Kusan: City of Wolves — Complete Strategy Guide

What Is Kusan: City of Wolves?

Kusan: City of Wolves is a hardcore top-down shooter set in a neon-drenched urban jungle ruled by corruption. You play as Jin, a former soldier turned gun-for-hire, navigating 54 hand-crafted stages across multiple chapters. The goal: save a mysterious girl with immense power while confronting your past and a commander's betrayal.

Developed by CIRCLEfromDOT and published by PQube, Kusan launched July 30, 2026 on Steam. It's built for players who crave precise, punishing action — one mistake means death. The game rewards stylish play with chained kills, parries, and score multipliers. A survival shooter for people who think Hotline Miami was too forgiving.

The soundtrack is by Korean hip-hop heavyweight Loptimist, and the visual presentation uses dynamic comic-panel cutscenes between missions.

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Controls & Key Bindings

Kusan supports both keyboard and controller. For a game this precision-intensive, controller is the recommended way to play — the twin-stick aiming feels natural.

Keyboard (Default)

Controller (Full Support)

Recommended adjustments:

• Lower right-stick sensitivity by 1–2 notches. The default feels twitchy for precision aiming.
• Remap Dash to a paddle/back button if your controller has them — you'll dodge mid-combat more naturally.
• Turn off vibration in settings. The visual feedback on hits is clear enough, and vibration adds latency to your input response.

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Combat Mechanics

Core Loop

Every encounter follows the same rhythm: assess → engage → execute → reset.

1. Assess the arena. When you enter a new room, don't move. Study enemy positions, cover spots, and escape routes. The game doesn't spawn enemies behind you — what you see at the door is what you'll fight.

2. Prioritize threats. Kill order matters. Gunners before melee units. Bombers before snipers. Elite enemies before everything else. The wrong order means getting flanked.

3. Chain for style. Kills within 1.5 seconds of each other build your Style Meter. Each tier increases damage dealt and Bolts earned. At max Style, every kill drops +50% Bolts.

4. Reset safely. After clearing a wave, back into a corner and assess the next group. Never stand in the middle of the room.

Style Meter

The Style Meter has four tiers:

Style decays when you take damage — losing one tier per hit. At zero Style, you reset back to Cool. The difference between a 6-minute stage run and a 3-minute S-rank is maintaining Amazing or Perfect through every encounter.

The Parry System

Parrying (press Space/LT just before an attack lands) is the highest-skill mechanic in Kusan.

What you can parry:

• Melee attacks (any enemy type)
• Projectiles (bullets, thrown weapons)
• Boss charge attacks
• Environmental hazards (explosive barrels, traps)

Parry rewards:

• +2 Style tiers instantly
• Enemy is staggered for 2 seconds (free kill window)
• 3 guaranteed Bolts dropped

Parry timing window: 8 frames at 60 FPS. That's tight — about 130ms. Practice on the training dummies in the hub area before attempting in real combat.

Common mistake: Trying to parry automatic fire. You can't — it's too fast. Parry single shots and melee attacks only.

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Weapons & The War Hand Arsenal

The War Hand is your upgradable weapon system. It starts as a basic arm-mounted gun and evolves through Bolts you earn from stylish kills.

Starting Loadout

Unlockable Weapons (in order of unlock)

Recommended Loadouts

All-rounder (default, good for first playthrough):

• Primary: Heavy Pistol
• Secondary: Combat Knife
• Ability: Smoke Grenade
• Special: EMP Pulse

Speedrunner (S-rank hunting):

• Primary: Submachine Gun (Style builder)
• Secondary: Plasma Blade (projectile parry)
• Ability: Stim Boost (temporary speed increase)
• Special: Flashbang

Boss Killer (boss fights):

• Primary: Sniper Rifle
• Secondary: Gravity Hammer
• Ability: Shield Charge
• Special: Railgun (unlocked late game)

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Stages & Walkthrough

Stage Structure

The game has 54 stages organized into 6 chapters, each with 9 stages. Stages follow this pattern:

• 7 combat arenas — kill rooms with varied enemy compositions
• 1 puzzle stage — environmental puzzles, traps, or stealth sections
• 1 boss fight — unique enemy with distinct attack patterns

Chapter 1: The Awakening

First 9 stages are tutorial-adjacent. The game introduces mechanics one at a time.

Stage 3 (first parry tutorial): Don't skip the parry training. The game will let you leave without mastering it, and Stage 5 expects you to parry a boss attack to progress.

Stage 5 boss — Blade: Melee-focused mini-boss. Pattern: three swings then a charge. Parry the charge (easier timing) to stagger and unload.

Stage 9 boss — Hacker: Summons drone support. Kill drones first or they heal the boss. Use EMP Pulse to disable his shield generator.

Chapter 2: The Underground

Introduces environmental hazards — electrified floors, gas leaks, turrets.

Stage 14 — Gas-filled room. The gas ignites if you shoot. Use melee only or wait for the ventilation cycle (every 45 seconds, gas clears for 10 seconds).

Stage 18 boss — Tank: Armored vehicle. Shoot the exhaust vent on its back. Requires baiting its charge attack, dodging, then hitting the vent while it's stunned.

Chapter 3+ Boss Notes

From Chapter 3 onward, bosses have phase transitions at 50% HP. Each phase adds new attacks. Don't blow all your abilities in phase 1 — save at least one full ability bar for phase 2.

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Achievement Guide

Kusan has 45 achievements. Here are the hardest ones:

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System Requirements

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Advanced Tips

• Slide-cancel your reload. Press Dash during the last third of the reload animation to cancel the recovery frames. Saves 0.3 seconds per reload.
• Wall-bounce grenades. Smoke and frag grenades bounce off walls. You can bank them around corners for crowd control without exposing yourself.
• Enemy flinch resets their attack timer. If you're caught in a bad position, a single quick shot flinches most mooks and buys you a 1-second window to reposition.
• Boss farming. Chapter 4, Stage 6 boss drops 2x Bolts compared to normal stages. Farm this for upgrades.
• Listen for the audio cue. Every enemy type has a distinct footstep pattern. Gunners have heavy boots (slow, loud). Assassins are nearly silent. Train your ear and you'll spot assassins before they're visible.

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FAQ

Q: Is there a difficulty setting?
A: No difficulty options. The game is designed as a single fixed difficulty experience.

Q: Can I replay stages?
A: Yes. After clearing a chapter, all its stages are replayable from the hub. S-ranks require replaying.

Q: Is there a New Game+?
A: Not yet. The devs have mentioned it in community discussions but no confirmed date.

Q: How long is the game?
A: First playthrough is 6–10 hours depending on skill. S-ranking all stages adds 15–30 more hours.

Q: Is controller or keyboard better?
A: Controller is the recommended experience. The twin-stick aiming is more natural. But keyboard players can be equally competitive with practice.

Q: Does the game have achievements for difficulty?
A: No difficulty achievements. Hardest achievements are S-rank related.