Devil Kings – Review

Hack-and-slash action titles are fast becoming as prevalent as the masses of existing first-person shooters, and, as with the FPS genre, ‘new’ releases are starting to feel a little tired. However, despite the repetitive nature inherent in the genre, a few recent titles have managed to portray a semblance of genuine attraction. 2005 saw the critically acclaimed God of War make a sizable impact on the waning PS2, as to a lesser degree did Spartan: Total Warrior, so it’s not rinse and repeat stagnancy in the blood-drenched world of hack-and-slash then—or is it?

Devil Kings offers the chance to pick from 12 playable ‘Devil King’ Generals and lead them and their armies in a battle of ultimate conquest to secure the embattled lands beneath one banner. Each General has his/her own unique fighting style, weaponry, and special moves, and also a ‘Fury Gauge’ that builds progressively through the use of combination attacks. When full, the Fury Gauge can be unleashed to lay waste to vast sways of enemies in close proximity, or saved for best use against the level’s specific opposing General. Furthermore, treasure chests scattered handily about the landscape can be cracked upon to reveal special battle attacks, spoils of war, health boosts, improved weaponry, and magical jewellery power-ups to be worn for improved defense.

Graphically, the game opens with a stunningly beautiful rendered sequence that foretells of an immense struggle between the warring Generals, and later each Devil King receives a similarly glorious preamble before embarking on their conquests. Strangely, the game also segues periodically into 2D anime, which does jar the eye a little against the flair of the rendered sequences, but the production quality and art direction are still rich enough to serve the game well. Individual level design is full of expansive rolling environments that are lush in greenery and elemental atmosphere, and include plenty of oriental-styled details such as sporadic bamboo houses, villages, and even multi-leveled temples. However, the initial impression of scope laid out from battle to battle is damaged somewhat by having absolutely zero opportunity to interact with the environment beyond running across its various surfaces. Nothing within the levels is accessible to the player. Houses, stables, alleyways, and winding forest paths, to fortifications and defense towers, it’s all closed off and exists merely as window dressing atop of the predefined battle routes. Central character animation is certainly impressive, and the specific fight combos, special moves and Fury attacks relating to each General are always pleasant on the eye and suitably vicious on the enemy. Each playable General has a specific weapon preference and an accompanying array of uniquely devastating moves (6 of the 12 Generals are initially locked, and individual conquest completion with the default characters steadily unlocks them).

Devil Kings, as with so many games these days, opts for a mild blend of rock and electronica in its (ill-fitting) soundtrack. Considering the defined sense of oriental influence established throughout the visuals, it seems a shame that the soundtrack doesn’t contain similarly faithful compositions. The sound effects are all fairly well implemented, and the usual crashing of swords, crack of gunfire, and screams of the deceased are all present and accounted for. There’s also in-game dialogue spewing from your character, their allies, and foes, which can grow a little grating after a while seeing as the overall selection is rather limited and (on longer conquests) can soon become repetitive. Deaf gamers will be left puzzled to a degree during the rendered and anime sequences because neither has subtitles to help explain the ‘plot’ of each character. The in-game dialogue isn’t subtitled either, but for the most part the characters only taunt one another, boast of superior abilities, or shout meaningless orders and threats, etc. Whenever an important conquest-related secondary mission arises, the player always receives an on-screen directive that outlines whatever’s necessary. Girl gamers can also enjoy Devil Kings just as much as the guys, and the game includes a decent selection of female ass-kicking Generals to savor alongside the (weighted) male component.

Gameplay is predictable for the genre and offers up nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, the lack of battlefield accessibility when it comes to structures and such only serves to highlight how mundane the actual action can become. Enemy A.I. is fairly dull, and though the game throws wave after wave of charging warriors at you, once dispersed they tend to hold back in small groups, patiently awaiting their turn to be slashed into an early grave. Also, any attacking enemies on the verge of defeat soon fall to the floor in terrified surrender, but this is so poorly executed that it almost looks like a graphical glitch as they flail around on their backs like upturned beetles—especially when the timing frequently precedes the actual onset of defeat. However, by stark contrast, General battles are markedly different in terms of challenge, and it can come as quite a shock to the system to face a formidable opponent after hacking through upwards of 1000 faithful foot soldiers per level. Bosses/Generals are always equipped in a similar fashion to the player (they’re the game’s other playable or locked characters) and bring their own set of devastating battle moves to the arena. Even so, relying on blind button mashing and repeated use of special moves or a stored Fury attack soon puts pay to all but the toughest of opponents.

Ultimately, if the hack-and-slash genre were an exclusive gaming dinner party, then the invitation sent out to Devil Kings was seemingly delayed in the post. As a late arrival to the festivities of cutting down hordes of willing enemies, Devil Kings certainly appears well groomed as it passes its invite to the doorman, although its smart and functional style is somewhat overshadowed by the more elite designer attendees, such as Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, God of War, and even Spartan: Total Warrior. Swift mingling amongst the crowd soon reveals Devil Kings as having a shallow gameplay demeanor that quickly becomes tiresome and repetitive, and there are no hidden character traits to rescue it—beyond flashy attack moves, limited power-ups, and specific weaponry that are essential to successfully dealing with the game’s unrelenting blade-fodder.

Soon enough it becomes apparent that Devil Kings is, in fact, a genre impostor, a hack-and-slash gatecrasher, and that the invitation flashed at the doorman is a forgery. And why? Because Devil Kings is little more than a standard 3D fighter in the same vein as Soul Blade. The only difference here is that the actual progressive one-on-one ‘boss’ encounters relating to each of the game’s character are partitioned from the player by literally hundreds of dumb foot soldiers that provide nothing but an annoying delay to the actual challenge of each conquest. Sure, there are plenty of characters to play as—including a selection of ass-kicking ladies—but the overall experience differs marginally at best from ‘story’ to story. More than anything else, the lack of environmental interaction, believable A.I., and tangible sense of character evolution leaves Devil Kings thrown onto the driveway of rejection as inquisitive guests peer from brightly lit windows before returning their attentions to magical flourishes, gushing blood, genuine progression, and other integral hack-and-slash matters.

Review by Stevie