A new pay what you want indie bundle has hit the streets, and this one is packing not one but two co-op games. The Indie Royale Mash Bundle features five titles in all, including Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise and Guns of Icarus Online, the former a brawler offering two player local co-op and the latter a steampunk airship combat game with four player online co-op.
Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise may be my pick for worst game of the year, but I've run across a few forum-goers who proved impervious enough to its general crapulence and numerous faults that they still enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like many new players will get to judge the game for themselves (at least on Xbox 360), as the XBLA version has been pulled from the Marketplace without warning. The Steam version remains unaffected, at least for now.
Even though I was hyped for Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise prior to its release, the final release left me severely disappointed. As I state in our review, even the 2-player local co-op is bad, and that's hard to do with a brawler! But even terrible games get downloadable content it seems, and this one is no exception. The 'Kung Fu Master Levels' DLC is now available for 240 Microsoft Points ($3).
Alright, so the Steam version of Kung Fu: Strike the Warrior's Rise failed to impress me as a game, co-op or otherwise when I reviewed it last month. But only PC gamers could really understand my suffering; everyone could only imagine. Well, the Xbox Live Arcade version finally launched today, which means roundhouse kicks and air dashes for all!
Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise is one of the few games to capture the wuxia fighting style scene in many a Chinese martial arts film. But are top knots, aerial dashes, and local co-op enough to save this brawler from mediocrity or worse?
Last week we reported that XBLA brawler Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise would be releasing on March 28. As you may have noticed, Wednesday came and went but the game was nowhere to be seen. Did Kung Fu Strike's protagonist General Loh suffer a knee injury at the last minute, forcing his game to be delayed? No, he and his mustachioed twin brother are just fine and kicking.
We don't have too many co-op titles coming out this week. We've got a little brawling in China, some more brawling in China, and an excellent four player platformer is coming to the PC.
If you've been itching for a new beat-em-up, next week's Xbox Live Arcade release should provide some welcome relief. Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise, from developer Qooc Soft and publisher 7sixty Games, heads to XBLA a week from now on March 28 for 800 MS Points ($10). As you might expect, it will offer plenty of martial arts mayhem and most importantly, 2 player local co-op.
Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise looks to be the first Dynasty Warriors-style beat-em-up on Xbox Live Arcade. Set in Ancient China, players take on the role kung fu master General Loh as he fights to keep his country from being torn apart by three warring factions. That's the single-player game though - what about multiplayer? We've spoken with publisher 7sixty and gotten the inside scoop on Kung Fu Strike's co-op and versus modes.
It was barely a week ago that we brought news of a new 2 player brawler hitting the XBLA, Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise. At that time, we had only a small glimpse of what's in store with this arcade title that draws from classic Chinese tales of revenge, Chinese calligraphy art style, and, of course, Chinese martial arts. A new trailer, though, provides us with a better picture of how all of these pieces tie together.
There is a Chinese proverb that goes along the lines of this: "Never admire a man by his strength; judge him in how he uses it." This saying seems to lie at the core of Qooc Soft's and 7sixty's recently announced co-op beat 'em up title for the XBLA, Kung-Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise. Mixing up equal parts 3D brawler (seemingly in the vein of the Dynasty Warriors series) with a brush art style that is reminiscent of the most recent Street Fighter, Kung-Fu Strike certainly seems to be shaping up to be a solid co-op release title. Little is known at this point, though, about the game beyond its setting, core gameplay mechanics, and that it will support 2 player local co-op (possibly campaign). With a release date of "early this year," this announcement trailer and handful of screen caps will have to slake your thirst for martial arts mayhem until more details arise.
