Kinetic Storm by Broken Teapot Studios Inc. is a fun and exciting action roguelike, bullet hell type of game that can easily suck you in for hours at a time. It has a sci-fi feel to it, and I have to say, they did a great job on this demo.

The graphics are great and I really enjoyed the almost old-school type of feel to them. The enemies are well done and get more intense as you progress through the game. Some are just more powerful and cause more damage, and others come at you in massive swarms. Either way, they create the perfect amount of stressful intensity. The music is surprisingly calm, and you don't hear much of the gunfire. I would have liked to have been able to hear the weapons firing a bit more, but even with it turned all the way up, it is pretty quiet. I am hoping that this is able to be turned up a little more with the final release, as what I was able to hear sounded pretty good.

There are 20 very addictive levels in the demo, and you can play on easy or normal mode. It provides a great preview of the game and allows you enough time to get hooked on it, which is obviously the idea! Once you figure out the patterns and get into the game a bit, it is easy to get sucked in and I could have played for a lot longer I'm sure! The levels start out pretty easy, but then the enemies start to vary by type and amount. Sometimes there is a crazy amount of gunfire so the color differences are perfect so you know what is enemy gunfire and what is your own rockets trying to lock onto a target.

Watch Out For That Ship!!

You never really know what you are going to get from a demo, but I have to say, this game played SO SMOOTH and I didn't notice any lag or bugs at all. The movements were exactly what I wanted and expected them to be, the gunfire was well done and without any weird glitchiness or lag as well. The controls are intuitive and easy to navigate, and I wouldn't change a thing. That said, controllers are supported and I think that would be a really great way to play as well.

The upgrades are randomly available at the end of each round and are definitely great and allow for personal preference depending on how you strategize. Once you figure out how to play on your strengths in the game, you tend to know what you are looking for when they become available. Sometimes it is frustrating when you want something specific and it doesn't show until later, but that just adds to the challenge of it all. I personally was always after massive amounts of gunfire!

Love Me Some Upgrades!

As far as controls, it is straightforward. You have your primary weapon, secondary weapon and your dash ability. The dash ability is extremely useful for getting out of the way quickly, or quickly getting back to the hearts that the enemies will drop at times. I really liked that it was customizable as well. You could choose to dash in the direction you were firing, or the direction that you were moving at the time. My preference was to dash in the direction I was already moving. This came in handy when trying to take care of the turrets without getting caught in their fire, or getting out of the way of the weapon that the ships fired from the side.

The game is simple and fun but requires strategy and quick thinking. I personally love this combination. At first, I wasn't sure if I would care for this game much, but if you like roguelike games, you should love this one. If you aren't sure, or they aren't usually your thing, give it a shot, you might be surprised!