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I must admit, what drew me in about KILLBUG was the prospect of killing wasps. I despise those flying buggers. When I was a young boy, a wasp managed to fly under my duvet and sting me repeatedly. The thing flew down the stairs! So the chance to enact some revenge was delightful and I didn’t hesitate. It wasn’t long until the air was thick was stingers and bits of thorax. But then one got the jump on me and the game over screen told me I was killed by a ‘bee sting’.
I felt terrible. Bees are great. They’re central figures in the ecology of the Earth and they’re gosh-darned fuzzy and cute. Best of all, they don’t sting you just for looking at them funny. Still, if we must kill bees at least KILLBUG makes it fun to do so. It’s a lesson in simplicity. All of the game mechanics could be comfortably counted on one hand. It makes the most of its simplistic design though, even if the bare-bones nature causes otherwise small issues to rise to the surface.
A Bug’s Death
If there is one rule to playing KILLBUG, it’s this: never, ever stop moving. The fly-swatter of Damocles is forever overhead and stopping for one second is enough to make it splat you. Once all the bugs start building up, to stop is to be instantly swarmed. But let’s back up a little bit and give that some context. KILLBUG is an endless arena shooter. In other words, once you press go you’ll be plonked into a map, which before long will start continually filling up with insects until you’re overcome and slaughtered. Then you get a nice little place on a high score table, which becomes your goal for the next run.
What helps KILLBUG stand out from the pack is its absolutely smooth gameplay. It achieves that by keeping things simple. There are only two weapons, for one thing, an uzi and a knife. In my ignorance, I was going to list this as a flaw until I played a few more runs and it suddenly clicked. Rather than juggling an entire arsenal, deciding which one we need for each second, the focus is on chaining together attacks. Melee attacks recover health and ammo, so a frequent move is to spray bullets at distant enemies, slash up what remains to reload then repeat. It’s combined with some great movement mechanics, which makes it easy to navigate around the arena without really thinking about it. When you’re in the zone, it’s thrilling.
The trickle of different enemy types also teach you what you need to know. You’ve got basic ladybugs and bees to teach you the basics. Then there are the segmented centipedes, which introduce you to getting life back through melee. Slugs, and their poison goo, teach you movement mechanics. Spiders teach us why arachnophobia is still good and strong. It’s quite clever really and a good intro to the mechanics without being overwhelming. I do wish it was a little better at explaining some of our skills, though. Occasionally I’ll fly up in the air and get the chance to fire a super shot. Still no idea how to do that.
Simple Slaughter
I think KILLBUG‘s simplicity is its greatest strength. It’s a game you can sink fifteen minutes into between doing other things, just to pump yourself up. I must confess to not really caring about high scores but the gameplay is satisfying enough that I enjoyed myself. That said, in a game as simple as this, small complaints start to seem bigger. The graphics are one. It’s a very particular style, apeing an older style of shooter. I like how it makes the enemies look. They’re all crisp, bright colours that are easy to distinguish from each other at a glance. The rest of the map, though, is muddy greens and browns, which isn’t as pleasant to look at.
Gameplay-wise, there’s something of a missed opportunity here. As it stands, going for the high score is all there is. If you’re burned out on that then your only recourse is to just stop playing. Go clean out the insects in your own house, I guess. I thought perhaps of some sort of unlockable rewards, but not every game needs to be a roguelite. Still, some challenge modes or the ability to mess with enemy spawns would be nice. Perhaps an all spider run, if you’re feeling mental. Failing that, a different map might help. Something to keep you playing once you accept you’ll never crack the top one hundred.
Lastly, a point that might sound inconsequential but is actually vital: the soundtrack is rubbish. Not so much the music itself, but how it doesn’t line up with the gameplay. KILLBUG seems to be playing along to a heavy metal soundtrack that it doesn’t have. If it doesn’t sound important, try playing DOOM with the music muted. Not nearly as fun. In fact, I ended up muting KILLBUG‘s music and playing the DOOM (2016) soundtrack. Not only did my scores go up, so did my enjoyment. Music matters.
Entomophobia
Full disclosure, my high score is a measly 40,300. I’m not really one for chasing high scores usually, most of the time I’m just happy to be here. It’s a testament to KILLBUG that I write that score with a little bit of shame, because when runs are going well, it feels amazing. I want that one perfect run that helps me break 50K. Again, its down to KILLBUG just being simple, good fun. With flawless movement and great combat mechanics, it can just sit back and let you get on with it.
Then, of course, there’s the fact that insects make for good enemies. They’re weird, creepy and explode into goo when you shoot them. KILLBUG takes that premise and runs with it as far as it can go, which results in an excellent arena shooter. While the presentation might let the side down a little, KILLBUG remains fun, frantic and wonderfully exciting.
