Vive Report

Launch Update!

As of December 5th, 2016 Super Kaiju has officially left early access. Along with Oculus Touch support, and a price drop to $9.99, there is a slew of new features and other additions included in the launch update.

There are now 3 different types of Kaijus to choose from and each have a unique special weapon you can switch to by touching the trackpad. The Talos Kaiju for instance, has a mini Gatling gun, and the Augerer has a crossbow with 5 green glowing arrows. The special ammo is limited, but there are power-ups during gameplay that will refill your Kaiju’s special weapon.

A huge update in regard to the card system, where you now have 20 different ability cards to create your perfect deck for battle. Plenty to play with and to keep the gameplay fresh and interesting while you work out which best suits your personal play style.

Check out the official launch trailer for Super Kaiju from Directive Games below, along with a complete list of updates from the Steam page.

• 3x different types of Kaijus (Talos, Augerer, Countessa) 
• 5x unique skins for each Kaiju 
• 3x types of flying monsters to charge your powerful abilities 
• 3x visually stunning battlefields 
• 3x Power ups (Health/Damage boost/Ammo) 
• New secondary weapons for each Kaiju 
• 20x abilities ranging from Shield bubble that protects you for a short amount of time to Missile Barrage that allows you to inflict massive damage on your opponent 
• Challenges so you can play against friends and families 
• Support for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift with Touch controllers

Original review:

Super Kaiju, developed by Directive Games, is a PvP fighter where you take control of your very own Kaiju. Kaiju is a Japanese word that means “strange creature” but is generally used to refer to giant monsters or in this case, giant mechanical monsters. In this game, you are directly controlling one of the Super Kaiju, similar to “Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots,” except it all takes place in VR. For those of you who may not be familiar with “Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots,” it’s a toy/board game from the 80s where you and a friend each control a mini robot by pushing a button which triggers a robot punch. You try to knock your opponent robot’s head off by slamming the trigger as much as possible. Super Kaiju is essentially a VR realization of the iconic 80s game, along with action packed power-ups, epic missile strikes, shields, EMPs and more.

The level design is handled well, with 3 different environments currently available. The maps are on a rotation and should switch as you continue to play more matches. In terms of gameplay, it plays very smoothly. There are 4 different graphic settings to chose from. I have been playing on “Ultra” with no issues at all on my GTX 1080.

There is an in-game friends list so you can directly challenge any of your online Steam friends who are also playing the game. Or simply clicking the multiplayer option will pair you with the next available person looking for a public match. Your gameplay stats are tracked and you receive a summary of your performance at the end of each match. There is also a leveling up system with rewards. Every time you level up, a big metal box appears after the match that you get to break open to receive your reward.

I’m not much of a multiplayer gamer, but I am trying to push myself to indulge in multiplayer with the Vive. Super Kaiju is one of the first games I’ve actually played the multiplayer on and I was surprised how well the game performed even during multiplayer. Thanks to Steam user Bill_Dance, who was kind enough to record some gameplay of us playing. You can check out a bit of our match on YouTube (sorry for the lack of audio, it was Bill’s first time recording gameplay).

Now for what actually happens in a match: you and your opponent are standing opposite each other on giant platforms. You are placed standing in front of the Kaiju you’re controlling. It even mimics your arm movements, so if you want to do the Chicken Dance, feel free! Once the match starts your first objective is to obtain stars, which you earn by shooting the odd, flying trolls with helicopter hats and tiny planes. Once you earn enough stars, you can purchase different attacks, defenses, or a special ball/projectile which will do damage to your opponent. Shooting your opponent directly with your laser pistols will not inflict damage. Damage is mainly inflicted when you launch a special attack, or if you buy the special projectiles you can then pick them up and shoot them at your opponent, which will inflict 5-8% damage. The projectiles shot at you can be shot and destroyed, if your fast enough. You can shoot the opponent Kaiju, but it inflicts very little damage, unless you acquire power-shot pick up, which gives your basic gun a red glow and deals more damage, for the short duration that it lasts.

There is quite a lot going on in Super Kaiju. So much so that I admit I was hesitant when first considering purchasing as the star/card attack system wasn’t of much interest to me. However, when I finally gave in and purchased because I loved the art style so much, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the actual gameplay.

Super Kaiju is definitely worth a look as it’s a very polished experience with solid gameplay and fun arena shooter combat. It’s a fun PvP shooter with depth hiding under the surface. The multiplayer especially is really a fun experience, so if any of your Steam friends have the game, I would highly recommend giving it a shot and sending them a challenge.

Check it out on Steam: Super Kaiju $9.99.

-dgtlhrt