Quick Review: KilaFlow (Demo)

Kila: Cyberspace explorer. Antivirus. Sometimes, gymnast.

I don’t usually review demos on Steam, because there would be way too much to cover (and my backlog’s already massive enough as is!), but this once, I’m going to make an exception. Why? Today’s game had a successful Kickstarter campaign that I donated to, and I know its creator, so this is my way of giving it a little bit more visibility.

KilaFlow is a creation of Mason “Chaoko” Hardison. When I backed the Kickstarter, the game’s release window was estimated to be at the end of 2024, but it has been pushed forward to early 2025, as the stretch goal reached includes the addition of two extra worlds. Greater beta testing for backers is also being rolled out.

Gotta pose for the picture every time you hit an enemy
you've already debugged. "Cheese!"

What is KilaFlow about? It’s Kila, a cat-shaped, CRT-screen-headed antivirus program. The software jumps through levels filled with orange-colored enemies, indicating that they’ve been corrupted by a virus. When bounced on or touched by Kila when it spins or runs very fast, those enemies turn blue, indicating that they’ve been "cured". And you’re playing an antivirus, so it should be your focus, right? Kila is aided by TippClip, a personal assistant who’s a few branches off in Clippy’s family tree; it will provide helpful advice, but it will react if you annoy it.

High-flying! Wheeeee!

KilaFlow features extra platforming mechanics that you’ll need to master early on if you want to do the job properly. (The page recommends you play with a controller, but all I have is the keyboard, so:) Kila moves with WASD and jumps with Space. Press the Left-click button to bounce, sending Kila downwards so it can jump back up, or press the Right-click to spin, which can be done both on the ground and in midair.

-Vaporwave intensifies-

On the ground, spinning causes Kila to shift “gears”; it starts at 0, “Bit”, and goes up to 1, “Byte”, then to 2, “Kilo”, the fastest. 0 is slow but good for precise platforming, 1 is the right balance, 2 is very fast but difficult to control. However, keeping Kila’s higher speeds is tricky, as it will go down a gear if it stops moving or slows down.

This entire set of abilities also comes with a few bonus skills. Spinning lets Kila stay in midair longer. You can Bounce while holding down the Spin button to jump even higher from a bounce. Even better, with Flowbouncing, you can Spin right after bouncing off something to reach even greater heights.

Starting in World 1, the game even toys with perspective!

Provirus? ...Well, if the antivirus gig doesn't work out,
Kilo's still got a future in personal training.

The Tutorial, World 0, teaches you the basics and tricks, and ends on a boss battle. The Demo also includes World 1, a bonus level, and a boss battle. The main goal is to get to the end, but there are many additional challenges. If you cure every enemy in the level, you get an Antivirus award; if you reach the end without getting hurt once, you get the Efficient award; if you reach the end really fast, the key you get at the end of the level will be silver or gold-colored instead! Or you can do the opposite and reach the end without curing even a single enemy, which grants the Provirus award, which also comes with its own silver and gold times, so that’s even more stuff to hunt for.

Oh, and did I mention the alternate costumes? So many alternate looks for Kila, you wouldn’t believe.

If Kila is the Sonic, that's the Shadow.

It knows how to be cute. Kila, I mean. But the robo-dog too.

Completionists will have their work cut out for them. With all the options it offers, I bet speedrunners will have a field day with this one. You can tell there’s a fair bit of inspiration from platforming classics, be it Sonic or Crash Bandicoot. The original plan was for eight worlds, but the stretch goal for two more was reached. Levels are mostly short and quick, but the game gets challenging fast even if you’re not looking for every award. Kila has 4 HP, but I haven't seen any healing items and I don't think there's much in the way of mercy invincibility, so the test of skill is real, especially if you're hunting those Efficient awards. It’s not an easy game to learn, and it’s even more difficult to master.

Keep an eye on this one. I do look forward to the final product. And in the meantime, I can say I’ve done my part to spread the word!

Quick Review: Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora

When your previous job doesn’t work out, career redirection is a-okay.

We're here to investigate! P.S. Your guard
on ground floor is a jerk.

Made by Glass Bottom Games and released on February 20th, 2015 following a successful Kickstarter campaign, Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora is a sequel to their previous game, Jones on Fire, reviewed here last year. We have a complete shift in genre, the total opposite of the endless runner the previous entry was. We follow Emma Jones again, and after the Firestorm that she rescued so many cats from, society has retrieved a semblance of normalcy. Even if it meant rebuilding over the charred remains of the previous world. Since firefighting isn’t so necessary now, Jones became a private investigator, helped by the fedora-wearing cat Francine (Franky).

