Skull Island: Rise of Kong was one of the most maligned titles of 2023, even if I didn’t think it was worth all the “worst game of the year” badges of (dis)honor it received. With that being said, I was pretty sure no one else would be crazy enough to make yet another game based on King Kong that soon. I half expected for people to just wait for a few years before trying again with another concept, but nope, here we are, less than a year later. Kong: Survivor Instinct is a brand new take, this time being actually tied to the current cinematic universe the big ape is a part of, Legendary Pictures’ Monsterverse.

Contrary to what you would probably expect from a King Kong-themed game, you do not play as the titular ape in Survivor Instinct. Even if, theoretically, he is not considered to be a villain in the Monsterverse, he is treated as such in this game, which is actually a hybrid between a metroidvania and a cinematic platformer akin to old-school Prince of Persia and Oddworld. You play as a hairy dad looking for his daughter in a post-apocalyptic setting (as in, a place ravaged by Kong), in a quasi-Last of Us motivation of sorts.

The initial cutscene is god damn befuddling, to say the least. The hairy dad is driving his car normally, until he decides to total it in a bizarre stunt, saying that it’s easier to venture through the rest of the game on foot. If, by that, he meant venturing through crumbling buildings, having to deal with terrorists, and running away from the paws of a rabid gorilla hell-bent on killing him, then yep, he was absolutely right.

It was hard to get used to the plot’s idiotic premise from the getgo, but once the game truly started, I noticed how oddly unique Kong: Survivor Instinct is. By no means did I find it great, as it’s plagued by a tsunami of issues, but it clearly had some interesting takes on metroidvanias and 2D platformers as a whole, also being vastly superior to the last title I’ve reviewed from the same developer, called Castle of Heart. In essence, your goal is to collect items in order to solve small puzzles and reach specific points in each map, where you’ll be able to collect a macguffin which can be used to “summon” Kong for a context-sensitive situation. That almost always means calling the ape up to remove an obstacle, opening up a pathway to a brand new area.

Kong is not your ally, however. In certain sections, you need to run away from him. Even if the platforming, as a whole, felt intentionally clunky in Kong: Survival Instinct, I did not mind these sections at all. In fact, these were its main highlights. Kong is huge and menacing. You’re a feeble middle-aged man, equipped with a pipe and a gun. Kong can destroy a building with a single slap, so your goal, in these sections, is to either hide from him or run as fast as you can in order to not become another bug squashed on a wall. Those sections were tense and fun. I simply cannot say the same about any other combat-based section in Kong: Survival Instinct, however.

I loathed each and every combat instance in this game. Your main character is slow, and his hits take ages to connect onto enemies. Bullets are scarce, and you simply don’t want to waste them on enemies (they are also used to destroy chains on doors), so you have to deal with slow, clunky, unresponsive melee sections where you need to fend off attackers with your trusty metal pipe. Your health bar is minuscule, so if you fail to connect a parry or block against a foe, or if you forget to duck when someone is aiming a pistol at you, you’ll suffer quite a bit. For a self-described metroidvania, Kong: Survival Instinct doesn’t feature THAT many combat sections, thankfully enough. Exploration is still key, and that’s a lot less egregious.

Sadly, for a game aiming to be epic and intense, Kong: Survival Instinct suffers from what seems to be an underwhelming budget, resulting in a subpar presentation. The Unreal Engine allows for some impressive background visuals… even if the actual playspace is bit generic. Character animations are also very stiff. Kong, on the other hand, looks great, and menacing. In terms of its sound, the sound effects are somewhat decent, and Kong’s roars are absolutely epic… but then your hairy dad protagonist decides to open his damn mouth… oof. He sounds like someone who’s just mildly annoyed at a mall, and not someone desperately seeking for his daughter in the middle of an apocalypse.

Even if, mechanically speaking, there is nothing special about Kong: Survivor Instinct, and it’s filled with questionable decisions and clunky sections, I do appreciate the uniqueness in its premise. Its developmental team tried to come up with an interesting mixture between a cinematic platformer, a metroidvania, and an apocalyptic survival game, with the limited budget they had at their disposal. It didn’t bore me to death, but it never managed to truly excite me. I liked some aspects (namely anything featuring Kong himself), disliked others, and didn’t regret tackling it. Simple as that.

Graphics: 6.5 Unreal Engine allows for some impressive background visuals… even if the actual playspace is bit generic. Character animations are also very stiff. Kong, on the other hand, looks great, and menacing.	Gameplay: 6.0 The platforming is intentionally stiff, as it’s meant to resemble cinematic platformers from the 90s. The combat is incredibly clunky, on the other hand, and it’s something I can’t forgive.
Sound: 5.5 The sound effects are really good, but the music and voice acting are really freaking bad. The protagonist sounds like someone who’s just mildly annoyed at a mall, and not someone desperately seeking for his daughter in the middle of an apocalypse.	Fun Factor: 6.5 Even if, mechanically speaking, there is nothing special about Kong: Survivor Instinct, and it’s filled with questionable decisions and clunky sections, I do appreciate the uniqueness in its premise. I didn’t get fully bored with it, nor did I feel 100% engaged. I liked some aspects, disliked others, and didn’t regret tackling it. Simple as that.
Final Verdict: 6.5

Kong: Survivor Instinct is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X and PC.

Reviewed on PS5.

A copy of Kong: Survivor Instinct was provided by the publisher.