Kernel Panic is essentially a sublimated RTS. The resource management has been taken away completly: all mobiles units and buildings can be constructed for free. The learning of complex tech tree has been cut out drasticly: there are only 10 units per side, including factories and walls. The hours long struggle so typical of TA/SupCom/Spring have been shrunk dramatically: A typical Kernel Panic game will last no longer than 10mins. Even the eye dazzling graphics every other mod strive for have been swapped for old school vectorial look, somewhat reminscent of Tron or Darwinia.
With the removal of economy management, of offense/defense balance, all that remains is pure strategy and tactics: Performing a ten seconds retreat to gather your troops, choosing between staying battling units, or charging through to hit the enemy to the heart, spreading your forces to scout and skirmish everywhere around the map, or concentrating them into an unstoppable tide, taking the left, right, or middle route,.... Yes, in every RTS, you will have to make such choice, but much too often they are diluted into long and boring building up phase, repeating learnt by heart build order, building in masses only the one best unit and throw it by pack of 20 to the enemy via the direct route, ....
In other real time strategy games, newcomers are slaughtered under five minutes by Koreans who know every little idiosyncrasy of every of the myriads units. To the contrary, Kernel Panic has such a short learning curve, that it takes about half of game to learn all there is to know about Kernel Panic. It is not unusual for people who have never played Kernel Panic to reach the top players in their first or second game, as only raw skills matter in Kernel Panic.
In short, Kernel Panic is pure, unadulatered RTS fun, with all the boring bits removed, distilled to fast intense action.
Keywords about Kernel Panic:
- Streamlined
- Fast Paced
- No resources. (All constructions are free)
- Short game (like, 5-10 mins)
- Extremely few and archetypal units.
- Short learning curve.
- Gameplay feels a bit like Z, the 1996's Bitmap Brother hit.
- No building up, to teching up, no porcing up. Pure unadultered action!