We have here an odd combo of genres. At first, we could think this game is a platformer, due to how Jones plays; but it's more of a Metroidvania. We also have an aspect of an adventure game, as we interrogate suspects, pick up clues, and present those clues to relevant people. Our first investigation involves the robbery of a will at the Ossified Egg. Tied to this is the discovery of a dead body at the Slice of Pi eatery. Then there’s the mystery of Franky’s past, which she’s not interested in sharing.

Nifty platforming, but there's a lot of places where Franky
struggles to follow Jones around.

Jones wields her weapon of choice, the “Wobbly MK 2/3”, which adapts to weird ammo. None of her bullets can kill, but all come with special effects. The starter ones can just destroy stuff like boxes. Then, as we progress, we find: Bubbles that reveal hidden things; bullets that turn this gun into a grapple hook; fire bullets that destroy some items and light up areas; knockback rounds, which can push heavy items or send Jones upwards; and gumdrops that explode when lit up (don’t ask).

This thing comes in bullet form now? I'm struggling to
"grapple" with the concept.

This dungeon, even lower than the underground, is packed
with nuclear toxic vines that trap you in place.
That's good, I was feeling too safe from radiation lately.

We visit three “dungeons” with platforming puzzles to solve and discover these weapons, allowing Jones and Franky to explore more areas. The dungeons can be tricky to explore; several rooms force you to use your tools to the maximum. Our goal is still to figure out the means, motive and opportunity of each crime, which allows us to ask our Chief for search warrants to get into places we can’t enter otherwise (or can, if we figure out an alternate path), or arrest warrants once we’ve figured out the culprits.

It's also a good idea to read the clues you've found, as
they update as you find information.

Featuring box-shaped people and both cats and rodents that talk a lot (and love to snark), the tone of the game is somewhere between classic noir and referential, parodic self-awareness. Lots of comedic moments. Either way, expect unexpected twists. I’ll fully admit that I wasn’t feeling much at first, but the plot eventually won me over. There’s a decent amount of challenge here, and in true Metroidvania fashion, we need to revisit past areas to find more secrets and get the best ending; but also, the multiple endings all have achievements attached to them, encouraging one to replay the game to get the others.

The camera angles I discuss in the next paragraph. Goes from
a 2D moving one axis, to 2D moving another axis. The idea,
while fine, leads to risks of getting stuck as the camera
won't work anymore if you activate some specific stuff
while in that view.

That big-ass castle in the Dump? I tried everything. You
can't go in it. Come on, you put something that large in a
significant area of the game, and there's no way to enter?
We also never find the perfect gift for our girlfriend working
at Slice of Pi, nor can we ever discover the Chief's
true name. Pieces are missing!!

I don’t have a lot of critiques to make, really; due to its odd 2D side-scrolling system applied to a 3D layout, venturing the world is confusing at first, in part as it achieves such a thing by playing with camera angles. It takes some getting used to. Once or twice, I activated something mid-camera swap, got stuck, and had to close the game from Steam and resume from a save point (which are bathrooms). Not the only glitch, but others were just minor stuff. You can manually reload the gun on a screen that opens when you press R, which also allows you to switch between ammo – but in that case, you also need to reload the gun yourself, which gets tedious at the end when you swap regularly between the various types of ammo to solve puzzles. You can also hold down R to reload instantly, but there’s still no quick way to swap between ammo types. There’s a bit of leniency in difficulty as there are ways to get advice as to where to go next, when stuck. To top it off, there are plot threads still unsolvable due to hopes of these elements being added later, which hasn’t been done.

Overall, a decent idea and combo of genres, I had a good time, but it’s very much unpolished and could have spent a bit more time being tested and improved. Still, it’s fine, so if you’re looking for something unusual, it might be up your alley.

Hot Tin Roof: The Cat That Wore A Fedora is available on Steam for 14.99$ USD.

Quick Review: Golf Gang

Sometimes all you need to wind down and relax is a bit of mini-golf- wait, that’s not relaxing.

Starting off easy.

Developed by Lazy Monday Games, published by Curve Games and released on May 19th, 2022, Golf Gang is mini-putt with a twist, just how I like it. Classic of this sport, you’re given a series of 18 greens in which to send your golf ball, but the tricky part is to actually get there. And there isn’t just one course... there’s eight. That means... *pulls out calculator*... A lot! All the way from a classic golf course to an alpine resort, passing by the beach, a science station, and a Halloween world... the classics. There’s two courses per difficulty level, though you purchase seven of them using the in-game currency.

