E3's over and done with and it's time to clear out the fallout. I've noticed that a lot of people seem to be down on the newly announced Killer Instinct. In this blog I'd like to examine these issues and explore my thoughts on the subject.

1. WHY ISN'T RARE DOIN EET?!?!

This seems to be the primary sticking point with KI fans. Frankly I find this outcry ridiculous.

Newsflash: Rare isn't what it used to be. It hasn't been for a long time. There isn't a single goddamn person left at Rare that worked on the original Killer Instinct. Not. One. But there's 2 working at Double Helix, the new developer.

Speaking of Double Helix, a lot of fans seem to be instantly dismissing the title because of their track record. Not gonna lie, it's certainly not the greatest record. Battleship? Check. Green Lantern? You got it. G.I. Joe? Yeah, they made that one too. Even their "original" games Silent Hill: Homecoming and Front Mission: Evolved didn't exactly light the world on fire.

But what I've noticed over the years is that a lot of the lesser-known studios just need that right game to come along before they're propelled from the licensed ghetto into stardom. Ever hear of Rocksteady? The developer of the fantastic Batman Arkham franchise? Yeah? Wanna know their last game before they released Arkham? Urban Chaos: Riot Response... Before Naughty Dog became the gaming juggernaut it is today, it released this... thing. The opposite is also true. Great game studios with fantastic track records have repeatedly shitted the bed time and again.

My point is that everyone's gotta eat and start somewhere. Don't disregard an entire game you've never played because of the developer's track record. As Reggie said over and over again "PLAY THE GAME!"

2. Free to play?! They just wanna nickel'n'dime us to death!

I'll be the first to admit that I hate micro-transactions and crap paid DLC that should have been free. Yes, the base game is free and you only get one character as well as a training/practice modes, but for a specific amount you can unlock the full game and all the characters (think buying a new game up front). That amount hasn't been announced by I highly, highly doubt it will be over $60 and most likely $30 based on other free-to-play games.

On the upside what this does is open up a new and exciting model for fighting games. I'd much rather pay $5 for a new character 2 years down the line than have to buy the same damn game with 3 new characters and "Super" in it's name for $40 (I'm looking at you Capcom!!!).

My Point Is Simple

Stop bitching about the game and give it a shot. If it ends up sucking, fine, shit on it all you want. But wait for the damn game to come out first!

The main reason I personally am down on this game is that it looks like more Killer Instinct and I always thought Killer Instinct was terrible. I'm probably not alone in thinking that. Obviously, I'm doing exactly what you talk about and I'm judging it without playing etc, but I really have zero interest in trying it. It was disappointing that THAT was the big fighting game announcement that came out of the show. Nothing next gen shown by Harada, nothing from Ono, I assume Guilty Gear Xrd wasn't there etc.

Newsflash: Killer Instinct has always been pretty bad. It was always more fun to look at than actually play.

Um, I've read that 1) You can buy the full game as some type of package and there will be a Season pass. There will be multiple editions, and one of the costumes is 'Shadow Jago." You have to jump through some hoops at Wal-Mart to get him, so fuck it I'ma just do the Season Pass. It all just depends what's in the Season Pass and stuff.

I'll throw in here this video: Mad Catz pitching the game during their Twitch stream.

It looks so-o dope.. :D

@blu3v3nom07: Yes, that's what I meant. You can get the base game for free or pay a certain amount to get all the characters and stages unlocked. Also there's supposed to be a special edition but they're still trying to figure out what's going into that one.

I liked Silent Hill: Homecoming (It was my second favourite SH next to Shattered Memories, and yes i've played them all...)

I would give KI a shot if it wasnt tied to that damn Xbone. And personally I love the idea of F2P starter packs for fighting games. As long it's not like Tekken Revolution (P2W fighting games, yaay) and more like Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate.

No, I don't want to wait.

Eh, Super Street Fighter 4 had ten new characters, new modes, and was much better balanced, but that's beside the point.

