New King Kong Game Is Very, Very Bad

Hey, good news! It’s been a long time, but we finally got a new King Kong video game. Bad news, Skull Island: Rise of Kong appears an ugly mess of a thing and it might be the worst game of 2023. Yes, even worse than Gollum.

Announced in July, Skull Island: Rise of Kong is the first King Kong video game in nearly 20 years. The last game featuring the loveable big ape who sometimes fights Godzilla was 2005’s *deep breath* Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. That game was developed by Ubisoft and while not perfect, was a really interesting mix of first-person combat and third-person action. It had players switching between Kong and a human throughout the adventure, while experimenting with no HUD. Skull Island: Rise of Kong, on the other hand, is just a bland beat-’em-up with bad cutscenes, nasty visuals, and not much else.

Read more

• Florida Man Goes Full Send, Launches Dodge Challenger Into Canal

• This Butt Plug Will Allow Toyota To Build 900-Mile EVs

• I Ordered A Carbon-Fiber Roof For My Porsche 996 Turbo And I Might Throw Up A Little

• These Are The Ugliest American Cars Ever Made, According To You

• Hawaii Figured Out How To Stop Catalytic Converter Theft, Why Hasn’t Your State?

Another clip from that same user, who was playing the game on Switch, shows awful performance problems during a small fight against some crabs.

YouTuber MKIceAndFire has uploaded a video showcasing the first hours of the game, and it only makes Skull Island look worse.

Combat looks boring as you fight the same basic enemies in similar-looking environments while music endlessly loops behind the action. At one point, Kong’s mom—who is looking for baby Kong in a playable flashback—leaps to the ground and a cutscene interrupts her landing, causing the impact sound to frantically repeat over and over again during the entire scene.

After Kong’s parents die, the young ape runs away during a storm and looks down at a puddle. This scene is meant to be sad. However, because the tech behind the game isn’t great, Kong’s reflection is a blurry, pixelated mess that lingers for far too long.

So yeah, needless to say, this isn’t a great game. It’s possible that the later parts of Skull Island: Rise of Kong get better, but I’m not looking to spend $40 to find out.

Online the chatter has turned from dunking on the game to suggesting that this might be the worst game of 2023, beating Gollum. And I might be inclined to agree, especially because the actual worst game of 2023—that crappy Last of Us clone exclusive to the Switch—was removed from the eShop earlier this year.

So congratulations Skull Island: Rise of Kong, the internet now thinks you are either the worst or the second-worst game of 2023. Your trophy is in the mail.

.

More from Kotaku

• Will and Jada's Kids Are Reportedly Feeling Very Bad for Dad Right Now

• Experts Say You Shouldn't Buy These Sports Cars, But They're All Wrong

• Best Buy CEO Blames Taylor Swift for Sales Slump and 'Funflation'

• Raging talent: Martin Scorsese's films ranked

• Britney Spears accidentally got a bit too into Method acting in Crossroads

Sign up for Kotaku's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.