Indie Game Corner: Kivi’s Underworld Review (PC)

Sat, Dec 20, 2008

Last year, Soldak Entertainment released their first independent title, Depths of Peril. The action RPG combined traditional hack and slash gameplay mechanics with a surprisingly deep and addictive strategic social aspect, forcing you to not only click your way to victory, but also to negotiate with other parties, gaining favor, losing respect, and generally changing the way the game is played. Overall, it wasn’t anything that could compete for PC Game of the Year, but in terms of a low-budget indie title, it was definitely one of the better entries in the widely used genre.

So when I found out Soldak had made a second return to the hack and slash genre—this time in the form of the “casual hack and slash” title Kivi’s Underworld—I knew I had to give it a try.

The game revolves around an epic, but not quite epically written, story. Basically, an expedition accidentally opens a path for dark elves to come and destroy … well, everything. Somehow Kivi survives, and escapes to warn people of the impending doom. No one believes him, though, so off he goes to gather evidence, allies, and a solution to the dark elf infestations.

While the story itself may not win any prizes for writing and contains more than a few fantasy clichés, the way it’s presented is actually pretty cool. After each stage, you’ll get a brief bit of prose detailing what happened and what’s happening next. These are (by default) read by a narrator, although you can easily check a box to turn off narration for the end of the next chapter. I would have liked to be able to turn off narration right away, but hey, at least there’s an option on the screen the text is, and you don’t have to think of digging through the menus.

The gameplay in Kivi’s Underworld is what allows it to be coined a “casual hack and slash” title. Kivi’s controls and character customization options are more simplistic than most titles, which may sound unbelievable for a largely shallow genre. For starters, characters don’t pick up equipment or learn new spells. Every character has two abilities (outside of their default attack, which is mapped to left click along with movement): an active skill, and a passive one. The passive one is always on; for example, better damage. The active one is mapped to the right click, and ranges from power attacks to stealth.

As you progress through the game, you’ll encounter NPCs who will join up with you and become playable for the next mission. Each of these characters--twenty in all--boasts their own active and passive talents, making them different playing experiences. Twenty characters may sound awfully close to non-casual territory, but Soldak steers clear of making things too un-casual thanks to the genius addition of single, cohesive attributes. When you clear each stage and can apply your attribute points, those points are shared between everyone. So focusing on one person more than the others will never, ever gimp you, and even if you’ve never used a guy before the final level and then decide to give him a whirl, he won’t be at any sort of disadvantage. The game also keeps track of which characters have completed each stage, so if you really love the game you can clear each stage with each character and know exactly who has--or hasn't--cleared Quest X.

Now, if you’re a fan of hack and slashers, chances are your favorite aspect is exploring the maps. Each of Kivi’s stages is laid out like a maze, with traps, multiple locked doors to open, secret rooms to discover, and many keys and triggers to find. Objects are also destructible, containing gems and coins which will increase your score (the higher your end score, the higher your attribute point reward). You’ll also find plenty of power-ups during your travels, and these range from simple healing spells and area of effect ice blasts to the spell brute strength, which causes your character to double in size and gain tremendous physical power. You can carry up to three power-ups at any given time, which isn’t very much when they drop so often. Unfortunately, being able to hold only three will drastically reduce your tactical options as you're going to want to hold on to health and mana replenishing power-ups when you find them, and will end up having to ignore many of the other ones.

My biggest problem with Depths of Peril was that the graphics not only looked like something from the Diablo era, but that they lacked any charm or truly engaging art style. It seems like Soldak listened to the criticism this time around, because Kivi has a unique charm to it. The game will never, ever win any contests for best graphics; I’ll go ahead and get that out of the way. While most of the characters look different from the rest, there are a few similarly-styled ones. Overall, the aesthetic styling of the environments and characters work well together, and offer a nice viewing experience, even if you'll feel like you've just traveled a decade into the past. On the bright side, you’ll be able to play Kivi’s Underworld just fine on an older PC—say one of your parents’ at home if you’re traveling back for the holidays and don’t have a gaming laptop.

Like Depths of Peril, Kivi’s Underworld is a small-budget title sold at a budget price ($19.95), but it’s just as fun as many of the full-priced big-budget studio releases. The game doesn’t bring anything truly new to the genre like Depths did, but it makes for a fun (and oddly addictive) entry that will appeal to those looking for some hacking and slashing in short bursts, and to people with few experiences with the genre. It’s also a nice action game for the younger crowd, so if you have kids bugging you for a new game to play, Kivi’s Underworld is an inexpensive (and kid-safe) title that will keep them distracted for quite a while—like until school starts again and they stop bugging you at home all day.