Kiborg is a fast-paced action roguelite set in a grimy dystopia. With its crunchy melee combat, gritty visual style, and addictive gameplay loop, it manages to punch well above its weight as a budget title. It isn’t completely flawless, but for what it is, it is an impressive showing from Russian developers Sobaka Studio.
Hitting the Ground Running
The game opens with no airs and graces, launching you straight into a basic tutorial that gives you all of the tools you need to succeed. Kiborg makes a solid first impression. Instead of forcing players through rigid skill tests before letting them properly get into the action, it offers a forgiving introduction that still sufficiently teaches players the essentials of survival.
The short, simple tutorial is complimented well by the game’s learning curve, which feels fair and satisfyingly challenging. Harder difficulties can also be unlocked to encourage replay-ability. The way in which the game does a lot with a little in terms of the actual gameplay functions on offer actually put me in mind of Hotline Miami.
Combat is Kiborg’s bread and butter, and thankfully, it feels great from the first punch thrown to the last. From bare-knuckle brawling to slicing through foes with a variety of melee and ranged weapons, every hit lands with real weight. At times, Kiborg feels like a rhythm game, timing is everything. The moment-to-moment action is tight and satisfying, delivering that “just one more run” energy that’s key to any roguelite worth its salt.
Combat Depth and Upgrades in Kiborg
The downfall of a lot of budget roguelites is that every weapon feels essentially the same, but in Kiborg, there is actually a fair amount of variety on display. Each class offers a distinct playstyle and requires its own approach. This variety keeps things interesting across repeated attempts, and thanks to a fully visible skill tree, players can plan their upgrades strategically across multiple runs.
The progression system avoids hidden surprises. You always know what you’re working towards, which makes each run feel like meaningful progress. Kiborg nails the classic roguelite feedback loop of challenge, reward, repeat.
Gritty Visuals and Mood in Kiborg
Kiborg’s aesthetic is pristinely grimy, with environments feeling varied and never feeling overly stale, preventing repeated runs from feeling overly repetitive. It isn’t only the environments that look like something from a Nicolas Winding Refn movie; the main character’s design really reminded me of Tom Hardy in Bronson.
Enemy design is also varied, ranging from kitted-out soldiers to mutated lab monsters. Also, the lighting is used effectively, bathing environments in bold contrasts of shadow and neon. Sadly, some of the UI icon textures are pixelated icons and blurry, which somewhat breaks my immersion. It should be noted that I was playing a press build, so hopefully this will be amended in the full release.
Sound Design Could Do More
Although the visuals are on point, Kiborg’s audio is lacking somewhat. The villain has the most dialogue, and because it is a Russian actor reading the English lines, the dialogue doesn’t always match the subtitles, and some of the delivery actually brought to mind Tommy Wiseau from The Room.
The only other voice you’ll hear is from a disembodied female AI character, who is essentially just there for the sake of exposition. Apart from the odd grunt, the enemies are totally silent. This lack of on-screen fleshed-out characters or conversational dialogue makes the game’s world feel small in scope.
With all that being said, the narrative in Kiborg is merely window dressing built around a villain monologuing filler dialogue between levels for the gameplay loop that is clearly the game’s priority. I doubt that anyone is coming to a title like Kiborg expecting detailed lore or complex emotional stakes, but if you are, then I implore you to look elsewhere, as you are wasting your time.
Over and Over and Over Again
Kiborg’s RNG room variety helps with keeping things fresh. Whether you’re stumbling into spike floor rooms, rooms that give you access to weapons, or healing meditation chambers that can make or break your longest runs, each go-around offers new randomly generated scenarios that keep things engaging.
It may not be an overly long game, but as it is a roguelite, that is to be expected. What’s here is dense, rewarding, and doesn’t waste the player’s time. The game’s limited production budget is sometimes on display, but the game rarely overreaches, remaining self-aware and nailing the essentials.
However, Kiborg is a focused, fast-paced roguelite with solid combat, compelling art direction, and enough variety to keep players hooked. The different classes of enemies featured (like basic melee thugs, to hulking brutes, ranged threats, and more) keep things challenging. The variation of the enemy design as you advance through the game is also cool and adds an extra incentive to make progress continually.
It also runs well for the most part, too, letting you resume the action quickly after each death. I only had one instance of having to awkwardly stand around after the last enemy in a room fell through the map. Thankfully, he did die eventually, and I didn’t have to restart, as I’d have lost the progress I’d made on that run.
In summary, if you are a fan of crunchy combat, plotting out strategic upgrades, and gritty cyberpunk worlds, Kiborg deserves your time. Unfortunately, this is a title that I can see flying under the radar, but if you do have the time to give Kiborg a go, I very much doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Kiborg
Summary
Kiborg may not have the polish of a big-budget title, but it nails the fundamentals. Gritty, addictive, and unapologetically brutal, this is one roguelite that knows exactly what it is and is able to deliver on that.
HOURS PLAYED: 8
PLAYED ON: PS5
- Satisfying melee and ranged combat
- Clear and rewarding progression
- Cool visual design with varied enemies
- High replay value
- Weak voice acting and flat narrative
- Limited world-building
- Low-res UI textures
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Daniel Boyd is the former Co-Lead of Gaming at FandomWire, where he helped build the gaming team from the ground up and successfully managed a team of 30+ writers. Experienced in SEO optimization and content strategy, he has a keen eye for detail and a deep passion for pop culture. Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Daniel has worked with companies worldwide, crafting high-quality, engaging content that resonates with audiences across the globe.
