After the very brief announcement trailer at E3, I heard many people complaining about Killer Instinct for the Xbox One. Judging a title from a few seconds of combat is pretty unfair if you ask me and they’ve released some pretty convincing gameplay footage since then. Come take a peek and see why this fighter is going to rock hard on the next-gen fighting stage.
First off, I just want to say the game looks amazing. The character textures and environments are incredibly polished and the physics for special moves, especially the fire balls, look beautiful. This should set the graphical benchmark for all fighters in the upcoming generation. I wasn’t able to find this video on YouTube, but IGN has video of a ridiculous 86-hit combo in 60fps. I highly recommend you go check it out. In the meantime, feel free to watch some off-screen footage of Jago executing some gnarly combos. Gnarly is the proper word, right?
[youtube http://youtu.be/nnunPvMyloI]Looks pretty rad, right? (Sorry about all the awesome 90’s wordage, it just seems very fitting considering the history of Killer Instinct.) What if I told you it was free? I know, it sounds too good to be true and it kind of is. The game will follow the more traditional free-to-play model. Players will have access to Jago at no charge and other individual characters and character packs will be available for a fee. There is unfortunately no word on how many characters will be included in the game or what the pricing will be, but if you’re only interested in Jago, you won’t have to pay a dime. Hopefully we at least get the option to download character demos to see which ones we’d like to purchase.
Minutes after the reveal of Killer Instinct, I had a friend message me on Facebook and tell me “not to get too excited about Killer Instinct.” He then proceeded to include a link to the Double Helix Games‘ Wikipedia page. He made sure to point out all the mediocre games this studio had published. Titles like GI Joe: Rise of Cobra and Battleship stood out immediately, but after a little more research, I found that this is still a very young studio. I’m sure they’re all very talented and passionate individuals and this is the perfect opportunity for them to identify themselves as rising video game developers. This is arguably the biggest franchise they’ve had the pleasure of working on and a partnership with the legendary RARE Games is nothing to shrug about. All I ask, is that your approach this game with an open mind and accept the fact that it might be a lot of fun. Let’s not rush to judgment this early.
I’m excited for Killer Instinct; I’m excited for Xbox One; and most importantly, I’m excited to live in the United States of America. Come share your thoughts on this release and your memories of the classic for the SNES.
Killer Instinct is scheduled to launch with the Xbox One in November, 2013.
What's Your Tag? 
I am ever impressed by your optimism buddy. I hope this game totally rocks, but I feel that my love for fighting games really only extends to Tekken and Smash Bros.
However, if I had and Xbox One and for the price of free… depending on how much Orchid costs to purchase as a fighter, I would pick it up.
I am unfortunately disapointed with everyone’s pessimism. Nobody seems to get excited for new games anymore. We are so quick to tear a game apart.
I like to be excited for new games. It makes this industry excited. If I picked apart every single release, I would never buy another game.
-Mileson
The problem folks are having with it is that it looks an awful lot like SSFIV. Even with the movement of how the characters flow. Another thing that folks are upset about is even though this is a Free to Play game, if you don’t get the “Day One” XBOX ONE, you won’t get Jago for free(which is the only to get him without paying). Each character after him you have to pay a fee to obtain (but other characters or not all of them will be available to purchase day one). This is the reason I play very little Free to Play games because of the micro transactions, which in turn makes you actually pay for the games and it’s many aspects if you wanna truly enjoy it. It’s in short a form of debt (or maybe I just think like that LOL).
Let’s face it, SSFIV is amazing. Easily one of my all-time favorite fighting games. Why would that be a complaint? Killer Instinct has always been a fighter clone. Even way back in the day.
I’m not a huge fan of the free-to-play model, but I’d be willing to see how it works with a fighting game. I usually stick with a few of my favorites anyway.
-Mileson
Look, it’s Killer Instinct. The name alone guarantees sales. folks my age (31-35) that are still into gaming are going to pick it up for nostalgic purposes and to play and kick ass it just this damn Free to Play thing.
