Karnn Age

B-

Oh I get it. Karnn Age, like Carnage! Like "Total Carnage!!" from Smash TV! Isn't that snazzy.

Karnn Age is a throw back to the high-intensity top-down shooters of old, and it definitely doesn't fail to deliver on those expectations. There is a nice dose of that here. You control a small shirtless man-beast commando style dude with a crazy gun and you splatter all sorts of weird insect themed enemies in a small square game region. How's that for a one sentence summary? (answer = awesome)

I was kind of hoping to see what my pals overseas at XNPlay had to say about this one first, because I've been riding the fence for days. I've fired Karnn Age up many times now and sometimes I am in the mood for this sort of mindless action and sometimes I feel like I put an old piece of gum in my mouth. Which is gross and should be avoided.

Here's what's good. First of all, the "intro" or attempt at a story is one of the most hilariously ridiculous things I have ever seen. Karnn Age is certainly not a game that takes itself too seriously, which is mirrored by the trailer, and of course the game's title. That's a plus in my book, at least for this type of game - you can get away with that. It's got a nice pick-up-and play control scheme, a solid variety of enemies/bosses, and it's seriously challenging on the higher levels. And last, it has a replay mode if you want to bath in your own glory.

But I have a meaty favorite known 'as beef.' First, the game region is a rectangle (*fart noise). It's very restrictive and uninteresting. Injury to insult, in this scenario it's unfortunate to discourage players from using the outer boarder of this rectangle - which is what is Karnn Age does by having a crazy-ass sun attack you (a la Super Mario Brothers?) if you step on the sand. It's not a bad/risk reward mechanic but probably not best suited for game that already has you doing 180s in a little box. I need that space just to get some space, man! :) Karnn Age also sort of screams for multiplayer, but that's not a simple request of course.

But like any strong, informative, and helpful review, "ahem," I can highly recommend this to a particular group(s) of gamers. It only takes a glance at the trailer or gameplay videos to know that it's a high-octane shooter. You'll be scrambling away from countless enemies and bullets - it's about survival, killing, and bragging rights. Yes, you like that? Then you like this.

With mid-level graphics and sound I believe this to be attractive at 400MP but mostly for those who got really excited at the very notion of this type of game. It probably would have attracted more of the masses for a quick taste of mayhem at 200MP. Enjoy the splatterfest.