Tossing your ball while it's already in flight? Yep.

The difference? You can shoot your ball again while it’s in motion. To counterbalance this new freedom, you have a gauge that refills between strokes – and the stronger your previous stroke was, the longer it takes to recharge. The courses are designed with this in mind; some elements automatically refill your gauge, like red balloons in midair that must often be hit one after the other to cross large chasms. To further ease the new gameplay, the ball doesn't need to get in the hole; it only needs to get very close to it. This change makes sense, since we often need to aim at the flagpole while the ball is flying and moving.

No longer enough to be shot at the flagpole,
now it has to take a deltaplane too?

In single player, there are three game modes. There’s Classic Golf, where all that matters is how many strokes you need to get to the hole on each level. Then there’s Time Mode, where all that matters is the time you took (with Bronze, Silver and even Gold medals to boot). Finally, the actual Golf Gang calculates both your strokes and your time into a letter grade for each hole, from S to F, cumulating your grades across 18 holes and giving you the average at the end. In all three modes, a better performance means more gold balloons (the in-game currency), which can then be spent on color trails for your ball, new eyes painted on it, a hat and/or an accessory, or a full-on new ball design.

Some of these courses really overdo it with
hazards. I especially hated the moving jump pads
in the Science Station course.

Multiplayer lets you choose either of the three modes, whether you want all 18 holes, or just one set of 9 in any unlocked course; and you can also choose to add up to four unlockable Modifiers, turning the game into a party! And really, that’s what the game feels the most like: An absolute blast when multiple players fight each other across the courses, racing for the flagpole/competing on strokes, with Modifiers to spice it up. And the greens are designed with tons of obstacles, to make it even more challenging in multiplayer. In fact, I’d argue that there are too many obstacles on every course. It becomes too much, especially on higher difficulties. It’s nuts. And makes the game a lot less enjoyable as a solo player, since we’re then left to face all of these on our own. What’s more, it feels as though the ball's maximum speed is much slower than in other mini-golf games

The red balloons return on every course, but each
one has its own gimmick. The winter courses
have ice, Autumn Breeze has strong winds,
Haunted Hollow has "ghost" balloons that move,
Sky Temple has portals...

Oh, and can I mention the controls? Everything is done with the mouse, absolutely everything. You throw the ball by holding down the Left-Click and pulling back to determine the speed. The mouse is also how you control the camera, and you can only send the ball forward in the direction the camera is pointing! I hope you’re good at repositioning on the fly towards the exact direction in which you want to go! It’s especially bad in the aforementioned “balloons in midair” issue, where a single missed stroke means having to start over from the first balloon. This, combined to the obstacles, made for a game that I felt was more frustrating than rewarding, an issue I didn’t have with other golf games.

Maybe it really is better in multiplayer, where you can share in the chaos. Can’t say I see myself playing it solo all that much more, despite the completion challenges present (like getting a Gold medal on every time trial).

Golf Gang is available on Steam for 9.99$ USD.

Splinter Cell

Tell me what you know, then I'll knock you out.
Or if you know nothing, instant knock-out.

Back to the well of older games I got for free on Ubisoft Connect. That won’t replace The Crew, but it’s just as fine. We’re back to stealth games, and discussing a franchise I never talked about before. Well... Splinter Cell is a franchise, but it’s also known as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, and Tom Clancy is a brand name all its own, with the French game studio having made several games inspired by the author’s works. Spy thrillers, international intrigues, stories of counterterrorism cells and whatnot.

Don’t go in there expecting suave James Bond, your missions will be “go in, kill no one, get the info, GTFO”. Later entries in the series became more shooter than stealth, but the early games are far more stealth-based. It’s a running thread in Ubisoft’s catalog, with Beyond Good and Evil featuring stealth sections, and then there’s this series as well; add Prince of Persia’s penchant for parkour, and it feels like their past output long foreshadowed Assassin’s Creed, now one of their flagships.

The first Splinter Cell game was released on damn near every platform existing in late 2002/early 2003: Xbox, PS2, GameCube, GBA, mobile, friggin’ N-Gage... and of course a PC port, on February 18th, 2003. This game has been sitting unplayed in my backlog for something like seven years. I don’t know if that franchise will click with me, there’s only one way to find out...

Third Echelon

Classic army training course.

We play as Sam Fisher, former Navy SEAL and CIA operative, who has been selected to join Third Echelon, a new initiative from the NSA. The idea is to send a solitary operative in high-conflict areas where they can find intel and deal with threats, all in secret. Briefed by his friend, Colonel Irving Lambert, Fisher is first put through a standard soldier obstacle course so his physical aptitude can be tested. This first tutorial isn’t too difficult.

