Killer Instinct First Look (Xbox One)

The beloved fighting series returns this Fall.
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One of the biggest surprise announcements from Microsoft at E3 2013 was the revival of the Killer Instinct franchise. The short video clips from the Xbox briefing left more than a few people skeptical of the new fighting game, but after speaking with the developers at Double Helix Games, as well as getting extensive hands-on time with the title on the show floor, the game is shaping up nicely.

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The E3 build featured two playable characters, Jago and Sabrewulf. At first glance, it’s everything you’d expect from a next-generation Killer Instinct. All of the over-the-top combos are intact, with the familiar announcer accenting the action in his trademark style. If you’re a KI veteran, you should immediately feel at home with the new title. It plays like a combination of the original Killer Instinct and KI2/Gold, but with all the advancements you’d expect from the current era of fighting games. 

Ultra Combos, auto-doubles, linkers and Shadow attacks from KI and KI2 are included in the game. In addition, a few new things have been added. It’s now possible to use a Combo Breaker to escape any combo aside from a game-ending Ultra that can only be executed when an opponent has less than 15 percent health remaining. However, the difficulty of breaking a combo varies depending on how the combo is performed. Using simple auto-doubles to get extend combos makes it much easier for an opponent to use a Combo Breaker. If you use manual links instead of auto-doubles, the level of execution required is considerably higher but they’re also much harder to break. If the opponent attempts to break incorrectly they will not be able to attempt another Combo Breaker for three seconds. This makes breaking accurately even more important.

As you might expect, combos are the heart and soul of Killer Instinct. So much so, that if you mess up a combo your damage will suffer from it. With each additional attack in a combo, a portion of the damage dealt to the opponent is stocked. If you don’t end the combo properly you lose that stocked damage and your combo won’t be nearly as damaging as it could have been.

While Rare is not the primary developer on the title, rest assured it’s in good hands. The team at Double Helix is composed of fighting game fanatics and is being watched over by the veteran eyes of Ken Lobb, the godfather of Killer Instinct. We spoke with Lobb during E3 and he assured us that he will personally vouch for the quality of the game. In addition, beta versions of the title will be featured at upcoming fighting game tournaments, allowing the dev team to get feedback from the competitive fighting game community.

Killer Instinct will be ready to go when the Xbox One launches this November, and it will be one of the first digital only titles. At the moment, Microsoft has no plans to release a retail copy of the game, which goes right along with the company’s plans to move gaming into the age of digital distribution. Taking a page from Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate and Tekken Revolution, Killer Instinct will be available in a free-to-play trial variant. Anyone too hesitant to purchase the full title will have the option to get the free demo that comes with Jago as the only playable character, featuring all modes of play, including online. You can then buy more characters as you see fit or purchase the full version. We’ll have a more in-depth look at Killer Instinct in the very near future.


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Author
Image of Bryan Dawson
Bryan Dawson
Bryan Dawson has an extensive background in the gaming industry, having worked as a journalist for various publications for nearly 20 years and participating in a multitude of competitive fighting game events. He has authored over a dozen strategy guides for Prima Games, worked as a consultant on numerous gaming-related TV and web shows and was the Operations Manager for the fighting game division of the IGN Pro League.