RSS
Bomberman. Thats a name that speaks for itself: A man that bombs things. But will this game bomb in the ratings department?
September 6, 2006 | 10:27 PM PSTby: Nicholas Martin
Bomberman is a fairly easy game to describe; "Tactically placing bombs around a playing field trying to blow other people up - oh, and you play a lovable midget with a huge head." What else is there to say about a game like this? Despite, or more likely due to the simplicity of the game, Bomberman grew into a hugely popular franchise, renowned for its addictive and entertaining multiplayer mode. With the advent of the next-generation through the Xbox 360, Hudson had the ability to make new Bomberman title simply be sticking to the franchise’s roots and providing online play via Xbox Live. Unfortunately, they chose to go another route, and the result is not only the worst game in the Bomberman franchise, but also the worst game on Xbox 360.
Let’s start with the most glaring deviation from Bomberman tradition, the graphics. While the graphics look nice, they are not really detailed. Bomberman: Act Zero looks like it can run on the original Xbox, as there is nothing in the game that really screams "next gen." The textures are simple, there’s little to no lighting of any kind, and not many polygons are being pushed. The levels are also dark, industrial styled rooms with not a lot in it, and after playing a match for a minute or so, it gets pretty empty and bland once the destructible objects are gone and players find themselves running around what amounts to an empty warehouse.
Oh, an apparently our lovable bomb-placing midget was kidnapped and replaced with a Bionicle. Bomberman has a new look that involves high-tech, state of the art armor and a big metallic claw/hand hybrid in place of a normal hand. Bomberman has always been about light-hearted fun, but even putting nostalgia for the ‘good old days’ aside, the overall look feels incredibly generic, as though a team of marketers gathered around a table tried to write down all the types of imagery that teenage focus groups respond to. There is one upside to the visuals: The explosions. The bombs themselves don't look that great, but they glow which makes them easy to see in the dark colored battlefield, but once those bombs explode they make a pretty spectacular display.
The gameplay is pretty much exactly the same as it has always been. Place bombs that explode into torrents of fire that travel in straight lines down the various "corridors" of the battlefield. Players will have to try and place bombs in strategic positions with expert timing in order to trap players so they have no where to run except straight to defeat. Players will also be able to pick up upgrades on the field, such as upgrades to increase the number of active bombs that can dropped on the map, bombs that can be remotely detonated from across the map, increase in speed for the player to makes escaping blasts easier, and other assorted power-ups.
There are 99 levels in the single player, but each level is exactly the same in terms of size and visual style. The only difference is the number of enemies the player has to destroy and the placement of destructible objects that serve to initially carve pathways between the permanent steel blocks. There are two game types, standard, and "First Person Bomber." Standard is the classic top-down Bomberman view, with the whole battlefield shown from a birds eye view, making strategic placement of bombs and the art of setting traps a little easier to pull off. On the flip-side, the new first person view makes the action a little more intense, as players aren’t able to see their opponents, or their opponents’ bombs, at all times. Unfortunately, the camera control (which allows players to rotate the view in the third person around the character, as well as zoom in and out) isn’t particularly well implemented and can often get caught while turning corners. Overall, the whole "First Person Bomber” mode comes off as tacked on, an attempt at Hudson to try and rationalize rendering the entire game in full 3D. "First Person Bomber” also offers a new life-bar option that allows players to actually walk away from a few bomb blasts before eventually finding their way to that big weapons factory in the sky, and while it serves as a decent change of pace, it robs the game of the wonderful tension that builds around that one mistake that will separate winner from the charred remains of the loser.
Now all this combined might sound decent, if obviously flawed, but the gameplay is very shallow. The players is tasked with literally doing the exact same thing over and over, throughout all 99 levels of the single-player campaign. There are no puzzles, there are no bosses. There are simply 99 variations of the same square map, and lots of explosions. Most infuriating of all is the fact that you cannot save your game over the course of the single-player campaign, forcing those players willing to endure the monotony for the sake of achievement points to complete the challenge in one sitting, or start again from the beginning. The laughably thin (not to mention downright stupid) storyline delivered through text boxes over the course of the game fails to provide ample motivation to continue the punishment.
Bomberman does have an online mode, and it serves as the game’s only saving grace – after all, it was the multiplayer gameplay that made the franchise into a legend, with stories of gaming sessions lasting all weekend without stop. You can challenge and play up to 7 other players in Standard and FPB modes, with a few customizable options. There isn't exactly a booming multiplayer fan-base, but you can still find a few games right now. If you were to play in a month or two, there might not be anyone playing. The major downside to the multiplayer equation is the complete lack of local multiplayer, which was the best part of Bomberman – an experience that not even online play with voice chat can effectively replicate. If you have a couple friends over, you can't play Bomberman on the same console, and laugh at each other as the bombs fly and traps are triggered. This is the worst decision Hudson could have made... Bomberman has always been about local multiplayer fun, a party game if you will, and by cutting that feature out of the package, they made the package almost worthless.
