Skull Island: Rise of Kong is out today, October 17, and the $39.99 action adventure has already been called “the worst game of 2023”.
Skull Island: Rise of Kong was developed by IguanaBee, the Chilean studio behind 2020’s G.I. Joe: Operation Blackout and Headsnatchers, and is published by Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl‘s GameMill Entertainment under licence from DeVito ArtWorks, which controls the King Kong / Skull Island universe.
Announcing its release date, GameMill described Skull Island: Rise of Kong as an “exhilarating, third-person action-adventure game [that] lets you become Kong on a journey of vengeance as you fight to claim your rightful place as King of Skull Island”.
The truth of Skull Island, however, is quite different. It’s already gone viral on social media for all the wrong reasons, with one tweet showing a cutscene with visuals you’d expect three generations ago viewed nearly seven million times.
Actual cutscene
DO NOT BUY THE NEW KING KONG GAME. IT IS A COMPLETE SCAM pic.twitter.com/6hiCWOSnNc
— Rick (@RickDaSquirrel) October 16, 2023
Another tweet showing rudimentary action gameplay has had over a quarter of a million views.
“Gameplay” of Skull Island: Rise of Kong.
This costs 40 dollars and is made by people that make low effort shovelware with big IP franchises.
The modern LJN pic.twitter.com/YjHqOeoosr
— King Kong Perfect Shots (@KongShots) October 16, 2023
There’s plenty more:
I take back every bad thing I said about Godzilla PS4.@GameMillEnt King Kong deserves better than whatever this is supposed to be. pic.twitter.com/bDoHfEnH0g
— Rick (@RickDaSquirrel) October 16, 2023
Step aside Elden Ring pic.twitter.com/qdrH3TnFjS
— Rick (@RickDaSquirrel) October 16, 2023
New King Kong game looks like game of the year material pic.twitter.com/TXuZYQ53EL
— Rick (@RickDaSquirrel) October 16, 2023
In the game, Kong sets out to avenge the death of his parents by the saurian terror Gaw. “Traverse the mysterious island and uncover its secrets across a variety of treacherous environments, discovering the power coursing through its exotic flora and fauna,” GameMill said. “Conquer waves of primal beasts, defeat unique bosses, and rise above all who stand in Kong’s way to being King!”
Exacerbating the issue is the fact Skull Island: Rise of Kong is the first new King Kong game in 18 years, and follows Ubisoft’s fondly remembered Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, which came out in 2005.
As you’d expect, the memes are in full force:
— Ed_rick (@Edrick1954) October 16, 2023
— Hearthlord48 (@opkinghassan) October 17, 2023
Its insane that king kong ps2 looks better than this. pic.twitter.com/jwVI8R1hAz
— Dreamer (@DimensionDreamr) October 17, 2023
Looks like something out of Beast Wars pic.twitter.com/u9cof2DFic
— David (@davidk1234567) October 16, 2023
Anyways, back to playing this gem pic.twitter.com/x2b3TwADmU
— Rick (@RickDaSquirrel) October 16, 2023
Skull Island: Rise of Kong rekindles memories of 2017’s Life of Black Tiger, which was at the time called the worst PlayStation 4 game ever. It raises questions about the quality control — or lack of — employed by the console platform holders Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, when such an obviously poor quality game is approved for release on their supposedly curated storefronts.
IGN has asked GameMill for comment.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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