Kill It With Fire 2 Preview: Flaming Buggers!

Coming soon to PC skitters Kill It With Fire 2. Developed by Casey Donnellan Games and published by Tiny Build this is the follow-up to the 2020 title. Once more you take on the role of a pest exterminator to smash, zap, blast, and burn as many eight-legged so-and-sos as possible. However this time there is a plot involving spaceships, aliens, and multi-versal travel. Because this is a sequel to a quirky game and so it needs to get quirkier and weirder.

Long-time followers of KeenGamer will know that I reviewed the previous title almost exactly four years ago. Goodness, it was my first review for this very site! So when I learnt there was a sequel coming along I was excited to see what it could have in store. And I have to say that I am decently impressed by what I have seen so far. But I feel there are a couple of things that returning players need to be aware of.

Kill It With Fire 2 is currently in early access on Steam and can be purchased for £12.79 or your local equivalent.

Story – Once Upon a Web

The story as presented in this preview build of Kill It With Fire 2 is an odd little thing. Picking up at some point after the previous game (though not immediately after) the Exterminator finds themself captured by a strange alien spacecraft and is tasked with dealing with a spider infestation that exists over time and space. Along the way, you’ll read messages from the ship’s AI called Darwin as well as listen to audio diaries from various unseen side characters. The story is quirky, weird, strange, but decently written for what it is. It is all rather tongue-in-cheek and silly. Which feels like it is in keeping with the tone of the game itself.

Audio logs help tell the backstory of the worlds you visit.

I’ll be blunt. I don’t think a game like this needs a story. Sure, a little bit to contextualise what you are doing. Maybe a few lore bits for the die-hards. But it doesn’t need much. However what we do get is good enough and never feels like it is getting in the way of your adventures. At its heart, Kill It With Fire 2 is a series of crazy set pieces that take you to strange places to cause inordinate amounts of damage as you try to take down as many spiders as possible. And the story makes for a nice bit of flavour which adds to the whole experience.

Gameplay – Squish!

The core of Kill It With Fire 2‘s gameplay remains the same as it did in the previous game. Functionally the game is a first-person shooter. Or rather a first-person smasher. You have a handful of tools and weapons to unlock which are used to deal with the spider infestations in the levels that you play in. The spiders can hide anywhere. There are a variety of different spider types to deal with which can hinder your progress. Emphasis on hinder, as outside of a couple of challenges and the final survival state you aren’t dealing with a health meter.

In Kill It With Fire 2 you can kill them with fire too.

If you played the first game you know what you are getting here. It is more of the same with new toys and a few new twists to deal with. I don’t mean that to be dismissive. As you’ll know from my review of the previous game I enjoyed it a lot. So a little more of the same with some extra bits thrown in is a fine result. There are also multiplayer modes which honestly I didn’t spend much time with. Whilst the core of the gameplay remains the same, the presentation of it has changed. Rather than going linearly from level to level there is now a hub world that you travel from.

In and Out

Whilst the inclusion of this hub world is an interesting choice it does seem that the game is built with backtracking and repeating levels in mind. Certain areas cannot be accessed without the correct amount of Compound X. This is a resource that is unlocked from completing certain objectives. Some areas of the map are locked off until you get enough it. An amount that might exceed what is readily available on the map you are on. So to 100% a given level you’ll need to go back to finish things off. And I’m not sure how to feel about that.

Carefully brew potions for new abilities.

On the one hand, it’s good to have a reason to return to previously completed levels for more than just a chance to muck about. But on the other hand, the gimmick for each level lost its novelty for me after the first run. In the preview of Kill It With Fire 2, you will play a spooky haunted house level, a level set in a spider city, and a furniture showroom. These are all great concepts. And feel sufficiently developed given how far along the game currently is. And they may further evolve with time. But as it stands, once you have ‘been there and done that’ there isn’t as much of a reason to go back.

Spider of Man

Still, regardless of where you do your squashing the cycle for each level remains largely the same. Kill a certain number of spiders to unlock the next area in a level. Complete challenges to unlock other areas. Then kill/complete enough to finish the level. I will admit that after a certain point the game feels less about killing the spiders and more about completing the objects. Though in fairness that was the case in the previous game too. And it isn’t something I can fairly hold against the game. As the challenges, be they objectives or the actual challenges that you are given are a lot of fun.

Yes, you too can become a spider.

In the haunted house level, you are trying to put the spirits of the deceased residents to rest, brewing potions, and other spooky matters. In the Spider City level, you are smashing up buildings and attacking tanks and such like some kind of King Kong monster. They shake up the formula in ways that feel more engaging than even the past game did. With the variety on offer being more than just “Kill X Spiders with the frying pan”. And they play well to the level’s theme. And this makes me exited to see how this will develop in coming updates.

Splat Attack

All in all, I have to say that from what I have played in this preview Kill It With Fire 2 is a great follow-up to the previous game. And I’ll admit that in the here and now most of the issues I have are mostly down to a matter of personal taste over legitimate issues the game has. Now, I wouldn’t go as far as saying the game is feature-complete enough to be considered good to ship. Or that it is worth diving in now. It is an early-access title. And as good as it is, it isn’t wise to burn yourself out on it too soon.

I hear the finished game is behind this portal.

How “Worth it” you find Kill It With Fire 2 ultimately comes down to how much you enjoyed the first game. If you love it then you may enjoy this. If you enjoyed your favourite Youtuber or Twitch Streamer playing it then, maybe you’ll enjoy it. Honestly, it does feel more geared towards being a streamer-friendly title this time around. For better or worse. But even still, there is a lot to enjoy here and I look forward to seeing how it develops and if it can stand shoulder to shoulder with its predecessor.

Graphics & Audio – Burn Baby Burn!

It isn’t just the gameplay that remains largely the same as in the prior game. The visuals and art direction as seen in this preview of Kill It With Fire 2 remain largely the same as the first. All be it with what feels like an extra drizzle of graphical and stylistic flare here and there to add to the look and feel of certain levels. Gone are the domestic and largely mundane locations of the first title. Now we are in far more eccentric and strange places. And whilst I miss the prior games grounded locations these new ones are well designed. But I have to say that the spacecraft that acts as the hub is dark and dingey and not in a good way. Muted colours. A sickly shade of grey over most things.

It frankly is an unpleasant location to be in. And truth be told I’m not sure how much of that is intentional. Soundtrack-wise, again, it is more or less what we got in the previous game. Maybe with the production value boosted up a little. There is nothing wrong with this. As quite frankly it worked well there and it works well here. If it ain’t broke don’t break it! Like with the gameplay, aside a few areas of pure personal taste, the game is fine. And I am curious to see what, if anything, changes between now and the time of the final release.

Kill It With Fire 2 was previewed on PC.