“Explosions, guns and ‘Murica”, these are the words that probably sums up the entire summary of the bad-ass video game called Broforce. Broforce is a side-scrolling run-and-gun action-platformer video game developed by Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital. You ever witnessed those movies where a bunch of muscular soldiers who do not fear death are sent on a suicide mission to save America from foreign threats? Well, this time, it has been done in a video game. Explosions, over-the-top thrill ride,
Explosions, over-the-top thrill ride, bad guys and corny characters make a movie or a game hilariously great. Only this time, it is not the famous Expandables movie series, it is the most simple yet challenging video game that we all fell in love with, Broforce. I have to say, I understand the title of this game is based on the brotherhood of one army, but the word “bro” has been overused, even on the adapted characters from movies into this game, but you will probably get over that and feel what this Contra-like game has to offer you.
Publisher Devolver Digital, in recent years, had their hands on some excellent video games, From Titan Souls to the ever challenging Hotline Miami 2: Wrong number. They are making a name for themselves and currently will be working with independent developers. Their recently published Broforce is enjoyable, challenging, action-packed, and excruciatingly frustrating.
See the picture above, do those characters seem familiar? Well because they are. They are the same characters from the famous action movies that we enjoyed watching in the 80’s and 90’s and some in 2000’s. Now that we know, let us talk about the story of this game here. Well except the fact that there is not much of a story to speak here. A plot that matches with action movies in the 90’s as you choose a stage, and then it will be your mission to jump in the battlefield, kill anything and everything that comes in your path, plant a flag and kill the last guy before a dramatic escape in a helicopter while a song plays in the background to signify your accomplishment. This is the probably the main story of the main missions. The covert missions or the side missions are somewhat different.
Let us talk about the main gimmick of this game. The people you see in the image aren’t just soldiers that are saving America by winning battles going abroad and planting flags in the battlefield in which they won. No, they’re a part of the coalition called “Bros”, almost like the Expendables. Stallone’s Rambo, Mr. T’s B.A Baracus, Uma Thurman’s bride a.k.a Beatrix Kiddo. We have Brodell Walker (Cordell Walker), Indiana Brones (Indiana Jones), MacBrover (Angus MacGyver), Brade (Blade), Brobocop (Robocop), Ash Brolliams (Ash Williams), Brominator (The Terminator) and many more. Yes, every playable character’s name has been replaced with the word “bro”. Their mission is to save America from an invasion of evil-doers spearheaded by Satan himself. Since Broforce never takes itself seriously, it has a ridiculous story and it has been delivered to us with even more ridiculousness throughout the 15 levels it offers.
Combat itself is simple, but it depends on which hero you are assigned. RAMBO is destructive with his machine guns and grenades. Broracus has a short ranged flamethrower. BRODE can cause enemies to explode with his deadly sword techniques. Now, there are some characters who needs a different approach towards battles. Like ROCKETBRO, who has a weak gun, but his jump can put on flames all around him, MACBROVER, who throws grenades at a delayed run instead of firing a gun. It is important to mention here that each character has different movement speed and melee damage. So, whichever character you choose, I’m sure you will stick at least with the one character you like and complete the game.
Visually, the game is pixelated and it is stunning. With details given to almost on every single aspect, the 2D world of Broforce looks believable even though it is not. Broforce also scores a beautiful colour palate, with light green, shades of brown and orange, the game does look like an artist’s work as Devolver Digital do love their pixelated indies. The most important aspect of this game is the frame rate consistency and incredible animation. Keeping a steady frame rate amidst all the destruction and explosions going on.
The gameplay of Broforce is simple. Jump; Move Left or Right; Interactions; special and melee. You can start a level with a specified Bro you selected before starting the level. Not all the Bros are same, so the arbitrary selection will depend on luck more than the skill. Some Bros have heavy weaponry, some Bros have heavy melee damage, some Bros have long ranged weapons where some Bros are completely useless. You start with one life, but rescuing people gains you an extra life. And by people, I mean captive comrades.
All things aside, now let us talk about the gunplay here where the only flaws in the game lie. It is enjoyable, no doubt on that. But the game here suffers from all kinds of issues where it makes the game almost unplayable. I came across things like controls not responding, Covert missions not loading. Earlier I said the game gives us a stable frame rate, but that happens after I downloaded the final patch. Before the patch, I suffered from random frame drops. So there are a few issues that need to get fixed in the coming update, it is just something to keep in mind.
[review_bank review_id=5]
