Kusan: City of Wolves Review

If you’ve been hankering for Hotline Miami with a dose of ripped, well-endowed animals thrown into the mix, you’re in for a treat. Kusan: City of Wolves by CIRCLEfromDOT wears its influence on its fur-covered sleeve. It’s unapologetically Hotline Miami, with an unsettling Furry-centred story and a healthy dose of Cyberpunk styling in the setting.

First up, let’s address the sexy elephant in the room. I don’t get the furry thing. No judgement, but it’s so not my cuppa that playing something married to that aesthetic isn’t my vibe. The mix of bleak dystopian noir and busty rabbit people/c*m-guttered dogs didn’t spark joy.  Your mileage may vary.

Now, the story. Again, my cup of tea is well and truly in a different room. There’s a level of teenage angst and edginess baked into Kusan: City of Wolves that’s hard to take at face value. It’s on the same wavelength as watching a fan edit of fights from The Crow set to Linkin Park. It dwells in bleakness, with sex trafficking, child abduction, and so, so much bloodshed. As a genre piece, it does some stuff quite well, but the writing leans on the bloated side. The narrative is delivered in a comic strip format, which works pretty well to contrast the fast-paced gameplay, but it’s bogged down by some eye-rolling choices.

What made Hotline Miami games work so well was the blend of violence and mystery. The setting itself and the violent acts lived in an American Psycho-esque place between reality and delusion. The contrast created intrigue. Now, with Kusan, the violence leans towards being glorified. The protagonist comes across like a violent Poochie (leather jacket and all). He’s an ex-merc panther who is confident in his ability to kill and does so gladly. That is until he’s unexpectedly paired with a powerful but damaged child with powers. You can see where this is going because that path is well trodden (Logan, Mandalorian, TLOU, etc. etc. etc.). Because it is what it looks like on the tin, the violence feels a bit gross, and the seediness more confronting. It’s far from the worst narrative I’ve played through, but it doesn’t particularly stand out either.

The gameplay is where Kusan starts to earn back points. It does what it does really, really well. It’s essentially a melee-heavy Hotline Miami with some tweaks. You have some unique abilities to pulp bad guys with, like a supercharged robotic arm that can launch doors and an auto-kill throwing knife. 

The level design is decent, but one criticism would be that the pace feels much faster than other Miami-like games. So, instead of a free-flowing dance of violence, it can feel more like a punishing puzzle to solve, where you’re repeating the same order of attacks until you find success. Once you progress through a floor, the game lets you retry them to achieve a better ranking, which is a cool feature if you’re into that sort of thing. One of the highlights for me was a level where the fighting spills onto a highway, with speeding cars becoming another obstacle that can paste you in an instant. It’s where the game feels like it’s adding to the homage and not just a rinse and repeat.

As you smash your way through the city, you’ll occasionally find a boss, breaking up the usual flow of fighting and testing your patience. And your patience may well and truly be tested, because Kusan is a difficult game that punishes mistakes. The game does a decent job of getting you to shake up your playstyle as you go, which is refreshing.

Progressing the story earns you new upgrades (through found currency), with plenty of free range to optimise your build. Each upgrade needs to slot into place, with a Tetris-like stacker and the opportunity to spend more currency for smaller footprints so you can pack more in. It’s a neat way to break up the fast-paced violence and zen out while organising your pack.

From the pumping soundtrack to the blood smearing, fast-paced, top-down action, it feels so much like Devolver’s classic that it’s hard not to compare the two when discussing Kusan: City of Wolves. End of the day, I had a decent time in the city, but I don’t think it has the staying power of the game it was so clearly inspired by.

Final Thoughts

If you’re into furry culture, dank sci-fi, and turning enemies into red smears on the map, Kusan: City of Wolves will be up your alley. It’s a decent game with some replayability, but it probably won’t blow your mind (unlike the psychic dudes in the game).

Reviewed on Steam Deck. Review code supplied by the publisher.