Kate: Collateral Damage

About

Kate: Collateral Damage is a single player survival hack and slash game. It was developed by Ludic Studios and was released on October 22, 2021. It received very positive reviews from players.

"Kate: Collateral Damage" is a time-attack action roguelike game inspired by the Netflix film. As Kate, a dying assassin, you must race against the clock to exact revenge on the Yakuza boss who poisoned you. Scavenge for weapons, engage in fast-paced combat, and use stimulant syringes to extend your life as you fight through the criminal underworld. Every second counts in this thrilling race against time.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

92%

Audience ScoreBased on 76 reviews

gameplay8 positive mentions

replayability4 negative mentions

The game features fast-paced, satisfying combat that encourages players to keep moving and engaging with enemies.
The art style and music are well-received, adding to the overall enjoyment of the gameplay experience.
Kate: Collateral Damage offers a unique blend of roguelite elements and arcade-style action, making it an engaging experience for fans of similar games.

The game is relatively short, with a main story mode that can be completed in about two hours, leading to limited replayability.
There are issues with enemy visibility and control mechanics, including auto-aim that can hinder gameplay.
The narrative is criticized for being shallow and not well-explained, especially for players unfamiliar with the movie it ties into.

gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
60%
13%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players enjoying the addictive and intense mechanics, particularly the incorporation of rogue-lite elements and varied melee weapons. However, many find the experience repetitive due to limited enemy types and environments, leading to boredom over time. While some appreciate the evolution from the previous game "Akane," others feel that the core controls and mechanics of "Kate: Collateral Damage" lack the same engaging quality.
- “Kate takes the same gameplay formula, changes a lot of stuff, and adds some small, incredibly light rogue-lite elements to the mix to form its own gameplay style, and if I'm being honest, I like the version we have here much more.”
- “The arcade-ish gameplay coupled with the upgrades can make for some pretty interesting builds and runs, and having a storyline really shows what a sequel to Akane would look like.”
- “As for the gameplay, it is both simple and quite addictive, where Kate is running out of time, and your way to get more time to spare, each melee weapon can break quite easily as well as running out of a short amount of ammo, so the game can be quite intense when you're moving around each level trying to kill as many enemies as quickly as possible, which can be quite satisfying.”
- “But the fact is that I have enough fun with 'Akane' from its core controls that I keep going back to play it, while I do not have that much fun with 'Kate: Collateral Damage's core controls and mechanics, and I'm not sure how much making it more or less like 'Akane' would fix it.”
- “Through the bland flavor text and the repetitive gameplay (same room, basically one gameplay loop), there probably is a good game to be found here.”
- “The gameplay consists of you moving through rooms killing people, trying to keep a streak because you die otherwise.”
story
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
70%
15%
The story in "Kate" is generally viewed as a mixed bag; while it offers a fun premise involving a character on a time-sensitive mission, many players feel it lacks depth and coherence, especially for those unfamiliar with the movie it ties into. The narrative is brief, lasting about two hours, and often feels like an afterthought to the action-oriented gameplay. Despite its shortcomings, some players appreciate the creative liberties taken and the engaging arcade-style elements that accompany the storyline.
- “The arcade-ish gameplay coupled with the upgrades can make some pretty interesting builds and runs, and having a storyline really shows what a sequel to Akane would look like.”
- “Kate is a hack and slash, shooter, roguelike where you play as Kate, who is injected with a deadly poison that would kill her within a few hours, and your mission is to hunt down and find out who planned to inject you in the first place.”
- “It mixes the classical arcade-slashing with some rogue-lite elements and tries to reproduce the story of the movie with some really creative liberties.”
- “It only takes about two hours to beat the normal story mode, which goes on and ends in a very abrupt manner, probably because I haven't seen the movie. After that, there's almost nothing left to do.”
- “I hadn’t seen the movie this game is attached to before playing, and the story really didn’t hold together on its own.”
- “The story feels kinda eh, but I'm going to blame that on the fact this game is a movie tie-in.”
music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
61%
17%
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality and energetic style, particularly highlighting the work of composer Cybass, which adds to the overall enjoyment of gameplay. However, some users feel that the soundtrack lacks variety compared to previous titles, and there are mixed opinions on its integration with game elements. Overall, while the music is engaging and well-executed, it may not meet the expectations set by earlier games in the series.
- “A fast-paced tiny action game with a mind-blowing soundtrack.”
- “Doing a kickass OST which will surprise you.”
- “Even the art in Akane is better - the soundtrack in Akane is much better.”
- “The soundtrack is an ensemble of punchy tracks spanning a decently varied swathe of styles.”
- “Music is beyond anything in Kate just like Akane; it was done by the great Cybass, who I assume is working with Ludic.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
30%
10%
The graphics are generally praised for their cute, stylized art and character designs, effectively paying homage to the Netflix movie. However, some users noted a lack of variety in items and power-ups compared to previous games, along with a few graphical bugs and performance optimization issues. Overall, while the aesthetic and music are well-received, the graphical execution has room for improvement.
- “Graphics are nice and the story is fun.”
- “This is a cute but stylized homage to the Netflix movie, and I really liked the art style used in pixels.”
- “Really cool art style and character designs.”
- “I encountered a few graphical bugs in the tutorial, and the performance doesn’t seem all too well optimized.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game offers a solid level of replayability, particularly as a short beat'em up experience, but players express a desire for additional features like custom controls and difficulty modifiers to enhance the challenge and overall replay value. While enjoyable, some feel that the current options limit the game's long-term appeal.
- “Good enough game for what it is - a short romp beat'em up with lots of replayability.”
- “Kate could have used some difficulty or modifier options to ramp up the challenge, as its replay value is certainly lacking as-is.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding required to obtain unlocks to be excessive and not rewarding, leading to a sense of dissatisfaction with the effort-to-reward ratio.
- “The unlocks didn't feel like they were worth it either, as they were very grindy to obtain.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The reviews highlight a strong appreciation for the art style and character designs, indicating that while the visual presentation is impressive, there may be less emphasis on the depth of character development itself.
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from noticeable graphical bugs, particularly during the tutorial, and overall performance is reported to be subpar, indicating a lack of effective optimization.