KUR Impressions – Das Boot

Kill. Upgrade. Repeat. These are the words that KUR stands for, and it summarizes the game fairly well. Developed by Really Ragdoll, KUR is a sci-fi FPS that seems to take heavy inspiration from the Quake and early DOOM titles. We’re in a time where nostalgia sells, and I’ve played through my fair share of these old-school shooters. I won’t lie; my initial reaction to seeing another addition to the genre wasn’t positive. But I’m also a sucker for these, so I figured I’d give KUR a shot. And I’m pretty glad I did.

My favorite aspect of KUR is the combat. I’ll mention the guns in a brief moment, but I’ve gotta talk about the boot. In the first level, you get access to a boot that is multi-functional and overpowered. You can use it to kill enemies, jump high, and break down doors. When dashing through a mob of robots, this boot becomes your best friend as it helps you get through nearly everything and everyone. You also get access to upgrades for your boot, so the love grows stronger throughout each level.

Of course, the variety of guns is also a fun twist. Outside of your typical pistols, you gain access to other weapons over time, such as the Bouncing Betty that ricochets bullets off of surfaces or a shrink ray that, well, shrinks enemies. It’s quite refreshing to see KUR take a different approach to combat with the sci-fi themed guns as opposed to your typical arsenal of rifles and machine guns.

The narrative and humor shape much of the world, from the eccentric dialogue of the characters to the unpredictable methodologies of killing enemies. Unfortunately, though the plot goes for a wacky tone, I can’t say I find it entertaining. The voices sound poorly acted, and the nonsensical scenarios just baffle me to the point that I kept trying to skip the cutscenes.

I wouldn’t consider the art to be a strong point either. Yes, it is a 90s shooter, so you can’t expect too much, but the graphics look average at best to me. However, I’d like to give props for the variety of environments. They kept it fresh by ranging the levels from open areas to cramped hallways, each with its own number of secrets to explore. It’s nice the game offers incentives to look around and investigate as opposed to running through the enemies to get to the end. Speaking of which, if I had one ask, it would be to see more enemy variety in the game.

It could have been easy to overlook KUR, but I’m glad I was able to play it. It’s a game that’s easy to pick up and hard to put down. Given it’s still in Early Access, I did encounter my fair share of bugs and glitches, but I was overall impressed with the game and what it has to offer. With some polish and additions, I concur that KUR is a game worth waiting for.