BRAWL
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for BRAWL
If you're interested in a horror-inspired Bomberman clone with shaky movement, non-distinct stages and a toned down freneticism BRAWL might just pique your interest. For the rest of you looking for a party/combat game there are other, more solid feeling, options out there including but not limited to Switch's own Super Bomberman R.
Despite having a perfect soundtrack and wonderfully creepy voice-over, Brawl's single-player misses the mark thanks to its insane difficulty. Over-powered characters also make the local versus multiplayer hit and miss, and add in the steep price point and Brawl fails to light the fuse. It's particularly disappointing as Brawl is almost a second attempt of Basement Crawl, but Bloober Team simply haven't learnt from their past mistakes.
But then again, BRAWL isn't really about being easy. It is about forcing players to make strategic moves and plan accordingly, all while giving them a limited amount of time to do so. It's fast, it's smart, and it's absolutely worth picking up, especially if you dig party games. While it has some flaws, BRAWL is a game that will keep you occupied for quite a while. It also should be noted that PlayStation Network accounts that purchased Basement Crawl will be credited with BRAWL for free, giving you yet another excuse to download and play the game when it releases.
Leaps and bounds ahead of their previous effort, Brawl might not be the most polished title available and the dark setting certainly feels overdone but as a multiplayer party title, the game arguably brings the thrills where it counts.
________________________ “The story mode's narrator did a fantastic job
If you purchased the developer's 2014 game Basement Crawl you can download Brawl for free, but other than that it should be avoided.
Ultimately, Brawl falls well short of being a great game. The control issues and, in my personal experience, difficulty finding players to match up with fail to capitalize on the visual design and setting.
Brawl takes an existing concept and adds a B-grade horror theme to give it a unique twist. It's not as fun as its source material, but horror fans may get a kick out of its dark, twisted humor.
