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The King of Fighters XIV is the latest in a series that has been about for ages. I really mean ages as well. The first King of Fighters came out in 1994 and was released on the Neo Geo – one of the few systems that I don’t own and have always wanted to. This series of games are talked about as being the pinnacle of said system, but I should be honest, here, and say that I hadn’t played a KoF title before this one.
Carefully counting, it seems that this King of Fighters – even though being named XIV (14) – is the 20th release. The series has calibre and class, it has a large cult following (mainly in Japan) and a highly esteemed publisher and developer. The game was developed by SNK – without looking them up I can remember seeing their name attached to so many beat-em-ups that I have played. Interestingly, after searching online, I realised that I must have been mistaken as they weren’t linked to most of the games I thought they were. However, they have developed all of the Metal Slug series and a few others worth noting. Like most games, the publishers on our side of the world are different to those the in Japan and America.
At this point, I would like to say that this review is going to be different to most reviews that I have written. This is due to the nature of the game and what I think the public would like to know. Then I will score it as normal.
The first thing that is worth mentioning is that this game uses 3D rendering for the characters. This is the first King of Fighters to do so and may put off some die-hard fans but, for me, it just brought the game a little more up to date. The game offers a variety of different modes: a story mode, online mode, versus mode, mission (which consists of trial, time attack and survival) mode, training and tutorial, plus a gallery where you can look through your cool rewards and options etc.
It also offers you one of the largest array of characters I have come across in a long time – 50 different ones, each different in their own ways.
Now, before I get into talking about the good and the bad parts I must note that, just because somebody doesn’t like a game or doesn’t particularly get on with a game, that doesn’t make it a bad game. It’s often the case with beat-em-ups that they are either liked or disliked but I will try and be objective.
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on this game…
When it comes to the graphics, they don’t really look very good. I mean, they resemble that of a late PS2 game and I honestly think I have fighting games on my Dreamcast that look better. Yes, the graphics are crisp but they are poor. Even though the game seems to run on a 60fps rate, constantly, it still looks out of touch with my TV. The characters don’t look shocking but the backgrounds really are poor. There doesn’t seem to be any interaction and they are very static. Despite all this, I didn’t really feel that it impacted the game much. I mean, you don’t really play beat-em-ups for their graphics. Saying that, I will still say this is a bad point to the game as you would just expect better.
Okay, you have 50 characters in this game. 50. That has to be a good point. There are so many different characters that even after hours and hours of playing this game, you still won’t have mastered half of their moves. They offer a range of different styles as well, sectioned into a number of different teams such as: Fatal Fury team, China Team and the Villains team. I fell in love with the character Zarina, from the South America team. She showed a capoeira style and looked great (not visually but… well you know what I mean). I also really liked Alice, from the Women Fighters team, as she used a cool ‘ice block and attack’ which added something different to the fights. Overall, I loved exploring all the different characters, however, I did mean that I never got to master any of the fighters. For a completionist (and this is a word) this will be an absolute pain as it will take them No Man’s Sky-like hours to master all the characters.
Another good point is the sound. Like most PS4 games now your character will, at times, speak out through your controller.
Although I am getting used to this, I still love it. Yes, all the speech is in Japanese but that is what you would expect from a Japanese beat-em-up. The voices are good and all have a slightly different sound to them, and the music in the build-ups have that rocky style you would expect from this type of game. It gets you pumped and ready to fight.
Talking about fighting – the fighting style (gameplay) is one of the areas which I can recognise is probably quite good, but wasn’t for me. As I have mentioned in previous reviews, I am not a fighting game master. However, what I disliked about this one was that I couldn’t really get away with button-bashing. Well I won a few matches, but I wasn’t performing the kind of combinations that I hoped could. This made my experience of the game to be quite stop-starty – a bit of a killer blow for a fighter, as you normally hope that they are fast and furious. However, after working through the tutorials I didn’t become better, so I decided that it was clearly because I am not that good at fighting games. What I then did, was watch a video of someone playing and it instantly made me understand that if you are a good fighter then you will have a really smooth experience of this game. If you aren’t too great – and quite honestly don’t have the time to become that great – then this may not be the game for you. It’s complicated and there are three different ways to jump as well as a number of different ways to block and perform combinations. Some people will love this… some will hate it.
I must admit that the story mode was one of the most boring modes I have ever played. I mean, the fighting was what you expected it to be and I liked having to choose the order of my three fighters, especially as one of them was rubbish, so I kept putting him last and hoping no-one took me that far. For the more technically-minded, I am sure they will choose certain orders for their trio depending on abilities etc. However, the story mode literally didn’t have any story. The fighting was cool, but there’s nothing enticing me to get involved and be fully immersed in the experience.
Now the biggest downer about this game has to be the online play. I have read about a lot of people having experiences full of lag. However, I couldn’t even have those experiences! I couldn’t get online to play as it kept telling me that there were no lobbies. I tried over the span of two days at a range of different times and then decided that enough was enough. I watched videos on the online play and it didn’t look great, but potentially it is better in Japan where the majority of the players are.
So, as my review draws to a close I would like to say this: apart from the graphics and the online play, this title is very solid. It has a lot of things that people would love, and those same things will be aspects which other people don’t like. So, if you are an experienced fighter who loves the technical side of games, then this is for you, but if you prefer to bash the buttons and make your thumbs bleed, then go and get a different fighter, as this really doesn’t allow you to do that. Saying this, this game wasn’t for me but it definitely doesn’t mean it is a bad game. I would have to say that I enjoyed this game but there clearly are a number of flaws.
The King of Fighters XIV is out now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and click on the packshot for the full-size version.
Important info:
- Publisher: Deep Silver
- Players: single player, multiplayer
- HDTV options: up to 1080p
- Sound: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1
Cast:
Yuri Sakazaki: Ai Kakuma
Kyo Kusanagi: Tomoaki Maeno
Nakoruru: Mai Nakahara
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
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| OVERALL | 7 |
I have been a video game player since 1993 and a music fan since I can remember. I studied Film and Journalism at university and ended up becoming a Primary School teacher. Video games changed my life and sent me on the right track and have stayed with me ever since.
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