Game Reviews

Killer Snake

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| Killer Snake
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Killer Snake
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| Killer Snake

You know that feeling you get when you know your friend or partner is hiding behind the door, waiting to jump out at you?

Or when you're playing slapsies (look it up) and you just know a stinging blow is coming your way?

Knowing that such mildly unpleasant experiences are coming does nothing to lessen your jitteriness. In fact, if anything it makes it all the more thrilling.

In Killer Snake, Copenhagen Creators has built en entire game around this simple psychological fact.

Gets you rattled

Here it's not a mischievous acquaintance or a playground game that's handing out the thrills - it's a bunch of the world's most deadly snakes.

As you trawl the world's creepy crawly hotspots, from North America to Australia, you must tempt fate by dragging your finger across the undergrowth. When you encounter a snake you have to keep your finger on the screen, tempting it into making a move.

When the snake finally strikes, it's a cue to remove your finger from the screen post-haste.

This is made extremely tense and tricky by the fact that the snakes move around and feint. Like, y'know, snakes. Lift off early and you'll be branded a chicken, losing points into the bargain.

Doesn't quite adder up

That's pretty much it for Killer Snake. There are no clever transit systems, and no additional mechanics. Just drag and lift in the right spots.

In fact, underneath the solid (if somewhat murky) 3D representations of its creatures and various arbitrary points systems, Killer Snake is really more like one of those gimmicky 'tests' you see at fairs and end-of-pier arcades. Only rather than testing your strength you're testing your reaction speed.

It's as limited as it sounds. One continent is much like the next, only with slightly different foliage and quicker snakes.

You'll probably lose interest within an hour, as we did, although there's every chance that you'll drag the game out from time to time to show your non-gaming friends and family. It's one of those apps.

Killer Snake has a menacing look and sharp teeth, then, but it's not particularly intoxicating.

Killer Snake

An effective gimmick and an entertaining reaction test, but Killer Snake barely has enough to it to warrant the 'game' label
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.