I know, I feel the same way. I just don’t want to let that overshadow a potential great game. Hopefully they release a pack that has all the characters, so that is kind of like buying the full game lol
-Mileson
It’s a complaint because I love Killer Instinct and yes it a “Clone Fighter” (more so on MK because Midway helped publish it back in the day). But if I want to play SF I’ll play SF plain and Simple. With that being said will I play the new KI? HELL to what they call YEAH! I’m a fan (plus I get paid to play games lol)
D. Jones
Very true. It’s hard to top SF. That’s my top dog. I’m glad we are both are excited for it though. We’ll have to throw down when this beast drops.
-Mileson
They are going to release a Season Pass style thing. I don’t know if it’s a monthly fee involved but I know for certain there will be a season Pass to get all the characters very shortly after launch.
That is very good to know. I’m glad they are offering something like that. I figured they would.
-Mileson
Most definitely we will will thrown especial since Microsoft now has a decent D-Pad for the XBOX ONE. By the way I’m a HUUUUUUGE SF fan (I even have Hadouken Tatted on my forearm with the quarter circle forward movement) I play almost everyday on my PS3
That is AWESOME! That’s so dedication right there! For a while I was playing SF every day for months straight. I’m always down for some SF.
P.S. Much yes for the new D-pad!
-Mileson
It really does look like it plays similar to Street Fighter IV, and that is both good and bad seeing as how that game came out many years ago. Until I get my hands on a demo and see how responsive it is (since that’s majorly important in the fighting genre) and how balanced, I’ll just remain a sceptic since the graphics nor the gameplay are really wow’ing me right now. I’m not all that hyped up about it being FTP either, unless like you said, there are character demos where we can give them a ride for a few rounds.
Definitely appreciate your optimism as well, but so far this one is kind of a dud for me.
I’m excited for it. The graphics are very stylized, but that totally works for this game. If it comes and it plays poorly, I will be the first to admit it, but if this thing drops and rocks people’s socks, I want a firm handshake from all of you haha
-Mileson
Lol, fair enough. Who knows, maybe it will come out and turn the industry on its head. I just hope it’s not half-assed and disappointing. Who knows what’s going to be good at this point, really. All we can do is be excited for a new generation of games. Some are bound to be Van Damm delicious and some will stumble and fail.
Exactly. For now, I’m just going to be excited about what I see and hope the developers don’t let me down. It’s important to support a good idea, even if the execution isn’t the greatest.
I’m hoping this game is a straight Van Damme spin-kick to Stallone’s face.
-Mileson
See that’s why I love the free to play model. Comes out day one, play it for a bit, watch some reviews, play it a bit more and then make a decision to buy the whole game or just keep the free to play.
I’m hoping that the xbox one fightsticks are available on day of release. I’ve got a madcatz stick at the moment that I doubt will work.
When it comes out we should have a wordpress tournament. not sure how it would work with the time difference though.
I’d be so down to setup some type of tournament. If we schedule it in advance, I’m sure we can figure out a solid time to do so. That would be a ton fun!
-Mileson
I would approach this game with cautious optimism. Yes, it’s Killer Instinct, but it’s not made by the same people who made the original. It’s not an exclusive worth getting excited about, or a reason to buy the system out of blind-faith. Once it is released and reviewed by fans, then we’ll see if it can live up to its title.
And thats exactly how I’m loliking at it. It’s not necessarily a console-moving title, but it looks like a solid addition to the exclusive lineup. I could go through and pick apart every game announced at E3, but I’d rather focus on the positive potential of a game.
-Mileson
That’s a good outlook. I’m sure many are just waiting for the studio to fail, but there’s always a chance they could succeed and make a great title.
Spinal, Spinal, Spinal, aaaaand…Spinal.
That is all.
Spinal was a stud. They better keep him and Riptor or I’ll be pretty bummed.
-Mileson