My cute little fishies have legs!
KUR is a retro first-person shooter from Really Ragdoll Games. It is marketed as an explosive, dark-humour throwback to shooters of the 90s. On seeing the trailer for KUR, the hope is that the hell-beasts of Doom will be combined with the immersive world of Unreal, seen through the explosive personality of a protagonist like Duke Nukem come to mind.
In reality, the player takes on the role of the protagonist; a female, potty-mouthed Australian mercenary.
It is never made clear exactly what the story is, but it certainly involves corporations hiring mercenaries to find out why monsters are attacking robot workers at factories.
The sci-fi games genre has seen many interpretations of futuristic universes
And the world of KUR often feels like a generic sci-fi world based on games from the golden-era of FPS games, the nineties and earliest noughties. Yet, in some small ways, KUR adds its own touches of style and flair.
KUR has a looseness which in some ways is attractive, with its weird enemies, such as a giant eyeball in dungarees and a fish with legs. But in other aspects, the game needs to be tighter, such as in game and level-design, as well as appearance.
This looseness often makes the world of KUR feel humorous but not self-aware. It feels as though all the time has been spent on jokes, and no time has been spent on the concrete realities of a lived-in world.
It is therefore difficult to become fully engrossed.
Visuals are clearly inspired by classic FPS games
The visual style of KUR is the dirty, indoor environments of Quake with the fluorescence of the TRON universe. Unfortunately, this mostly looks unattractive as it feels as generic as the world-building aspects of the game.
When compared with recent retro games such as Dusk, KUR does not have the same unity of vision when it comes to palette or claustrophobia of environments.
Developer Really Ragdoll could have thought a little more about how to use games of the past as inspiration to craft their own vision of a modern day retro game. Instead, their vision has led to an indistinct sci-fi vista which feels flat and derivative.
The intention for the gameplay is clearly balls-to-the-wall action
In the opening levels, this is not the case. The player is slowly introduced to the world, protagonist, enemies and weapons.
However, as the player progresses, more and more action in pleasantly tight spaces intensifies the experience.
Many different weapons are available for purchase, from the standard pistols, or “pisties” as they are known, to shotguns, assault rifles and novelty weapons such as the shrink gun.
These are all fun to use, but an issue with game design means that cash resources are so scarce that larger guns are not affordable to purchase until much later in the game.
And the problem with guns is that they have finite ammo. But what else could you possibly use to murder hostile space-fools? Why, your trusty bionic leg of course!
The player character’s leg is the source of a large chunk of their power. This is activated by the secondary fire key on the mouse by default and for good reason. This is needed a lot, when reloading weapons or when ammo is low.
The bionic leg is useful and fun to use. It feels like it has been included as a humorous way to dispatch enemies but also as the core of the humour and to represent everything about the brashness of the hero of the game.
Overall, the gameplay is fun but not built on adequately solid foundations for it to be over the top, adrenaline-fuelled mayhem that it could be. Excitement escalates to a certain capped point, then the level ends.
Some sections of the musical score are brooding Sci-fi pieces
These build as slowly as a giant space cruiser gliding through the dark ether. Such elements of the techno heavy score are enough to make Trent Reznor himself proud.
Others are high tempo adrenaline fuelled drum and bass tracks which really get you pumped to shoot shit while cackling maniacally.
Trouble is, the sound track is not dynamic and seems to kick in at specific locations rather than based on the number of enemies or the immediate action of the time.
Drum and bass adrenaline tracks will be playing long after enemies are dead. And slow brooding tracks play at times when many enemies are nearby.
Therefore, despite the quality of the musical score, it does not do the best job it could be doing. It’s a simple case of great tracks, wrong time.
Summary
Unclear vision for world-building, poor visuals and underwhelming gameplay make this one not worth the asking price. Try Dusk instead.
KUR is available for PC on Steam.
