Kivi's Underworld

Developer: Soldak Entertainment
Publisher: Soldak Entertainment
Release Date: March 11, 2008
System: PC
ESRB Rating: N/A
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Start with Diablo, then take out the cool stuff...

0:00 James Fudge forwarded me a notice about this "casual hack-and-slash game" a few months ago. I seem to remember it seeming like it was worth at least an hour.

0:01 Ethereal music plays over a simple menu screen, including a glowing blue title with a sword through it. I try to "Play" but it tells me I first have to create a New User. OK then! So, hello to Ace, who plays on the Normal difficulty where "Everything is normal." Tutorial time ... go!

0:04 My character stands with simple armor and a sword in a relatively empty medieval hall. Everything's viewed from an isometric perspective, with inky black edges in the areas I haven't seen. Click on the ground and my guy walks there with some decent animation. Reminds me a lot of Diablo already, except the walking seems a little slower-paced. I can pull levers, step on switches, and use keys to open doors. Pretty standard stuff so far.

0:06 "OK, enough locked doors already. Let's learn about something more interesting: combat." Hey, tutorial author, do you want a job writing Games for Lunch? You already have the pithiness down.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer