It's still more than a month away before The King of Fighters (KoF) XIV is officially released to the public.
Those who are uncertain if they'll be purchasing a copy of the SNK Playmore developed game through its associated channels may, however, try out a playable demo of the game that's launching this July 19, Tuesday.
The KoF demo will offer a look into the newly revamped world of SNK's The King of Fighters, which is now rendered in full 3D, marking the first for the arcade-style title since its initial launch way back in 1994. A total of seven playable characters can be accessed by players during the demo, featuring fan favorites — Mai Shiranui, Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami — as well as series newcomers: King of Dinosaurs, Sylvie Paula Paula, Shun'ei and Nelson.
The demo will not be equipped for online play, however, and instead showcase the game's offline content and its latest developments, such as the 3D renovation as mentioned and completely overhauled and rebalanced character stats for at least the seven fighters included in the demo.
"It's the best enhancement of the series since KOF '98, with a complete overhaul to Combos and MAX Mode to make it more approachable for beginners," describes the PlayStation blog, adding that the KoF XIV, despite major revisions, will still remain as one of the most "competitive entry in the history of the series."
At the core of the soon-to-be-released title is still the standard three-man team competing against other groups to climb up the ranks and become the king of all fighters, as the title would suggest. Just in case you haven't heard, the final game will contain a whopping lineup of 50 playable characters which players can choose from to form their own unique team builds.
The final boss, as all arcade fighting-style games usually have, is the game's newest villain, Antonov, "an eccentric billionaire who bought the rights to the King of Fighters brand in order to host a new tournament."
In addition, the online content for KoF XIV will feature the newest multiplayer Party Battle where not only two players will be battling it out against other but rather three players on each opposing team. Players on one side will presumably take turns fighting against the opposing team's members in the VS online mode.
The King of Fighters XIV will launch on Aug. 23 for the U.S. and Aug. 26 for Europe.
In the meantime, those who wish to place preorders may access the PlayStation Store and SNK Playmore. The game will be exclusively available on the PS4 platform.
