I have never played Killer Queen before, and am sad to reveal that fact.
I’ve heard incredible stories about it and how people travel all over to find a place that has the arcade cabinets. These machines draw crowds unlike many other games, and considering it’s only available in a select-few areas, there are many out there that aren’t able to play this phenomenon.
For this reason, playing Killer Queen Black on the Nintendo Switch was one of my most anticipated hands-on events at E3, and I am here to tell you that it did not disappoint.
The concept is simple, you play as a team of four (different from the arcade versions 5-on-5 battles) with three players taking the role of Drones and one as the Queen. There are three ways to achieve victory, Military, Economic, or Snail. Military Victory is achieved by killing the opposing Queen three times, Economic by retrieving 12 berries and returning them to your base, and Snail by riding a slow-moving snail on the bottom of the screen back to your side of the screen.
Yes, the Snail Victory is as awesome and nerve-wracking as expected.
The gameplay is pretty straightforward, and is simplified by allowing you to press a button to jump and press a button to attack. Although, as it is with many simple-on-the-surface games, the depth of the title shines through almost immediately.
As one of the Drones, you can choose to gather a berry and return it to base, or you can take it to a spot on the map that allows you to gain access to a melee or long-range weapon. Also, with the three victory conditions always in play, there is a constant give-and-take and risk-reward that each player has to consider throughout the entire match.
What’s more interesting, each team either takes the role of a gold or blue team, but one team in the world will become the black team and will stay so until defeated and will be streamed on a dedicated channel set up by the developers.
Considering this title will support online and local co-op and will bring Killer Queen to a much wider audience is something truly special. I was able to play a few matches and was immediately sold on the potential of this game. Also, turning into a Drone with a long-range gun and landing the final shot on the opposing queen for a Military Victory didn’t hurt my perception of the game either.
You may have heard of Killer Queen, you may have played it, but either way, don’t miss it when it launches on the Nintendo Switch in March of 2019.
