World of Gaming

Accompanied by an alien sidekick and a floating sword, we plow our way through rogue mechs or anything else that gets in our way.

For those of you who haven't heard of Blade Kitten before, you should know that this sassy pink-haired anthropomorphic cat is the star of a webcomic that began back in 2002. Steve Stamatiadis, creative director and cofounder of Krome Studios, had been meaning to give the agile Kit Ballard a game of her own but got wrapped up in other projects over the years. But now, Kit and her cuddly companion Skiffy have finally made it to the PlayStation Network where you can tag along on one of Kit's crazy adventures as a bounty hunter on an artificial planetoid called Hollow Wish.


The game is set in a sci-fi universe where you'll find references to other games and bizarre creatures that have obviously been inspired by other popular sci-fi worlds. For example, early in our demo, we jumped on a noot, which was a curious dinosaur-like creature that basically looked and functioned like a ton-ton from Star Wars. While Kit may not necessarily be using the force to attack her enemies, there is some kind of weird space magic going on because her sword--also known as the Darque Blade--floats next her as though it had a mind of its own. Your blade will hover obediently beside you and was described to us as an aggressive pit bull that you can unleash against enemies when they get too close.

Like an old-school 2D action platformer in the same vein of Metroid and Castlevania, Blade Kitten has you navigating through a large network of underground passages or a seemingly never-ending above-ground maze. Without a map to go off of, you can explore every nook and cranny if you like or follow the helpful arrows that will eventually lead you to the end of a stage. By collecting hexes (in-game currency) as you go, you can use the money to upgrade your weapon and buy a variety of outfits for whatever mood that strikes you.

Kit already comes with a solid range of catlike moves, so it's just a matter of figuring them all out. The gameplay seems pretty basic; you use the square button for a close attack or hold it to block and the circle for a long-ranged attack. You can easily scale walls as you run into them and slide through narrow tunnels. You're also nimble enough to pounce on people's heads and slam into them afterward. By holding the R2 button and charging up an attack, you can pull off some cool-looking finishing moves in slow motion.

Your health regenerates as time goes on, and Kit's face on the bottom-left corner of the screen will give you a good indicator of how she's doing. You'll eventually bump into an adorable little alien named Skiffy whom you can order around to do things for you like solve puzzles to open doors. As you go through the levels, you'll hear cheeky comments coming from Kit as she pummels through the heavily armored enemies by breaking off their equipment.

The game is meant to be lighthearted, as well as easy to pick up and play. You'll spend a lot of your time exploring secret areas or an alien's home for hexes and goldfish (the equivalent of 10,000 hexes). You'll also break things like jars and random objects, as well as swipe at enemies, but there will be instances where you'll need to run away from ugly, towering creatures with giant lobster claws as part of the story. The game looks very much like a comic book that has come to life with its hand-drawn colorful visuals and silly dialogue.


No price has been set yet, but the game will be broken up into two episodes. Look for Blade Kitten episode one when it is released later this spring.

Source: Gamespot.com