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The Kore Gang
Wii
Bore Gang, Snore Gang
2/5 stars
What does a colorful 3D Platformer have in common with a gritty and crude FPS? Both “Duke Nukem Forever” and “The Kore Gang” (“KG”) were in development for a decade, switched platforms at least once, switched developers at least once, and turned out to be poor rewards for the long wait time. Going in, I didn’t actually know that “KG” started life as an Xbox (original, not 360) game, otherwise I would have avoided it entirely, knowing the overall lack of quality in the Xbox’s library. What I saw in this game that ultimately made me buy it was an original platforming/action/adventure game with an art style vaguely reminiscent of Double Fine’s enjoyable “Psychonauts.” Instead, “KG” comes up lacking in every way.
Presentation
One of the biggest pieces of false advertising in “KG” is the fact that the opening video sequence mentions the name ‘Pixonauts.’ While Pixonauts is merely the publisher of the game, their self-titling is obviously meant to evoke Double Fine’s “Psychonauts,” which was another original 3D Platformer with Action/Adventure elements released around the same time “KG” started development. Why did this company – a company that has never published or developed ANY other games – choose that name, if not to rope potential customers into the idea that “KG” was a spiritual successor to Tim Schafer’s brain child?
Superficially, “KG” does look a bit like “Psychonauts.” The polygonal graphics that make up the characters and environments have the same twisted, gothic vibe that made “Psychonauts” look like something from the mind of Tim Burton. However, there is significantly less attention to detail in the environments as well as character animation. While the graphics are technically sound, with decent textures and relatively few jaggies for a Wii game, they just don’t create a world that feels vibrant or alive.
The music is the high point of “KG’s” presentation. There are only a handful of tracks that get used repeatedly, and they don’t loop cleanly, but they are quirky and fun, providing some much-needed ambience. Surprisingly, it turns out that someone on one of the development teams wanted “KG” to be a Musical, as each of the bosses and a few other important characters spontaneously break into song during cutscenes. Unfortunately, the Musical angle, like everything else in the game, is half-baked, limited to too-few characters, and disjointed due to the non-Musical gaps between singing-related encounters. If this aspect of the game had been fully realized and implemented well, “KG” could have seen cult success by filling the same bizarre niche as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
The voiceacting in “KG” is mixed. The main characters all sound flat and boring, while the villains and a good portion of the supporting cast give convincingly good performances.
Story
The tale of “The Kore Gang” begins with the lead heroine, Pixie, illegally participating in some urban mountaineering by scaling a skyscraper. Just as she reaches the top, an earthquake sends her tumbling off the edge to her certain death… except she randomly falls into a manhole that conceals the hidden lab of Dr. Samuelson, an elderly, eccentric explorer who used to travel the globe with his two unnamed friends in the Kore Suit, a small-scale mecha with an orb-shaped body and liquid-metal hands that morph into a tool based on the pilot’s personality.
After accidentally activating the backup Kore Suit, Pixie is contacted by Dr. Samuelson via the Suit’s communication system, at which point he informs her that he is being held captive by the Krank brothers: members of a subterranean, reptilian race who are obsessed with the idea of ruling the surface world. To further this end, the Kranks have built a colossal, drill-shaped ‘Krank Tank’ and are headed to the surface armed with a weapon that transforms Zeeks – tiny, subterranean flying creatures that look like glowing, blue fetuses – into Zooks – pitch black creatures with scythes for hands and a penchant for murder – and a plan to unleash millions of the corrupted creatures onto the unsuspecting surface-dwellers. It’s up to Pixie to collect as many Zeeks as she can to protect them from the Krank brothers and ultimately to disable the Zook Cannon and put the Kranks in their place.
Along the way, Pixie joins up with the unfortunately-named Madboy and Madboy’s dog, Rex, to round-out the Kore Suit’s crew of three. The trio also finds assistance in the form of the Weebas, a group of subterranean rebels who object to the Krank brothers’ slave driving, brutality, and desire for conquest.
While the story framework in “KG” is perfectly serviceable and somewhat original, it never really becomes anything more than a framework. The subterranean world of the Kranks is never really fleshed-out in any meaningful way, Dr. Samuelson’s past is barely touched-upon, and there are no significant plot twists: Everything is straight-forward and simplistic. There are some unlockable bonus materials that can be viewed from the main menu that describe some of the enemies and characters in greater detail, but the quality of the writing in these descriptions is barely above an elementary school level.
Gameplay
What are the worst possible things to include in a 3D Platformer? A bad camera and sloppy controls. What does “KG” have? A bad camera and sloppy controls.
“KG” manages to commit every cardinal sin of 3D Platformer design. The camera is absolutely horrendous and, thanks to the mandatory usage of Wiimote + Nunchuck, difficult to control. Since there is no second analog stick on this controller setup, the camera in “KG” is controlled by holding Z and moving the Wiimote pointer around the screen. This works in non-platforming games (like “Mini-Ninjas”), but makes a real 3D Platformer a chore to play. The camera is also really finicky about where and when it can be adjusted. Double-tapping Z is supposed to center the camera behind the character, but I found that it didn’t work in most of the situations I wanted to use it. In addition to the bad camera, the characters cast very faint shadows – an important visual cue in 3D Platforming – and frequently slide off edges or fall through the floor for no reason. To top-off this turd cake and complete the trifecta of ‘Things That Ruin 3D Platformers,’ “KG” is a Collect-a-Thon, providing players with the secondary goal of collecting all the Zeeks (and one purple Zeek-ret (hurr-hurr, pun)) in each stage as they make their way from the beginning to the end of each of the games 32 stages (not all of which even contain Zeeks).
To switch between the three heroes, the player need only tap the C button, but this cycle is one-way, moving from Pixie to Madboy to Rex to Pixie, which can be annoying in situations that call for switching from Madboy to Pixie quickly (that is to say, all the time). Each character comes with unique skills: Pixie can double-jump, grab ledges, grapple onto anything orange, and hover (in specific areas) via a horrible waggle-controlled pirouette. Madboy can punch enemies (and German-speaking buttons) and throw projectiles (as long as he finds them in the stage). Rex can run incredibly fast (too fast to control!), listen to enemy conversations to get clues (through the Wiimote speaker!), open locked doors, and sniff-out scent trails. In essence, Rex is useless outside of very specific situations so switching between Madboy for offense and Pixie for mobility is very important.
The Action/Adventure aspects of the game come in the form of Kore Suit upgrades. All of the special abilities for each character aren’t available from the start, but must be acquired by picking up a monkey wrench in the first area that requires the new skill(s) to complete it. The Kore Suit is also capable of taking three hits before being destroyed, and its remaining health is indicated by big, colored lights on the front and back. Green is full, yellow is damaged, and red is critical. The Kore Suit automatically repairs itself from red to yellow over time, and collecting Zeeks restores its energy by one level per Zeek, up to an extra blue level that fades back down to green over the same amount of time it takes the Suit to repair from red to yellow.
Overall
“The Kore Gang,” had it been better executed and had the writing been better, could have been a great, original 3D Platformer or Action/Adventure. Had the gameplay alone been better, it could have at least reached mediocrity. As it is, “The Kore Gang” is just another platformer that stayed in the oven a bit too long at the wrong temperature, resulting in an experience that’s burnt around the edges and raw in the middle. Instead of a fun romp, it’s a boring chore.
Presentation: 3.5/5
Story: 2/5
Gameplay: 2/5
Overall (not an average): 2/5
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