Kong: Survivor Instinct from 7Levels is a 2.5D action platformer with a dash of Metroidvania inspired by Legendary Entertainment’s Monsterverse. Learn more in our Kong: Survivor Instinct review!
Kong: Survivor Instinct from 7Levels is a 2.5D action platformer with a dash of Metroidvania inspired by Legendary Entertainment’s Monsterverse. Yes, this is a new official story set in the Monsterverse! The game takes place shortly after the events of Godzilla vs Kong. After Godzilla and Kong defeated Mechagodzilla, Godzilla returned to the ocean, and Kong went to the kingdom deep within the Earth. With Apex Cybernetics neutralized and dissolved, Monarch decides to focus its attention on researching the Hollow Earth. After a sudden Titan attack – that would be Kong – prompts a massive evacuation effort. Unfortunately, not everyone manages to escape, including yourself. Your name is David Martin, an oil rig worker in his early fifties who is searching for his 30-year-old daughter, Stacy. After your truck crashes, you’re left to run through the area as you try to find anything that can help you find her.
You’ll have to do whatever it takes to survive through this new mess, or else you’ll both be done for! On top of that, you’ll also have to take on the Hyenas, a mercenary group that is being led by Alan Jonah, who we got to see during Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Something else that you’ll have to take on is the mighty Abbadon, a gigantic arachnid creature that is one of the powerful Titans of the Monsterverse! The good news is that you’ll be able to use a prototype device from Monarch known as the ORCA Σ to try and influence the Titans’ behavior. The game reminded me a bit of Metroidvania Shadow Complex Remastered, which we had a chance to review on PlayStation 4 back in 2016.
You can play through Kong: Survivor Instinct in one of three difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, and Hard. If you play on Easy, then traps will instantly kill enemies, and you’ll find more ammo during your adventure. Playing on the Normal difficulty setting will allow you to take on the standard experience, with traps that deal significant damage to enemies and enough ammo to find so that you can remain relatively safe. If you decide to go with the Hard difficulty setting, then you’ll take more damage from environmental traps and attacks from your enemies, traps will deal less damage to enemies, and there won’t be as much ammo for you to find.
You’ll control your character with the left analog stick, jumping with the X button and crouching with the Circle button. You can also slide if you press the Circle button when running. The Triangle button will be used to interact as needed. Once you get a melee weapon, you can attack by pressing the Square button. You can block attacks by pressing the Circle button to protect yourself. If you press the Circle button just as an attack is about to hit, then you’ll be able to parry it. Grab an enemy with the Triangle button and then shove them by pressing the Square button. Once you find a gun, you’ll be able to aim it with the right analog stick as you shoot with the R2 button. Press the R1 button to heal yourself when you have any available med kits on you.
After you collect the ORCA Σ from Monarch, you’ll get to open up your map with the Touchpad on the Dualsense. The map will show unvisited areas as well as your current goal. Any interactions you can’t complete will show as red icons. These will require specific items for you to be able to progress. The tablet can also be used to collect Acoustic Biowaves, which can be used to summon Titans. You can check the number of Acoustic Biowaves you must collect by checking out the total at the top of the screen. Collecting Acoustic Biowaves might show signs of life on your map. This could mean there’s a human or something else nearby.
Once you’ve activated two or more checkpoints on a level, you’ll be able to fast travel between them. This will be important for backtracking later in the game once you’ve gained access to items that will allow you to take new paths or open up spots that hold valuable things for you to collect. If you want to 100% the game, then you’ll need to keep an eye out for collectibles as you explore each location. There are text files to find, broadcasts, and Monarch logs with additional information on the Titans you’ll meet during your time with Kong: Survivor Instinct. You can also find health upgrades as well as ammo upgrades, which can be very useful.
The game features a full trophy list for you to work on so that you can try to add another Platinum trophy to your collection. The list is split into 22 Bronze trophies, 18 Silver trophies, and 2 Gold trophies. Some of the objectives that you’ll have to complete for that shiny Platinum trophy include luring a Titan, checking all hints in the pause menu, dodging a bullet 20 times, parrying 5 enemy counters, collecting all health and magazine upgrades, making 10 enemies fall from a ledge, killing 20 enemies with a headshot, damaging 5 enemies with an explosion, making an enemy defeat another enemy, finishing the game on the hard difficulty setting, and finishing the game on any difficulty setting, to name some examples.
Kong: Survivor Instinct from 7Levels is a 2.5D action platformer with a dash of Metroidvania inspired by Legendary Entertainment’s Monsterverse. The game takes place shortly after the events of Godzilla vs Kong. After Godzilla and Kong defeated Mechagodzilla, Godzilla returned to the ocean, and Kong went to the kingdom deep within the Earth. With Apex Cybernetics neutralized and dissolved, Monarch decides to focus its attention on researching the Hollow Earth. After a sudden Titan attack – that would be Kong – prompts a massive evacuation effort. Unfortunately, not everyone manages to escape, including yourself. Your name is David, an oil rig worker who is searching for your daughter, Stacey. After your truck crashes, you’re left to run through the area as you try to find anything that can help you find her. Kong: Survivor Instinct is out today on PlayStation 5.
Disclaimer
This Kong: Survivor Instinct review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by 7Levels.
