I think there are two types of people that play arcade style fighting games - those that know what they are doing and those who button smash for their dear lives. While I fall in the latter category, I still had a blast taking the new characters coming in Season 3 of Killer Instinct.
For those of you that aren't familiar, Killer Instinct is a pretty old game that has done a great job at surviving time. The original Killer Instinct game was developed by Rare for Nintendo and was later rebooted and released in 2013 as a free game, 10 years after the studio was purchased by Microsoft.
I had the opportunity to take the new characters and reworked maps for a spin. Season 3 will come initially with 4 characters, Kim Wu and Tusk the Viking (which round out the fighter lineup from the original) and Rash and the Arbiter as guest fighters from Battletoads and Halo respectively. Though I don't pride myself in being particularly skilled in arcade fighter combat, with a fair excessive amount of button smashing I was able to mostly hold my ground.
Though I never played the original, I did like the two guest characters, especially the Arbiter who has the ability to use a plasma rifle and even throw plasma grenades at his enemies. Rash was a pretty fun character to watch, and the fighting animations stay true to the themes of the characters, while incorporating nicely into the Killer Instinct line up.
The new maps were great too - graphics were sharp and the dynamic aspect of the fighting landscape kept the matches interesting. Flying flaming arrows, crashing vehicles, and other background action made for seriously immersive and engaging gameplay.
We are now starting to see the fruits of the Universal Windows App (UWA) platform as far as games are concerned, and Killer Instinct will join the growing catalog with support for both Xbox One and Windows 10. Additionally, you will be able to play cross-platform as well as access your saved games and in-game purchases across your devices. Killer Instinct: Season 3 will be available March 29th for both Windows 10 and Xbox One as a free download. Fighter packs and expansions will be available though the Xbox Store
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