"Ricochet kills that delight, in a build that barely functions"
About
Killer Bean is a first- and third-person action roguelike built around the indie animation character of the same name, a gun-toting coffee bean. You clear enemies with bullet-time slowdown, ricochet shots that bounce between targets, and a breakdancing ultimate, across procedurally generated islands, a short campaign that picks up after the film Killer Bean Forever, plus separate Party and Arena modes. Moment to moment you shoot, parkour, drive a jetski, and hold E on objectives before moving to the next. It is the work of a single developer and launches into Early Access, so much of the content and polish is still in flux.
Verdict
There is a good shooter buried in here. Bouncing a bullet through three enemies and triggering a breakdance finisher feels exactly as ridiculous and fun as it sounds. Almost everything around that idea is unfinished: the audio ships muted with whole effects missing, the campaign ends in under two hours, and bugs from soft-locked tutorials to enemies clipping through walls turn up constantly. As an Early Access proof of concept from one developer it shows where the fun lives, but it is not ready to ask fifteen euros of most players yet.
You'll like it if …
- +You follow the Killer Bean animations and want to play around in that world
- +You can forgive heavy jank when the core shooting feels good
- +You enjoy backing solo developers early and watching a game take shape
You'll dislike it if …
- −You want a finished, stable game for your money
- −Repetitive fetch-and-kill objectives bore you quickly
- −Broken audio and frequent soft locks are dealbreakers
Breakdown
- +The gunplay and slow-motion movement land well; ricochet kills and the breakdance ult give the combat a goofy, satisfying rhythm
- +Ragdoll physics and the absurd abilities carry a lot of the moment-to-moment fun
- −Controls feel janky and some default bindings are odd out of the box
- −Combat tips into trivially easy, with little pushback from enemies
- −Objectives boil down to holding E and walking to the next marker
- +Party mode and Arena mode add something to do once the campaign ends
- −The campaign is over in under two hours
- −Mission variety amounts to fetch an object, fetch another, kill, walk to the exit
- −The roguelike layer feels bolted on rather than driving the runs
- +Continuing the story past Killer Bean Forever pleases fans of the franchise
- +The cheesy dialogue and self-aware silliness match the property's tone
- −Voice lines run dry fast and repeat during play
- −There is little story or environmental detail beyond the franchise nod
- +Visuals are acceptable for a solo indie project
- +On the right hardware it can run smooth and fast
- −Audio sliders default to zero and much of the sound, including gunfire and ambience, is simply missing
- −Audio mixing is poor where sound does play
- −Performance swings wildly, from steady frame rates to severe stutter depending on the machine
- −Some environments lean on cheap-looking assets
- +The single-developer effort is visible and earns goodwill from supporters
- −Mission objectives are vaguely described or fail to spawn, papered over with skip buttons
- −Bugs are everywhere: clipping through geometry, soft locks, broken reloads, animation glitches
- −A tutorial soft lock can trap players when the reload function breaks
- −Long load times and a rough menu flow
score
