King’s Blade is a simple, classic-style beat’em up inspired by popular retro brawlers. While the art style is a little questionable, it has a “why-did-it-take-so-long-for-a-feature-like-this-to-be-included-in-a-beat’em-up” unique gameplay option – friendly bot AI companions!
This fantasy world is being overrun by bad guys and evil creatures so the king challenges you, the four heroes, to stop it. It is a premise that has been used a million times before but it works well enough here. Oh yeah, while the three main heroes are the stereotypical barbarian brute, scrawny magician, and lithe babe, the fourth member is this weird crawly lobster bug thing… which gets a little weird when the action increases because he/it is easy to mistake for an enemy.
If you played any brawler like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, or Golden Ax, you’ll know what to expect here. You button mash your way through throngs of grunts while walking to the right, eventually encountering a boss. One button jumps, there are a couple basic attacks, and a super move once a meter fills. It is par for the course.
Overall, the gameplay is simple and even a bit repetitive but it is the co-op gameplay that drastically enhances the fun factor. Four local players can join the quest together but even single players can partner with some computer buddies thanks to the friendly AI bot feature. Up to three friendly bots can help solo players and it makes a huge difference in terms of fun and difficulty. In fact, after playing with these bots, I wish the TMNT, Simpsons, and X-Men arcade games included such a feature. Hekk, imagine playing Double Dragon as Bimmy while the AI controls Jimmy – that would be pretty cool right?!
The best part – the friendly AI is totally competent. They will fight just as aggressively as you. They have no problem busting open crates and using their contents. If there is a gap in the way, they will jump over it. Honestly, the friendly AI is the best and most impressive part of what otherwise would be a very mediocre brawler… well, it is a mediocre brawler but playing with bots, especially when the screen is filled with a dozen characters, is mindlessly entertaining. There are a dozen stages too, each ending right before that stage’s design starts to grow stale. Also, enemies cosmetically change from stage-to-stage which provides some much needed variety. Granted, they mostly behave the same, but still. I don’t want to spoil it here, but there are some secrets/unlockables for enthusiastic players too.
King’s Blade is appropriately priced at $10 as it offers a casual, punch-punch-punch retro experience. The gameplay isn’t special but its co-op feature is, and that is enough to put at least put this game on your wishlist if you don’t mind that gross Adult Swim art aesthetic.
SCORE: 8/10
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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