Kung Fu Chaos Preview

Kung Fu Chaos has been steadily improving since the first time we saw the game early last year. The game is a hectic brawler with single- and multiplayer modes, and it borrows liberally from the "so bad they're good" variety of kung fu movies you'll find on cable during the twilight hours. We got hold of a near-final build of the game and are pretty pleased with how the game is pulling together.

Kung Fu Chaos' premise is shaped by a thin plot that's light on logic, much like the movies that inspired it, which helps explain why you'll find yourself in some truly bizarre situations. You'll take the role of an actor who is a cog in director Shao Ting's comeback vehicle Kung Fu Chaos. Unfortunately, Ting isn't big on originality, which means his opus will be one of the most derivative in film history, and given the familiar nature of most kung fu movies, that's saying something.

Kung Fu Chaos will offer six gameplay modes and a bonus-features option that will let you access a variety of extras in the game. Ninja challenge is the game's single-player story mode, and it lets you take one of the game's eccentric cast members through a series of "film shoots" that make up Shao Ting's film. The shoots are done on a variety of "sets" that change dynamically as the fight progresses. The zany levels run the gamut from the types of levels you'd expect to find in a kung fu movie to parodies of movies such as Titanic and Jurassic Park, complete with an iceberg and dinosaur respectively. The sets not only look cool, but they also force you to balance beating your foes with avoiding environmental hazards and keeping up with the forced scrolling on many of the levels. Battle game, championship, and miniseries offer various multiplayer games for up to four players, and the games range from standard brawls to playing through some of the minigames you'll encounter in the single-player game. Freestyle and rehearsal are tutorial modes to help you learn the ropes of combat.

On the subject of the game's combat, Kung Fu Chaos has a simple but effective battle system that manages to offer quite a bit of variety while keeping things accessible. You'll be able to perform combos and various attacks with simple combinations of the Xbox controller's face buttons. The right trigger will block, and the left trigger will taunt your opponent. Taunting is actually very useful in the game because it lets you stun your opponents once they're on the ground, giving you more time to pick them up and throw them, and it lets you collect power balls when done at the right time. Once you've collected three power balls, you'll be able to perform a super attack that doles out fatal damage to nearby foes. It's a solid control setup that works well during the fast-paced battles. Our only complaints with the gameplay in Kung Fu Chaos lie in the occasionally awkward camera and the unforgiving deaths that often occur in forced scrolling sections when you'll respawn just in time to die again. We also would have liked to see Xbox Live support in the game--its strong multiplayer gameplay begs to be let loose online.

The game's graphics are surprisingly well done for the brawler genre. The character models are quite detailed, with the right amount of personality to fit the game's tone. As nice as the characters look, though, the environments end up overshadowing them, thanks to a combination of loopy design and good use of the Xbox hardware. Most of the levels you'll find yourself in will feature forced scrolling that moves you through dynamic environments that have a variety of hazards. For example, the Gigantic Crack level, an "homage" to the movie Titanic, with ninjas, forces you across the deck of the ship and re-creates the infamous splitting of the boat as it sinks in the water. The levels also showcase some slick visual effects that help match the tone of the scenes you'll play in. For example, the Night of the Living Fog level features lighting and fog effects, while the level called The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Princess uses diffuse lighting to simulate sunlight filtered through a forest canopy.

The audio in the game manages to set the tone right off the bat, thanks to the inclusion of the cheesy classic song "Kung Fu Fighting," which plays during the goofy intro cinema that also serves as a trailer for the film you'll be making in the movie. In addition, kung fu movie fans should recognize another familiar tune borrowed from Enter the Dragon. The in-game music doesn't quite match the powerful combination of the aforementioned tunes, but it does manage to offer up a solid helping of '70s-style action music that works very well. Unfortunately, the character voices are a bit weaker than the music due to the uneven nature of voice acting in general. Some characters, such as Lucy Cannon, click, while others leave a bit to be desired. Fortunately, the gang doesn't talk that much during the fights. What you will hear during battles is constant encouragement and harassment from director Shao Ting, who sports a pretty amusing voice and has some good lines. Sound effects in the game are a solid assortment of crashes and martial arts yelps that suit the action perfectly.

From what we've seen, Kung Fu Chaos has come together pretty well. While the gameplay doesn't quite capture the inspired mayhem of a Smash Brothers or Powerstone game, it's quite solid. The game's graphics and sound work well together and are complemented by the game's humor. While any game that attempts to be funny is going to have some jokes that miss the mark, Kung Fu Chaos manages to get it right quite often. Kung Fu Chaos is currently slated to ship in late February for the Xbox. For more on the game, check out our 2909566Q&A with the game's developer, Just Add Monsters.