KIBORG is the newest arena brawler from the developers who brought us Redeemer and 9 Monkeys of Shaolin, Sobaka Studios.

Having spent the past few months replaying the Arena Demo of KIBORG over and over, it’s finally time to get our fists bloody and our hopes dashed as we take control of Morgan, a prisoner falsely convicted of war crimes who has been sent to the worst prison in the galaxy. The downside, if there is even an upside, is that death doesn’t provide an escape. When Morgan dies, he is resurrected to continue serving his 1300-year sentence. However, a violent reality show might provide a way out.

What is KIBORG?

At its core, KIBORG is an old-school arena brawler with roguelike elements. Each attempt starts you off in the lower levels of the prison. As you brutally murder your way through wave after wave of inmates, you will slowly discover the horrors of what is happening on the upper levels. As you progress, the enemies get stronger, faster, and weirder as you enter the labs.

The combat feels very Arkham Asylum-y as you face off against dozens of different enemy types, kitted with different moves, that have strengths and weaknesses to your attacks, leading to almost unlimited different encounters. You are able to launch around the arena from enemy to enemy with flurries of punches and kicks. There is also a dodge/parry mechanic that, if timed right, can be devastating.

The roguelike elements come from dozens of different customization options between each arena. The customization options fall into 5 different categories. Weapons, both melee and ranged. Implants, augmentations, and mutations.

Becoming a Cybernetic Killing Machine

Throughout each attempt, you are randomly attacked by elite enemies. Once they have been dealt with, you can rip out their implants and fuse them to your body.

You can have up to 7 different implants. The implants are like armour attached to your legs, torso, heart, spine, each arm, and head. There are different implant sets that add bonuses the more pieces of the set you wear. My favorite implant set was the Thundergod, which adds electric damage to your attacks, plus if you manage to get the leg implant, your dodge is replaced with a teleport.

Other implants include the Blur set, which boosts your speed and recovery. The Fenrir implants will improve your melee weapon durability and introduce cold damage, or the Gunslinger implants, which increase your ranged weapon damage and ammo, plus reload speed. These sets can be combined to create some truly devastating builds.

Not only are there Implants, but there are also augmentations and mutations that enhance your powers even further, but also have negative effects. These can stop you from using ranged weapons but improve your maximum health or limit your implant choices.

Be wary though, your body can only take so much, and if you overload yourself with implants and augmentations, some negative attributes will start to appear, which can ruin an attempt.

Different weapons can be acquired between rounds too. These range from road signs, dual buzzsaws, blades, jet hammers, and even battle axes. There’s not only melee weapons, but you can also pick up shotguns, rifles, rocket launchers, you name it, KIBORG probably has it

The Downside of KIBORG

My only gripe with KIBORG is that it’s too short. What I mean by that is there are only 7 opportunities to choose an implant per attempt. When given the option, you can choose between 3 different parts from the different sets. However, if you already have a left arm selected, left arms will not appear for the rest of the run. Severely limiting what you can do. Adding more salt to the wound, you have an option to reject implants in the hope you will get something next time. Only next time doesn’t come, and you are facing the final boss, missing bits.

Doubly annoying is that there are unlockable cosmetics in the form of hats tied to completing different difficulties or completing different tasks. One of them is equipping a full set of Implants in a single run. With only one chance to get a piece per run, it seems impossible. I have played and completed dozens of runs, including the hardest difficulty (and I have the cute little crown to prove it). I have only ever completed 1 set, and never coming close again.

KIBORGS’ huge customization options are also its downfall. As the difficulty rises, so does the enemy’s intensity and variation. If you don’t get the right parts, you can get to a point where you just don’t do enough damage, and there is no way of advancing. One time, I got to an arena full of robots that would freeze me in place and then punch me across the room. Facing one of these is difficult but doable, but facing 3 with shield drones, stun locking you into being freeze punched to death isn’t fun. Another time, I came across an enemy that had health generation stronger than my attacks, leading me to just having to quit.

I would love to see the runs be longer and give us more opportunities to get the pieces we want. Especially when it comes to the last few difficulty levels.

Verdict

KIBORG is a huge leap forward from Redeemer for Sobaka Studios. I had an enormous amount of fun smashing my way through freaks and mutants, trying out all the different weapons and implant combinations. I just wish the levels were longer and you had more chances to get the implants you wanted. Each attempt consists of 15 (I think) arenas. With 7 of those being Implants that only leaves a few spaces for weapons and mutations to play with.

Any fans of old school brawlers will adore KIBORG, and it’s well worth checking out Sobaka Studios’ earlier brawlers while you are at it.

Gamer Social Club was supplied a copy of KIBORG for this review.

KIBORG was reviewed on Xbox Series X and will also be available on PlayStation 4 & 5 PC (via Steam) and Xbox One and Series X/S

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