Kill Switch Demo

Shooters may all share the same basic mechanics, but each one of them must come with something different in order to engage the players and make a statement, preferably something new and revolutionary. When this happens, the very same mechanics are then used in other titles, thus spawning a new standard for the industry and the genre itself.

Kill Switch managed to do that, by employing a revolutionary and very well designed cover system, which allows you to use the environment to your advantage and shoot at the enemies without giving them a chance to retaliate. Naturally, they are also able to do the same, which means that the combat sequences get really intense as you progress through the levels and stumble upon more and more experienced opponents.

Beside the cover gimmick, the game features a classic third-person perspective and an easy-to-grasp aiming system, which, although feels a bit arcade, gets the job done in the end. The designers tried to include a science fiction side to the story, hence the mind-controlled character that is actually on the battlefield without his consent, because someone has taken over his brain.

Although the newly added cover system means that the environments can now be used in a variety of ways, the lazy level design does not give you too many options, while the actual maps are rather small and too crowded at times. They are also kind of repetitive and unoriginal, because none of them leave you with any memories and they certainly do not take full advantage of the gameplay mechanics.

On the other hand, the graphic quality is more than decent, at least when it comes to the characters and the environment. Since the main character is voiced by the notorious actor Adam Baldwin, there are not to many bad things to say in this regard, although the surroundings are sometimes way too quiet for a battlefield, especially when no enemies are around for a few seconds.

Despite some drawbacks and the disappointing level design, Kill Switch can still be regarded as a pretty good game, especially since it introduced a few new ideas to the genre and inspired countless shooters ever since its release.