|
Remember wasting your Friday nights watching the USA channel's Kung Fu Theater? Well I sure do, I also remember thinking about how cool it would be to star in or to be able to create my own Kung Fu Theater masterpiece. Well it seems that virgin developer, Just Add Monsters, also had these exact same thoughts, as we can clearly see from their debut game, Kung Fu Chaos. Now the basic concept of Kung Fu Chaos is that you are making a Kung Fu flick, a really bad and cheesy Kung Fu flick. This movie stars eight different martial arts masters, and pits there skills against the deadly Evil Ninja Clan of Darkness. Kung Fu Chaos has a single player mode, which you have to complete a series of goals to move along in the story mode; goals such as: defeat the ninjas, defeat the boss character, punch the wooden dummy, and so on. After you conquer these goals you unlock more and more of the playable game. Of course one of the most valuable things in Kung Fu Chaos that you can unlock is the extra multiplayer maps. The multiplayer mode allows you and up to three of your friends to go all Kung Fu crazy on each other. Furthermore, you can setup the multiplayer game to have teams or go every man (or woman) for themselves. Also one of the unique features in Kung Fu Chaos is the ability to be able to watch your multiplayer fights in a cinematic replay, giving the feeling of a cheesy Kung Fu movie.
Graphically Kung Fu Chaos is incredibly sharp looking. The in game models and animations are full of detail and life; and the character designs in Kung Fu Chaos are playful and lighthearted. The level designs are a bit hectic, but are truly gorgeous looking; especially when you see the amount of activity that is going on in the background and throughout the levels. Now the gameplay in Kung Fu Chaos is really simple, nothing truly complex or deep about this game. Character movement is done with the left analog stick. Attacks, with the default controls, are done with the 'X' button. Heavier attacks are done by pressing the 'X' and the 'A' buttons at the same time, or by pressing the white button. Now no Kung Fu game would be complete with combos, Kung Fu Chaos is no exception; however just like the rest of the gameplay in KFC, the combos feel quite a bit too simplistic. Of course you can jump, throw people and various objects, block, and even taunt your downed opponent to gain an advantage in combat. Now unlike like most four people free-for-all games, you have to keep up with the camera, because you are filming a Kung Fu action movie; getting left behind results in death, making the four people skirmishes more fast-paced and hectic. For rookie developer, Just Add Monsters, this is a solid attempt to make a silly, fun, fast-paced, "party" game. However, due to the over simplistic controls they fall just a bit short to make a game that can capture a group of people for more than a couple of minutes at a time. If multiplayer action is your thing, or if you are just in the mood for something just plain silly then Kung Fu Chaos is definitely up your alley. But, any game that has the song "Kung Fu Fighting", and the theme from "Enter the Dragon" can't be half bad.
|