| System: Xbox 360, PS3 |  |
| Dev: THQ Digital Studios Warrington | |
| Pub: THQ | |
| Release: July 13, 2011 | |
| Players: 1-2 | |
| Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p | Violence, Blood |
If you sped through the campaign, cutting a swath of destruction through the Kroozer, you can always replay missions to search for the ten Aquila Collectables hidden in each level. However, your only reward for doing so is some concept art. Quite frankly, any gamer would have preferred a high-class weapon or special perk instead. The best treat comes after you complete your first mission, where you unlock an exclusive Power Sword for the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.
I grow tired of saying this, yet it must be mentioned here nonetheless: the lack of an online multiplayer feature is inexcusable in this day and age. With Kill Team designed as a co-op romp (after all, "Team" is in the title), requiring the physical presence of that teammate should merely be a limitation of past decades. Yet many developers still haven't realized that a game's value is increased tenfold with an online inclusion. To stem the tide, a leaderboard for every mode and every character type is present.
The art design stays true to the tabletop game, thanks to a partnership with Games Workshop, and every character model looks like it was taken straight from a miniature. The color palette also fits the series universe, but that means the greens and metallics leave many other choices out of the picture. I also noticed some frame rate drop when the screen was oversaturated with enemies, but the nice animations, both in the characters and the Kroozer itself, help keep the twin-stick controls up to snuff.
You would expect that tearing a spaceship apart would be a constant auditory experience. However, if you stand still for long enough, you'd swear the Kroozer was a ghost ship. Also, the codex describes Orks as having a preference for crude and noisy weapons, but the bland "Zap" sound effect from almost every gun seems like it was taken from the Buck Rogers universe. Of course, it's hard to top the hilarity of Ork grunting and shouting in a video game, which this one has in spades.
Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team will undoubtedly be purchased by followers of the series, and maybe some twin-stick shooter fans, but few more. Nevertheless, the gameplay keeps the controller in your hand well after you've completed the campaign, and with each Space Marine requiring a different set of tactics to emerge victorious, you can't help but want to try each one out. A little more meat would have made this game worth its ten-dollar price tag, but it's still a fun diversion and a refresher to the series for those anxiously awaiting the launch of its big brother in just a couple months.
By
Sean Engemann
CCC Contributing Writer
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