Most people will see a game that requires little commitment and input on their part and react negatively. Darkzero ses a game that allows them to listen to an album they have been meaning to get into, while having a bit of harmless but forgettable fun. They are sure the small development team will be insulted by their comparisons, and they will say that they have put in place several systems to assure that this game is always fun, completely up to date and a step in the right direction for Hack and Slash RPG's. But for them, the most interesting steps this game takes are steps backwards.
Indie Games has published a new review of Soldak Entertainment's casual action RPG, Kivi's Underworld. Set in the same world as Depths of Peril, Kivi's Underworld allows players to adventure as one of 20 unlockable character classes against a variety of dangerous foes.
From the review:
"So I read all this and foolishly thought meh, there can't be that much to it then, can there? And I was dead right - there is not much to it. But that's the absolute beauty of the game. It's just like the Soldak site advertises Kivi - 'a casual, hack and slash game'. That's exactly what it is and it's fantastic fun. Running around hacking bad guys to the ground, firing off rather lovely power-ups, collecting everything you find and searching for secret areas is what this game does and it never tries to be anything more than it actually is."
Casual gamers will appreciate the simplicity of Kivi's Underworld, and the small but fun missions. Games32 really liked that old school feel that the game has going for it, taking me back to the days of Diablo
1, when graphics didn't mean everything and MMO's were a thing of the future. With no multiplayer support, but a ton of characters and missions, Kivi's Underworld is bound to attract the attention that it deserves, from both casual and hardcore gamers alike.
GameCyte writes:
Last year, Soldak Entertainment released their first independent title, Depths of Peril. The action RPG combined traditional hack and slash gameplay mechanics with a surprisingly deep and addictive strategic social aspect, forcing you to not only click your way to victory, but also to negotiate with other parties, gaining favor, losing respect, and generally changing the way the game is played. Overall, it wasn't anything that could compete for PC Game of the Year, but in terms of a low-budget indie title, it was definitely one of the better entries in the widely used genre.
So when I found out Soldak had made a second return to the hack and slash genre-this time in the form of the "casual hack and slash" title Kivi's Underworld-I knew I had to give it a try.
The game revolves around an epic, but not quite epically written, story. Basically, an expedition accidentally opens a path for dark elves to come and destroy … well, everything. Somehow Kivi survives, and escapes to warn people of the impending doom. No one believes him, though, so off he goes to gather evidence, allies, and a solution to the dark elf infestations.
