Kill Team

I finally got around to playing Kill Team last night. Yeah, I'm a bit behind the curve, since Space Marine was released a couple of weeks ago, but, hey, what are you gonna do? I had actually downloaded the game when it  became available on XBox Live, but had only watched the intro. Well, that's not true - I tried to play about 30 seconds of the game before I got frustrated and quit. Why? Because I didn't know that you fired your weapon using the second control stick. I missed the cut screen showing the pad layout and had no clue how the heck to kill Orks!

Anyway, I sat down last night and decided to play for a bit - I didn't feel like doing anything else. It took a bit to get a feel for the controls, and I had a problem with some of the aspects of the game - namely activating certain objects. At certain points in the game, you need to activate certain objects to complete sequences or to upgrade your Marine. I didn't realize that at these points I needed to be hitting the "Y" button on the controller, even though there was a big yellow circle graphic with a "Y" on it displayed on the screen. You see, my XBox play sessions for me are so few and far between, I actually forget how the usual controller schemes work - obviously this is a fault with me, and not the game...

I made it through the entire first level of the first mission (I don't know how many total there are) using the Assault Veteran. The gameplay isn't particularly strong, but it is intended as an arcade style shooter/combat game. The corridors are repetitive, the hordes of grots and Orks are repetitive, etc. That being said though, I still enjoyed myself and think the game is a good filler for when you have a spare half-hour or hour to kill and don't want to play one of those games that requires you to block out a few hours on your calendar in order to complete a mission and get to a save point (I'm looking at you Dead Rising...)

All in all, the game is a good arcade port of our favorite universe, and well worth the $10/800 points. If I want something more tactical and combined-arms oriented, I'll fire up the PC and play Dawn of War, but Kill Team is good for some light 40K action. Now I need to find a cheap copy of Space Marine and give it a try...