In 2020, the most cathartic game for haters of those eight-legged freaks of nature, SPIDERS! was released upon the world. ‘Kill It With Fire’ was a literal and metaphorical smash hit for gamers and those sneaky bastards. Four years later, the same development team, Casey Donnellan Games, and publishing team tinyBuild are back with more of that lovely no-holds-bar destruction and mayhem, as those hairy monsters are removed from existence in ‘Kill It With Fire 2’.

Those who have played ‘Kill It With Fire’ I believe would agree with me the experience was too short. My time with it was a mere seven hours and 20 minutes. A fleeting joy much the same as destroying one of those multi-eyed devils, knowing you have done a service for humanity. I also believe there would be an agreeance that playing with other like-minded exterminators would certainly put humanity in the dominant position over those creepy crawlies and double the fun.

Well in ‘Kill It With Fire 2’ those requests have been fulfilled. This first-person action game has you saving humanity against those web-spinning terrors with all the brutally destructive means as an exterminator or surviving that onslaught as the terrifyingly silent arachnid.

This new multiplayer mode is called ‘Spider Hunt’ and is the newest available mode in “Kill It With Fire 2”. In Spider Hunt, you and up to seven other players can enter a player-versus-player match where the exterminators are tasked with hunting down the spiders, and the spiders are tasked with..well..living. The exterminators win by eradicating all the spiders whereas the spiders win by surviving until the time runs out or the exterminators cause too much collateral damage.

The single-player is also back in Campaign mode, but this time co-op is available. So, hunting spiders, completing tasks, and just unleashing all-out destruction as a team is available and just as cathartic as it was in the original title.

Unfortunately, there was some minor glitching and the occasional crash. Some of the spiders would be unable to be attacked on some surfaces, even when they were being targeted. Or a spider would try to attack you and instead get stuck following you around until you just randomly die. As irritating as this may sound, it was such a minor inconvenience to the fun it didn’t detract from the overall experience. Plus, I am positive this will be fixed by Casey Donnellan Games, removing the problems if you have a lower tolerance than my own.

The controls are simple and match that of any first-person game that you would come to expect. Be it a keyboard and mouse, or a gamepad you can easily find comfort in the handling of your character with your desired method and remapping of keys and buttons if required.

Those who have played Kill It With Fire, will find both the graphics and the audio familiar. Kill It With Fire 2 uses the same low poly graphics but with a crisper and cleaner look. It is a nice improvement that increases visual enjoyment without going too far. Changing it too far in my opinion would have been detrimental as it would have changed the game’s tone. Just like the graphics Kill It With Fire 2’s music and sound effects are the same with mild improvements to increase the overall enjoyment without impacting the tone.

Kill It With Fire 2 is just as great as Kill It With Fire with its added player-versus-player fun. A strong single-player experience with the Campaign mode allowing a co-op partnership is a welcome addition to the game. The delivery of what was successful the first time around and then these added features are just what the audience wanted and will certainly appreciate. Needless to say, I am very excited to play more of Kill It with Fire 2, and even more excited to play with veterans and newcomers alike.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove