My Thoughts On Broforce
Let's try out a little game review.Broforce
by Free Lives
Released October 15, 2015
Reception
83% on Metacritic
8.0 from Metacritic users
Ranked #7 on Angry Joe's Top 10 BEST Games of 2015
I bought this game on Steam since it's available for Macintosh. Before that, I've played the demo version which is on various flash game websites like Miniclip and Y8.com. I've heard about Broforce before at a Gamestop as the gameplay trailer was shown on a PS4 demo screen. All I saw was insane chaos, destruction, and blood flying everywhere with tons of explosions, and that immediately caught my attention because I'm a sucker for some good, orchestrated lunacy in video games. After playing the demo version online, I quickly found this game to be superbly entertaining.
Theme
Broforce is a side-scrolling run-and-gun action game developed by Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital, which published many other great retro-style games, most notably Hotline Miami. You play as characters from classic 80s and 90s action films such as Rambo, Machete, RoboCop, and even The Boondock Saints. All of these characters are known as "bros" and they have cheesy puns added in their names, like BroboCop, Brochete, Rambro, The Boondock Bros and so on. These characters are a group of beefy US military men who are sent on various missions to kill terrorists who are led by Satan. Yes, Satan. It's pretty funny. Basically, Broforce is meant to be a satirical take on classic American society. I can't quite explain this theme in words, but I believe the best way to explain it is by listening to the "AMERICA, F*** YEAH" song and that should give you an idea of what this game was aiming for. Due to this retro theme, this game is also takes on the classic retro pixelated style, which I've always loved. A lot of the physics in these kinds of games today are very detailed, making the game even more entertaining.
Gameplay
The main idea of the game is to blast your way through a total of 50 levels with a total of 20 different Bros who each have different weapons and abilities. The setup for each bro can affect your play style along the way. Some Bros have quick machine guns, some have long range snipers, some have silent pistols, some have destructive explosives, and some use melee weapons to slice through enemies. Each level is fully destructible and laced with explosives and enemies, and these items are there for you to go crazy with. You can cause massacres and make chain explosions with bombs and suicide bomber terrorists and just blow up everything. There's a lot of explosions in this game. Although, enemies all have different attributes including strengths and weaknesses, so there may be times when you have to plan your next move. You can dig tunnels just by shooting through the ground and surprise enemies or protect yourself from airstrikes, missiles and other hazards. There are also multiple bosses in the game, each more challenging than the previous. The game has different areas that you run through. There's the jungle, the city, the alien colony which is like a parody of the film Alien, also hence why the Predator Bro is one of the best characters to use in this area, and finally the Hell levels where you get to fight against Satan himself. The local and online co-op is also probably one of the most exciting feature in the game. Playing with friends makes things even more fun. In short, this entire game is all about the fun of just wrecking everything in your path, and it's packed with over-the-top action, violence, and, of course, MURICA.
Difficulty
Broforce is fairly difficult. It's very challenging, but not to the point where you continuously pull out your hair. The first time you play the game, it may take some time to get used to some of the new hazards and mechanics that you run into along the way, and some of the bosses can be a huge hassle, but the more you play the game, you begin to pick up on small tricks get past predicaments and to defeat bosses that previously gave you a hard time without even losing a life. The final Hell levels in the game, though, are what pack a real punch. Everything there is out to kill you by any means possible, and mainly, the levels expect you to just go all out and destroy everything in your path. The Hell segment is excruciatingly long. My first time playing it, I spent an hour and a half blowing my way through each wild, crazy level just to finally get to the final boss. It takes a lot of dedication to get your way through these levels, because they are laced with so many hazards that you'll, no doubt, be restarting over and over again, and it can become very frustrating. The final boss is also a huge chore as it is difficult enough to at least hit him, and it really matters a load on which Bro you respawn with. There's also a Normal and Hard mode, and I've beaten both, but I've never beaten what's called "Ironbro" mode, in which you have to try to beat the game while each of the 20 Bros you have can only die once. People have beaten this mode before of course, but it's clearly explained in the game itself that this mode wasn't even meant to be fair. You can also play on hard mode with Ironbro on.
Overall 9/10 Amazing:
I've always loved the retro genre, especially the violent ones, and out of any retro game I've ever played, this had to be the most fun. It's not heavily story-based or meaningful, but it's rather there for you to just go wild and have an explosive good time. The gameplay and mechanics are just downright exciting and pure fun. The entire game is just insanity at its absolute finest. If you want to give this game a try, you can play a 20-level demo online or you can download the short Expendabros game on Steam for free. I highly recommend this game to anyone who just wants something fun to play. Broforce delivers the goods, and it delivers without hesitation.
Comments
Great review, my favorite indie game is Mark of the Ninja. - Skullkid755