You shouldn't compare Killer Instinct to Street Fighter in the first place. It's embarrassing. Killer Instinct is a joke in comparison. At least give the poor game some chance at survival.

Fuck this, go get 3rd strike

@jimmy_p: I don't think they have it on XONE.

I just don't understand why anyone thought a new Killer Instinct was a good idea.

Or why anyone thought the original was a good idea.

Blah blah Killer Instinct sucks whatever. I am stoked for this game. It could be terrible. I will wait for reviews before I decide that. In summation I agree with a lot of these points.

I'm with you man. The most shocking thing to me about the KI backlash was that there are actually legit fans of KI.

KI has always been pretty bottom tier for me. Goofy and entertaining to watch but never fun to play. And Double Helix, Rare employees or not, has a piss-poor track record so far.

Oof... Now I liked Homecoming to an extent--enough that i don't despise it with the wrath of a thousand suns like the majority--but even I couldn't brave putting in my top... five, let alone second.

Anywhoo that's all I have to contribute since I have no opinion whatsoever to do with the Killer Instinct series...

I'm excited too.

Street Fighter X Tekken was hot garbage, but I still had fun with it. At least I wont have to pay much this time around.

I loved Killer Instinct. I think Rare was the greatest game company of the 90s. I've been anxiously waiting for this day to come for years... and once it did... I was suddenly disappointed with what I saw. I think it's far too soon to really jump to conclusions about the game, but beyond the graphical upgrade, there's nothing about it that stands out to me. It looks uninspired. Some of us have waited nearly 20 years for this, and I just feel like there's little to get excited about from what we've seen so far. It looks like exactly what you would expect, without any "Wow" factor at all.

MS' other F2P games were quite expensive before they ditched them, both Flight and AoE Online were very overpriced by the standards of other F2P games. Since then, standard pricing for free to play stuff only seems to have increased so I can see a scenario where they release more than a dozen characters at more than $5 each. I guess the real question is whether a $60 day-one bundle will represent as much content as a traditional retail game (and whether a lower-tier multiplayer focused fighting game ends up being a satisfying product without a NetherRealm-level of single-player content to back it up.)

My problem with a free to play model on fighting games is that, as a player, how do I know what characters to buy? If there's not, say, a 'trial' for the available characters for purchase, how am I supposed to know who I'll enjoy playing? I can't even say that I like specific kinds of characters at all times when playing a fighting game; I may like Zangief but hate Potemkin. They're 'similar' characters but different things about them may make me like one but really not enjoy another; or a given fighting style may not be that appealing in different games to me. And while it's easy to say, right now, "then just buy them all" without knowing what the pricing structure is - and you cannot speak to how that will play out because it could balance out to just costing the price of a normal game or it could be like Marvel Heroes where if you want all the characters you're dropping over a hundred dollars. This isn't exclusive to Killer Instinct, mind you, I would have these concerns about ANY free to play fighting game where they told me I only get one character free and have to pay for everything else (again, see Marvel Heroes where you actually get TWO free characters, but then have to pay for everything else.)

I enjoyed the story and atmosphere of the other games but there was a lot of combat, and it was terrible. So I ended up just running past most of the enemies until I found the right place to go. I know survival horror games arent known for their gameplay (at least up until RE4) but I cant stand tank controls.

I don't know what you were expecting. With Rare in the state it's been, and with Double Helix attached to it, of course people are going to draw the sensible conclusion. Now, I think it's worth noting that they somehow got DJames Goddard attached to the project, and now I'm suddenly interested again. It's a real goddamn shame that they're macking the SFIV art style after Capcom themselves have pretty well run that art style into the ground already. But I'm willing to suspend my judgment for D-James, even though I still doubt it will even begin to hold it's own against Xrd.

Why does it look nothing like KI and why does it look like ass?

That is not jago and that is not saberwolf the art style blows.