kill.switch

The Good
The graphics weren't too bad, and the cinematics that showed every few missions were really stylish, action-packed. Well done.

Every game nowadays has some sort of gimmick going for it. This game's gimmick is the ability to take cover behind just about everything, from garbage cans to computer desks to wrecked cars. You have the ability to pop out and shoot your targets, or if you're under really heavy fire you can opt to just move your gun away from cover and shoot blindly into the area. At times, this is really quite fun.

The game isn't hard at all, and most enemies die in one or two hits, so it's great fun to just charge into a large area, dive behind a trash can and blow everyone away. Since every bullet hole on the wall comes with a slash of debris, action-packed gunfights are just plain fun to play.

The Bad
Well, for one, if you could skip the unskippable cinematics and tutorial level, you could beat the entire game in under an hour. This is about the shortest shooter I've ever played, and that's a real disappointment because, despite its flaws it was fun to play.

You play the game in third person. There are a few reasons for this. One has to do with the "storyline," (hahaha) another other has to do with game design. Playing this in third person wouldn't have been a terrible thing if it weren't for the terribly awkward perspective. Unlike most third-person action games where the camera follows you just behind your head in the air or something, kill.switch's camera appears to be about three feet to the right of you, and twenty feet back, zoomed in. It's hard to explain, but you'll instantly notice something is really not right with the view. It works usually, but if you ever get caught in a small room or try going around an object from the left, the view will almost always become obstructed and this often leads to your death.

Speaking of death, why is it that I can take forty bullets to the chest and still be charging into battle with a mighty fury, but if someone whacks me with the butt of their rifle I'm instantly dead?

The game lacks an in-game save. This isn't so much a bad thing though, really, since most levels are about five minutes long.

Lots of little glitches here and there. Often, enemies can shoot right through objects, and twice I've had enemies walk right through walls! Once, I was getting shot at from some unseen location, and I couldn't seem to get away from the gunfire no matter where I hid. After I died, I watched as a soldier magically rose from underneath the stone floor I was standing on.

The Bottom Line
Although very, very, very short, the game was fun to play while it lasted. If the game had a more sensible perspective and got rid of some bugs, it could have been a lot better. Oh yeah, the cinematics are unskippable, so if you happen to die (most likely from a bug or a camera issue) then you have to sit through it again. Argh.