The second is a lot trickier, as this is where you’re taught various stealth and mission-critical elements. You’re shown how to sneak around, grab people from behind and interrogate them for information or carry them around, and other tricks (shooting lights and cameras, or changing your movement speed to reduce sound). If you even do one thing wrong, you’ll start over from the latest checkpoint, of which there’s a lot since you’re learning the ropes. It’s very, VERY easy to do things wrong in this game. 

Because this is training, I was looking for some way to let
go of the guy without knocking him out. Not possible!
Sorry buddy, I'm just training but you'll be K.O.ed for real.
Since I failed before that for knocking him out before
getting the code to the door, I thought K.O.ing him again
would as well.

Imagine accidentally killing a colleague who was there to remind you how to get intel from someone. No, not speaking from experience... Also not speaking from experience, I basically had to remap the entire controls to get something remotely functional.

Sorry for the French text, my games on UbiConnect default
to French. Anyway, this is Lambert yelling at me for falling
in the street. Christ, I just fell when I tried jumping
between two patios!

Also, you know when I said that it’s easy to do things wrong in this game? You find out very quickly in the first mission. Weapons-wise, every enemy is as equipped as you are, putting you on equal footing, and bullets are rare. That’s why knocking opponents from behind is so important; if you go in guns blazing, you’re gonna die fast. A mission can end when you die, but sometimes Lambert will terminate it because you didn't follow his orders. Maybe you walked in the street while Lambert forbade it. Maybe you knocked out/killed someone you needed to get intel from or to open a retinal scan door. Maybe you were spotted enough times for three alarms to be heard. Maybe you just looked some guy wrong. Sometimes I wasn't even sure what caused the mission to fail!

The Crew (non-review)

I’ll be going back to Ubisoft Connect for tomorrow's review, to cover another game that’s been waiting in the backlog for a long time. But, to not clutter that review with a long aside, here’s an announcement about that backlog. And Ubisoft.

My system involves keeping track of my significant backlog of games through websites such as HowLongToBeat and, more recently, Backloggd. With the sheer number of titles waiting to be played, it’s inevitable that I would miss out on the perfect time window to try some of them. Over the past few years, some of my reviews felt more like eulogies for games left for dead when their servers were taken down (Streamline, Offensive Combat, etc.), that I’ve picked up too late. It’s jarring whenever it happens, but I might have escaped it often due to focusing on single-player experiences.

This backlog issue of mine is especially prevalent with Ubisoft, whose games I would forget about were it not for a conscious effort to remember that I have them. Not a dig at the company; but since most of my collection is physical or on Steam, I almost forget about the dozen games I’ve gotten for free over the years through the company’s events. (The only money I ever paid on Ubisoft games on Connect’s store was for the first three Rayman platformers, covered in 2022.)

One of those free games obtained in... 2016, I believe?, I did actually test for a few minutes: The then-19Gb racing/open world title The Crew (1), which did not leave a lasting impression. Again, not a dig, I booted it up out of curiosity and merely felt like seeing what it was like. It seemed to have a decent single-player campaign and an impressive map to visit. Could have been interesting to cover, but I didn’t play it long enough to form an opinion.

On December 31st, 2023, Ubisoft released a statement that they were delisting the game, and shutting down the servers three months later. This gave its players until March 31st to enjoy their open world racer as they saw fit, as it would no longer be possible afterwards. (Yeah, I’m making this announcement four months late. I’m late to a lot of things.) I do understand Ubisoft’s decision, as the multiplayer aspect of the game meant keeping the servers active, and nearly 10 years after release, it was likely wiser to turn off the machine than to keep it going only for a handful, especially after the release of The Crew 2 in 2018 and another sequel, Motorfest, in 2023.

But since this thing’s been waiting to be tested for the blog for over seven years (I’d check, but Connect doesn’t keep track of when games are added to your collection!), I felt I could at least acknowledge its existence, and now its absence. Good night street racer, and the whirring of modified cars sing thee to thy rest.

Literally only tried the first mission and saw the map, so I
knew the game world was big, but I didn't actually get to
see much of it.

And hey, at least we’ve been told about this in advance. When it comes to Ubisoft, that’s a lot better than some of their more recent statements, like gamers having to accept a future where they don’t own the games they buy... Anyway, The Crew is now out of my backlog entirely. That’s 18 less hours of gaming for me to worry about. Stay tuned tomorrow for a review of a different Ubisoft game, and that one better still work.