Justin Parker - JUDDEE
16 April 2023
Heist Kitty: Cats go a Stray
Heist Kitty is an indie sandbox-style RPG planned for release in May of 2023 by developer LetMeowt Games LLC and publisher Excalibur Games.. Meow, let’s get serious, LetMeowt Games LLC knows how to make a cat game. They have been doing it since 2021 with the release of Cat Gets Medieval and Cat Saves Halloween, which was released the following year. You’ll see familiar faces from the previous two games in Heist Kitty.
As soon as you pick one of the six cats to start your journey as a GPnS-wielding nine live feline, you’ll meet Twitch, the cat with a camera on her doing live cam shows, grinding to make ends meet. This sets the tone of the strange and unique characters’ names and storylines in Heist Kitty. Twitch explains she’s hungry and her human hasn’t been shopping, to which you find the old man referred to as ‘Human’ slumped over, needing a sugar high. Old age and diabetes don’t mix, but with a quick swipe of your paw, ‘Human’ is now alive and well to go shopping. That was too calm for me. I woke up and chose violence today; as Excalibur Games say on their website, If you’re a cat and you’re following the rules, you’re doing it wrong
Cats don’t have a word for ‘consequences’. With that, I’m building trust with the ‘Meowfia’ and hooking up ties with Nichola Tailsla to get me a sick rocket-launching backpack powered by mana. You get mana by drinking energy drinks or coffee. You can also get nice and cozy on a cat bed, laying around to restore health after a human kicks your ass for launching a missile at them from across the parking lot. Like the rat from ‘Ratatouille,’ you can control humans by jumping on their backs. They make for fast transport but, if you really like living in the fast lane, you can take one of many cars lying around the large map, from promotional campaign vehicles to sports cars which are all driveable and take the load off your little paws. You also get the choice of three radio stations to calm those nerves or hype you up for the next part of the destruction. The acceleration and steering controls could use an adjustment, as reaction times are a bit jerky. However, this doesn’t affect the feel of the game. Hitting humans will cause them to go flying in a way reminiscent of the popular game Fortnite. You cannot kill NPC’s. Their health will deplete, making them sit down on the ground and cry, which is a nice touch. Enemies will fall over, die and disappear slowly.
Like a cat on a full moon, I’m jumping on anything and everything. Almost everything lying around is interactive, whether it’s a piano with working high and low notes or a grocery store filled with items you can completely destroy. This game is like an Assassin’s Creed for pussy’s, with the ability to cling to walls and climb objects like the disrespectful house cat you are. The game has enemies that will try to shoot you with lasers and hit you with their guns, but they are quite easy to kill. The boss fights, on the other hand, can really test your patience. With big sword-wielding robots and turret-mounted lasers trying to ruin your day, but, if it’s not that, you’ll have strategic puzzles and electric floors to really grind your gears.
Now let us remember graphics. With its low poly cartoon graphics, Heist Kitty sits well with me in a world full of realistic games. It’s nice to relax and throwback to what feels like looking at harry potter on the PlayStation One. That being said, I believe LetMeowt Games made the correct choice on the graphic layout for heist kitty and previous games.
What’s a game without audio? While roaming around causing chaos as the problem child cat, a nice soundtrack plays with a 90s-style video game feel. The streets feel alive with the sounds of cars and horns. Knocking over and hitting objects all make a unique sound, although some can be overpowering. I found turning my master volume to sixty per cent helped this issue. Firing some weapons does give off a feeling that they aren’t as powerful as they are. Launching rockets sounds like a jump in Mario Kart, for example. Other than this, Heist Kitty sounds and plays fantastically.
All I can say is forget Goat Simulator, this online co-op game, with its low-poly graphics but smooth controls, is probably my favourite indie simulator to date, and I cannot wait to play with friends. I really don’t have many negative comments about the game, other than driving could be improved and hits from an enemy boss response time between sounds and taking damage. I also love some of the hidden easter eggs laying around, such as an NPC carrying a sign with the last two previous games on it giving those games the sneaky little plug they probably deserve.
9.5
10
The Bad
- Interactive items around the map
- Smooth controls
- Creative cat names
- Every object is climbable
- Vehicle handling
- Enemy hitboxes
- Sound synchronization