t locked to just the assortment of weapons and augments, as each room is randomly selected too, making no two runs the same. Similar, but never identical. A choice between two rooms is always given, with signs to indicate what to expect, be it melee attackers or gun toters. Every floor has vendors too, varying from a bar to purchase stat-altering tonics to a weapon store. The meditation room restores a chunk of health, while the ‘corruption room’ sees Morgan dodging spikes in return for a possible health recharge. A gamble that often pays off. After investing in the skill tree more ways to restore health become available, one of which entails defeating enemies within marked areas.
KIBORG saw a prologue before release which clearly helped the developers with balancing and refinements. While the bosses are appropriately tough, with the second boss seeing a difficulty increase, it’s an experience that feels well judged overall. The controls are responsive, with the parrying system taking time to master, and everything out to harm Morgan is marked with coloured indicators. You may occasionally take damage from an off-screen enemy, but it’s rare, as the camera is usually zoomed out far enough to give a good overview. Even auto-firing feels quite satisfying, locking onto the biggest current threat. That’s to say, its mechanics and systems can be relied on to get you out of trouble.
Also neat are the little surprises doled out sporadically; things only found or seen once every dozen runs. Without giving too many away, you may see a chainsaw-wielding heavy appear via a portal mid-battle, or enter a room with a mech that can be reactivated.
Visually it’s slick, showcasing proficient use of Unreal Engine 5. It’s a dark experience for the most part, yet alluring due to the environments being well lit and ground surfaces adorned with reflections. Morgan is detailed, with augments being a mixture of machine and biomatter, and most enemies show creative flair. As mentioned, each floor has its own theme and enemy assortment, which not only helps make KIBORG visually interesting but also helps with variety, going from sewers and subways to a high-tech science lab. When entering a new floor, you’ll have to adapt to the new threats present. The final floor is appropriately daunting initially.
Absorbing, attractive, addictive – KIBORG is all of these things, while also feeling resoundingly polished. Once the tower is conquered, an arena with all new challenges unlocks – with quite a few achievements/trophies to gain here – and the difficulty level can be increased in return for new cosmetic items. The only thing holding KIBORG back is the pacing. Instead of being quickly ushered from one room to the next, there’s a 20-30 second delay caused by split paths and the need to either navigate a corridor or wait for an elevator. Presumably, the next room is being loaded (generated?) behind the scenes while this is happening, but regardless, it does slow the pace. Other flaws are relatively few. I was surprised to find that bosses aren’t randomised, but considering their attack patterns are complex, this does fulfil the need to formulate strategies. There isn’t much in the way of a story either, although that may be due to the pre-launch version missing cut-scenes.
Minor quibbles aside, KIBORG is one of those rare titles that gets better the more you play it, with the super-sized skill tree unlocking new ways to kill and more ways to stay alive. Coupled with the kinds of surprises it has in store, it knows how to keep players invested for long periods. There’s remarkable flexibility on display, with said skill tree laid out bare, giving the chance to plan an ideal upgrade path for the way you want to shape the experience. Whatever way you choose to play, going all guns blazing or splitting enemies into two with a traffic sign, it’s a bloody good time. As an evolution of the roguelike beat’em up genre, it’s an almost perfect specimen.
Sobaka Studio’s KIBORG is out 30th April on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.