Old School Gamer Magazine Exclusive: Inside ‘Kite’

Old School Gamer Magazine chats with Kite’s James Treneman (Solo Developer & Founder, Lab Cat Games), who details the game’s origin and outlines its goals. A unique dual-stick shooter experience, it’s definitely inspired by games of the past.

About Kite:

After the revolution, humanity’s combined efforts to meld cold robotics with nature have paid off. Earth has revitalized itself – and now the global utopia once thought impossible has become a reality. This biomechanical paradise has emerged thanks in no small part to a steady disarmament campaign.

Yet even in times of absolute peace, shadowy secrets lurk. Several weapon research facilities remain operational; hidden from the public eye, they’re kept alive as an ‘insurance policy’ against unforeseen threats. Within these clandestine halls, scientists work tirelessly to design powerful combat systems never before imagined by humankind. When a security breach threatens one of these secret facilities (Arch City), you’ll take control of the most advanced hardware ever developed – a Human-Operated Remote Droid prototype, or H.O.R.D. chassis.

As Mags – a well-equipped H.O.R.D. pilot – your mission is to preserve the blanket of peace surrounding the world. To do so, you’ll engage in the gunplay-ballet known as ‘kiting’ – dashing away from mobs of rebellious bots while blasting through lush, destructible environments.

Mastering the fast-paced combat style means the difference between being a survivor … and becoming scrap! With a variety of swarming enemies such as Charge Bots, Slice Bots, Bouncing Betties, Crab Bots, Hyper Turrets and Prox Mines in your way, surviving won’t be easy.

Utilize 100+ craftable weapons and items to enhance your battle Droid. Bring your combat capabilities to the next level by learning skills from a vast 76-point skill tree. Power up a slew of upgrades and special abilities – providing all the tools necessary to kite enemies into oblivion!

Old School Gamer Magazine: How was this game born?

James Treneman: Kite was born from an intense need to create that had been stifled for years. The first step was to finally take the plunge – and bet on myself for once! – by starting my own studio, Lab Cat Games, in 2014.

Many years ago – while brainstorming a different project – I realized that the most intense moments in many of my favorite games were those that put me right on the edge of getting away … or catching up to something. I wanted gameplay that could reproduce that. I knew that the term “kiting” (a sort of perpetual tactical retreat) was a good way to describe those moments; what if I tapped the “feels” we all get from playing retro games but delivered them in a modern package? Would I be able to deliver top-notch pixel art, a three-quarter view, and tons of depth … all by myself?

Since I could prototype the combat quickly, I had people checking the game out within two weeks  – which was super-encouraging and helped me fully commit to the project. However, it would soon be clear that game development is 99% polish.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ss97tQVydo[/embedyt]

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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