Knights In A Different SpaceTime: The Ultimate Genre-Bending Shooter You Didn’t Know You Needed
Hello everyone. Today, we’re going to dissect a little something called “Knights In A Different SpaceTime.” Now, before you get too excited, let me just preface this by saying: this is not a review of a finished product. No, no, no. This is a rant about a Steam page, a collection of promises, and a handful of screenshots that are apparently supposed to get us all hot and bothered for a game that is, and I quote, “Coming soon.” Which, in the world of indie game development, could mean anything from “next week” to “when the heat death of the universe finally claims us all.” But hey, let’s not let a little thing like a complete lack of release date get in the way of a good old-fashioned rant, shall we?
The Premise: Knights, Guns, and… Time?
So, what exactly is “Knights In A Different SpaceTime”? Well, according to the Steam page, it’s a twin-stick, action, top-down shooter with in-depth gun customization, special abilities, and classic swords. You play as a knight with a gun—because apparently, the developers couldn’t decide between medieval fantasy and sci-fi, so they just threw both into a blender and hit “liquefy.” Something’s happened to time (vague much?), deadly robots are invading (because of course they are), and it’s up to you to shoot your way through linear levels and secrets, developing the ultimate guns and futuristic weapons along the way.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I hear “knight,” I think of chivalry, honor, and maybe a little bit of jousting. I don’t immediately picture a guy in plate armor dual-wielding an assault rifle and a plasma sword while mowing down killer robots. But hey, maybe that’s just my medieval bias showing. Who am I to judge the creative vision of a developer who clearly spent too much time watching both “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “Terminator 2” on repeat?
Weapon Customization: Because One Gun Is Never Enough
Let’s talk about the supposed “in-depth gun customization.” The Steam page promises that you can turn your assault rifle into a bullet-spraying machine or a long-range deadly rifle. You can make your sniper more powerful and explosive, or change it to full auto and spray bullets everywhere. Silence your weapons, use homing rounds, bouncing bullets, and much more. Balance your weapons into their ultimate form, and blast the robots into scrap metal.
Now, on paper, this all sounds fantastic. Who doesn’t love a good bit of weapon tinkering? But let’s be honest here: we’ve all been burned before by games that promise “in-depth customization” and deliver little more than a handful of pre-set attachments and a color palette that looks like it was designed by a colorblind toddler. The screenshots show a few guns with some numbers next to them, but until I see a fully modular system that lets me turn my pistol into a rocket-propelled chainsaw, I’m reserving judgment.
Abilities: Because Shooting Isn’t Enough
Next up, we have abilities. The page says you can become more powerful by combining your favorite abilities, guns, and throw-able consumables (like auto turrets, shields, or grenades, etc.) to decimate your enemies. Again, this all sounds great, but it’s also incredibly vague. What kind of abilities are we talking about here? Are we talking about actual skills that change the way you play, or are we just slapping a few passive buffs onto your character and calling it a day?
The screenshots show a few icons that could be anything from a shield to a particularly aggressive piece of toast. Without more information, it’s hard to say whether this is a genuinely innovative system or just another case of “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.”
Swords: For When You Want to Get Medieval on Their… Circuits?
Of course, no game about knights would be complete without swords. Or axes. Or hammers. The page promises that you can take out your enemies the old-fashioned way, wielding a variety of melee weapons to smash them to pieces. Now, I have to admit, the idea of switching between a high-tech assault rifle and a massive two-handed warhammer does have a certain appeal. It’s like the developers looked at every other twin-stick shooter and said, “You know what this needs? More bludgeoning.”
But again, the devil is in the details. How does the melee combat actually feel? Is it weighty and satisfying, or is it just a glorified slap fight with robots? The screenshots show a knight swinging a sword at some enemies, but without seeing it in motion, it’s impossible to judge the quality of the combat. For all we know, it could be the most satisfying melee system since “Dark Souls,” or it could be about as impactful as hitting someone with a wet noodle.
Graphics and Presentation: A Mixed Bag
Let’s talk about the visuals. The screenshots show a top-down perspective with some reasonably detailed environments and character models. The color palette is a bit on the drab side, with lots of browns and grays, but there are some nice touches here and there. The UI looks functional, if a bit cluttered, and the enemy designs are… well, they’re robots. What more do you want?
There’s also a trailer, which is about as informative as a medical pamphlet written in ancient Sumerian. It shows some gameplay, but it’s all very quick cuts and flashy effects, with no real sense of how the game actually plays. It’s like the developers are trying to distract us with shiny things in the hope that we won’t notice the lack of substance. Nice try, but I’ve seen enough E3 presentations to know when I’m being bamboozled.
System Requirements: Surprisingly Reasonable
On the plus side, the system requirements are fairly reasonable. The minimum specs call for an Intel i3 8th gen or AMD Ryzen 2200g, 2 GB of RAM, and a GTX 750 Ti or Radeon R7 260X. The recommended specs bump that up to an i7-8700 or Ryzen 5 3600, 4 GB of RAM, and an RTX 2060 or Radeon RX 6600 XT. Nothing too outrageous, which is nice to see in an age where some indie games seem to think they’re rendering the entire universe in real time.
The Elephant in the Room: Where’s the Release Date?
Now, let’s address the big, glaring issue here: the release date. Or rather, the complete lack thereof. The Steam page simply says “Coming soon,” which, as I mentioned earlier, is about as reassuring as a doctor telling you that your test results will be ready “eventually.” There’s no indication of how far along the game is, how much work remains to be done, or when we can expect to actually get our hands on it.
This is a problem, because it makes it very difficult to get excited about the game. For all we know, it could be released next month, or it could languish in development hell for years before quietly disappearing into the ether. The lack of communication is concerning, and it doesn’t inspire a great deal of confidence in the project’s future.
Final Thoughts: Cautiously Pessimistic
So, where does that leave us? Well, “Knights In A Different SpaceTime” is a game with a lot of potential, but also a lot of unanswered questions. The concept is intriguing, the promises are ambitious, and the screenshots show some promise. But without a release date, a playable demo, or any real information about the game’s progress, it’s hard to get too excited.
At the end of the day, this is a game that could go either way. It could be a hidden gem, a brilliant fusion of genres that delivers on all its promises. Or it could be yet another case of over-ambition and under-delivery, a game that bites off more than it can chew and ends up choking on its own hype.
For now, all we can do is wait and see. But if the developers are listening, here’s a bit of free advice from your friendly neighborhood critic: communicate with your audience. Give us regular updates, show us gameplay footage, and, for the love of all that is holy, give us a release date. Otherwise, you risk fading into obscurity before you’ve even had a chance to make your mark.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.
Article source: Knights In A Different SpaceTime Demo, https://store.steampowered.com/app/3513100/Knights_In_A_Different_SpaceTime/
