14 DAY TRIAL // 
I’m driving fast on the highway, circling the city, taking in the sights. Because my character is a cat, I am not quite sure how she’s reaching the pedals or looking out the window. But, from the third-person perspective, it’s easy to avoid incoming traffic as I head back to the area with the park. I’m not really doing missions at this point, although I’m keeping an eye out for the car I am supposed to find.
I am trying to cause as much chaos as possible, get some experience, and find out which areas of this city offer more exploration options. The jump and climb move is pretty flexible, allowing the feline protagonist to get to some really surprising places. And the many humans walking around don’t seem too annoyed that a pet is driving cars and destroying their shops while on the prowl for some nice food.
I destroy a sushi food truck (sadly, I cannot guide the human out before I trash the place) when I stumble on a tree that’s easy to topple after I take out a guard. I could go back to the cat mayor to get another mission. But I think I’ll steal another fancy vehicle and see just how big this open world is and what kind of destruction I can create by running over people and things.
Heist Kitty: Multiplayer Cat Simulator is developed by LetMeowt Games LLC, with publishing in the hands of Excalibur Games. I played it on Steam on the PC. The title has an open-world structure and a cat protagonist, giving players a variety of ways to cause chaos with their friends.
The premise is easy to understand and weird enough to support an interesting universe: cats in this city are all sentient, able to communicate, and ready to do very human stuff to reach their goals. Kitty City is inspired by the American of the ‘90s, and there are plenty of elements modeled directly on classic Grand Theft Auto concepts. Players will get involved in the conflict between Hairiss Purrlice, the leader of the cops, and Tawny Catatelli, who heads the Meowfia.
These are just of the many pun character names and a good example of the kind of humor that the game is going for. It’s good for a chuckle here and there, but most of the writing is designed to point players to quests and explain mechanics. The weirdest thing is the lack of communication between the people in the city, who seem to coordinate their activities by telepathic means.
Heist Kitty is an open-world game. It takes a few minutes for the player’s chosen feline avatar to get out of the house and meet the mayor. Soon, the cat is driving cars at an alarming speed and knocking over things all over the city. There are even ways to get complex weapons to deal with threatening humans. Exploration can lead to secret areas, and some places require keys for access. The cat can also jump on the back of a human, hang there, and then basically puppet him or her around (some NPCs are driven to dance when taken over). Scratch at any of them to force them to drop a pack of candy while ineffectively trying to drive the cat protagonist away.
Because gamers are cats, some level of chaos is inherent to all gameplay. Completely destroy stores and other places, and new options open up, including special hats. Push through the quest chain of a faction to get another set of rewards. Earn enough experience to upgrade a cat stat.
The open-world structure is ambitious, but the world does sometimes seem a little empty. There’s limited variety for both vehicles and humans. Cars often move in weird ways. The physics engine also makes it impossible to run over someone (they simply are thrown high in the air), while collisions between two cars create ping-pong-like results rather than fiery crashes. The limited violence and the cat focus make the entire experience suited for genre newcomers and younger players.
But anyone that wants a big and complex open city has better options in the genre. The cat weirdness is pretty good, but it needed another gear to keep gamers interested. Cat-created chaos should draw more attention and reactions from the humans. I wanted bigger cat conflicts and ways to transform the city.
Heist Kitty is designed to be more engaging when other humans join in and decide to become chaos-creating cats. It’s hard to find players looking to join the action, so make sure to have a group of friends who are interested in open-world action and find the core concept funny.
Heist Kitty: Multiplayer Cat Simulator doesn’t try to rival other titles in the genre with its graphical quality. It has a blocky, low polygon look and plenty of moments when the cat protagonist can move directly through what appear to be solid items or textures. Movement is also a little weird, especially when it comes to cars speeding through the streets or when the cat controls a human character.
The graphics generally work with the title’s core idea of multiplayer mayhem. The sound design is less successful, with the city often feeling empty, despite the many sources of sound that should constantly offer clues and hints to an animal with such keen hearing. The soundtrack is bouncy but gets repetitive very quickly.
The Good
- Open-world structure
- Cat mechanics
- Designed for play with friends
The Bad
- No innovative mechanics
- Graphics and world glitches
- Limited sound design
Conclusion
The experience is less interesting in single-player, mostly because the missions aren’t very engaging, and the city can soon start feeling small. It also feels like the cats do not cause nearly enough mayhem, especially in enclosed spaces full of breakable objects. Heist Kitty: Multiplayer Cat Simulator is a strong foundation on which the developers at LetMeowt can create a bigger, weirder experience with extra interactions.
A review key was provided by the publisher
