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Nathan Rose reviews

KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child
(American release)

for PC CD-ROM

Distributed by
Third Law

When I first heard they were making a KISS game I thought, "Why the hell would you want to do that?" But as I heard more about it, I become more intrigued.

The first thing that caught my attention was of course the usage of the LithTech engine. I enjoyed all the other LithTech enhanced games, so this one felt like a sure thing. Then I heard it was actually based as a side story to Todd McFarlanes KISS Psycho Circus comic book. Image Comics does some quality stuff, so the concept and character models should look cool. Then there was the clenture, "Horde." 40 bad guys on screen at one time just sounded reminesant of DOOM, and that brought me back. Back to a time of 2D bad guys with 4 colored bodies, and all that good stuff.

Then I heard who was making it, Third Law? Who the hell are those guys? So after some discussions in the forum at the KPC website I found out they were members of the Daikatana team, and my first response was to run like hell. But after talking with the guys I decided they knew what they were doing, and that they were very compitent and could create a good gaming expirience.

So did they create a good gaming expirience? Did they accomplish what they set out to do? Is the damn game any good?

Gameplay:

With a DOOM-inspired game that allows 40 baddies on screen at one time, what would expect? The gameplay is very smooth, there are very few, if any hang ups. I rarely got stuck on rails, actually it happened once, and I got out by sidestepping. And with numerous enemies attacking you that sidestep does come in handy. The gameplay can get frantic and very hectic. Enemies like to swarm and are never alone. This creates panic, especially with a horde that comes at you from all sides. There is alot to shoot at in this game, so if you like blasting the crap out of stuff, you'll like the gameplay.

Artifical Intelligence:

Since many people thought the AI in Monolith's last 2 games was less than stellar, I thought I should put your worries to rest with this. The hordes are in fact smart. 'Headless' will sidestep and even jump over your attacks. They'll jump over obsticles, even each other just to get to you. They'll run down stairs and and anything it takes to get to you. Stump is another enemy that swarms, he's stronger that headless and shoots fireballs out of his mouth. This guy isn't all that smart, and he's fairly easy to kill. Other enemies like Strutter, hides and uses his mini-gun face to take you out. Overall I think the enemies are very intelligent and are cunning in their attempts at killing you.

Graphics:

The LithTech engine is a very capable engine, and there are some new additions Third Law has implemented that I really like. There are some killer lighting effects in this game. It really has an eerie feeling to it. And People's lips move when they talk. I just love that, I think that is a great addition. I couldn't help but notice that while I was playing it reminded me a little bit of Blood 2, but since I liked Blood 2 I liked KPC's dark and very gloomy envionments. This game is just dark and evil.

Weapons:

The weapons look very unique and are quite destructive, although they all resemble something we've already seen in some other fps. With the accpetion of everyone's big freakin guns, the weapons aren't anything new. Everyone has their own custom hand to hand weapon (sword, claws, axe, and electric knuckles), these are cool and are quite effective. Next there is the whip. This is used for more than just a weapon, you can whip hooks ans pull yourself up to higher places. This is a first for me, I've never used a whip in any fps before.

But then there's a minigun. It may look different and shoot blue beams out, but it is essentially a minigun. Then we have a shotgun. It is the weapon with all the chains hanging off it, it shoots out some cool looking projectiles, yet again, it's just a shotgun. Then we have the standard grenade launcher, it looks like a blue ball of light, but it blows up like a grenade. Then there's the cool looking and very deadly slaughtering weapons, that I won't mention. But, let me apalogize for this section. I love the weapons, I was only being honest.

Enemies:

The enemies on the other hand are very unique, and very cool looking. I think Third Law did a very good job here. Taking carnival folk and making them look so evil has worked well. The enemies seem to compliment the dark and moody atmopshere.

Sound:

Oh Will Loconto, your music kicks ass. And I like the way KISS music was dispersed throughout the game. The non-KISS music is great, very moody. The enemies sound great as well. There isn't anyway to describe it, accept, by subwoofer has never been worked so hard. Your weapons sound great, the enemies sound convincing that they truely want you dead. My only problem would have to be Pablo, I don't like it when he speaks. It's not necessarily bad, but he just sounds like a moron. Other than that, music, and sound effects kick ass.

Replayability:

I haven't run through it a second time yet, but I think it may actually be fun to get some cheat codes and rip through it on god mode with tons of ammunition. As for playing through it again after beating, it may actually seem too easy. The game gets continually harder as you go through it, so if you're that good, the beginning won't be any challenge for you. Maybe I'm wrong, but it just seems that way.

Final Verdict:

Any fps, shooter, Lith, or just plain video game fan, should give this game a go. At least download the demo, if you like that, then go out and buy the full version.

But if I was forced to give this game a grade, if I had a gun held to my head and was forced to give it a score, I'd have to go with... based on originality, fun factor, and the bloody nature of the game, I'd have to go with a 90%, 95% if you skip the scenes with the gypsy. The game is exceptional, but I can't give a perfect score, I wouldn't want anyone to think they just created the perfect game.

Final Word: Go Get This Game Right Now.

The demo can be found at KISSpsychocircus.com

There's also a fansite at my site below. There is lots of good info and screen shots at both sites, downloading the demo is worth a shot. Just try it, you won't be sorry.

Review copyright © Nathan Rose, 2000.

E-mail Nathan Rose

Check out Nathan's homepage: Lithtech Universe.

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