With their latest effort, Hudson has taken Bomberman from hero to zero. If the game had local multiplayer, it could have actually been a decent title, if only for a weekend rental. Hudson would have been better off porting the classic Sega Saturn version of Bomberman to Xbox Live Arcade. Stay away at all costs.
Let’s start with the most glaring deviation from Bomberman tradition, the graphics. While the graphics look nice, they are not really detailed. Bomberman: Act Zero looks like it can run on the original Xbox, as there is nothing in the game that really screams "next gen." The textures are simple, there’s little to no lighting of any kind, and not many polygons are being pushed. The levels are also dark, industrial styled rooms with not a lot in it, and after playing a match for a minute or so, it gets pretty empty and bland once the destructible objects are gone and players find themselves running around what amounts to an empty warehouse.
Oh, an apparently our lovable bomb-placing midget was kidnapped and replaced with a Bionicle. Bomberman has a new look that involves high-tech, state of the art armor and a big metallic claw/hand hybrid in place of a normal hand. Bomberman has always been about light-hearted fun, but even putting nostalgia for the ‘good old days’ aside, the overall look feels incredibly generic, as though a team of marketers gathered around a table tried to write down all the types of imagery that teenage focus groups respond to. There is one upside to the visuals: The explosions. The bombs themselves don't look that great, but they glow which makes them easy to see in the dark colored battlefield, but once those bombs explode they make a pretty spectacular display.
The gameplay is pretty much exactly the same as it has always been. Place bombs that explode into torrents of fire that travel in straight lines down the various "corridors" of the battlefield. Players will have to try and place bombs in strategic positions with expert timing in order to trap players so they have no where to run except straight to defeat. Players will also be able to pick up upgrades on the field, such as upgrades to increase the number of active bombs that can dropped on the map, bombs that can be remotely detonated from across the map, increase in speed for the player to makes escaping blasts easier, and other assorted power-ups.
There are 99 levels in the single player, but each level is exactly the same in terms of size and visual style. The only difference is the number of enemies the player has to destroy and the placement of destructible objects that serve to initially carve pathways between the permanent steel blocks. There are two game types, standard, and "First Person Bomber." Standard is the classic top-down Bomberman view, with the whole battlefield shown from a birds eye view, making strategic placement of bombs and the art of setting traps a little easier to pull off. On the flip-side, the new first person view makes the action a little more intense, as players aren’t able to see their opponents, or their opponents’ bombs, at all times. Unfortunately, the camera control (which allows players to rotate the view in the third person around the character, as well as zoom in and out) isn’t particularly well implemented and can often get caught while turning corners. Overall, the whole "First Person Bomber” mode comes off as tacked on, an attempt at Hudson to try and rationalize rendering the entire game in full 3D. "First Person Bomber” also offers a new life-bar option that allows players to actually walk away from a few bomb blasts before eventually finding their way to that big weapons factory in the sky, and while it serves as a decent change of pace, it robs the game of the wonderful tension that builds around that one mistake that will separate winner from the charred remains of the loser.
Now all this combined might sound decent, if obviously flawed, but the gameplay is very shallow. The players is tasked with literally doing the exact same thing over and over, throughout all 99 levels of the single-player campaign. There are no puzzles, there are no bosses. There are simply 99 variations of the same square map, and lots of explosions. Most infuriating of all is the fact that you cannot save your game over the course of the single-player campaign, forcing those players willing to endure the monotony for the sake of achievement points to complete the challenge in one sitting, or start again from the beginning. The laughably thin (not to mention downright stupid) storyline delivered through text boxes over the course of the game fails to provide ample motivation to continue the punishment.
Bomberman does have an online mode, and it serves as the game’s only saving grace – after all, it was the multiplayer gameplay that made the franchise into a legend, with stories of gaming sessions lasting all weekend without stop. You can challenge and play up to 7 other players in Standard and FPB modes, with a few customizable options. There isn't exactly a booming multiplayer fan-base, but you can still find a few games right now. If you were to play in a month or two, there might not be anyone playing. The major downside to the multiplayer equation is the complete lack of local multiplayer, which was the best part of Bomberman – an experience that not even online play with voice chat can effectively replicate. If you have a couple friends over, you can't play Bomberman on the same console, and laugh at each other as the bombs fly and traps are triggered. This is the worst decision Hudson could have made... Bomberman has always been about local multiplayer fun, a party game if you will, and by cutting that feature out of the package, they made the package almost worthless.
With their latest effort, Hudson has taken Bomberman from hero to zero. If the game had local multiplayer, it could have actually been a decent title, if only for a weekend rental. Hudson would have been better off porting the classic Sega Saturn version of Bomberman to Xbox Live Arcade. Stay away at all costs.
February 8, 2010
