Footage of wonky cut scenes from the newly released Skull Island: Rise of Kong has been amusing and appalling the internet in equal measure.
Skull Island: Rise of Kong from GameMill Entertainment was released yesterday, and the internet has quickly leapt on the game’s somewhat shonky graphics.
The game was announced back in July, with a trailer showing Kong punching giant crabs and dinosaurs. We thought that the graphics looked a little rough around the edges back then, but gameplay footage that has emerged since the release of Skull Island: Rise of Kong seems a lot worse.
One X (Twitter) post in particular has gone viral, with more than 27 million views. The post from @RickDaSquirrel shows a cut scene where Kong beats up a small dinosaur after having a flashback to the creature that killed his parent. Frankly, it looks like something from a game made a couple of generations ago. But it’s a brand-new release: Skull Island was launched on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Switch, with prices varying between £44.99 and £34.99 before discounts.
Another post from @RickDa Squirrel shows some equally ropey gameplay footage, apparently captured from the Switch version of the game, where Kong lays into a group of crabs.
Youtubers and streamers have quickly picked up on the game. GameRiot branded Rise of Kong as “horrible” in a video on YouTube, urging players to save their money. YongYea posted a video in which they suggested Skull Island: Rise of Kong might challenge The Lord of the Rings: Gollum for the title of worst game of 2023.
Skull Island: Rise of Kong was developed by Chilean studio IguanaBee and published by GameMill Entertainment, the latter of which almost exclusively focuses on licensed properties. Its previous games have included a series of kart racers based on Nickelodeon characters, as well as titles based on Nerf, GI Joe and American Ninja Warrior, among others.
The Metacritic scores for Skull Island: Rise of Kong have yet to come in, but the game has already accrued a Mostly Negative rating on Steam after 19 reviews. I think we can safely assume that it won’t be appearing in any publications’ Game of the Year lists come December.
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