Broforce review
“Dude-bro” is a term that’s often uttered with disdain, but Broforce takes that, tattoos it on its palm, and slaps you in the face. It’s not quite as painful as that may sound, but Broforce is a dude-bro shooter through and through.
Broforce puts you in the boots of an American soldier sent to bring freedom to countries around the world. Like classic 2D platformers, you traverse levels from left to right, killing all those who stand in your way, before killing a foreign devil and leaping onto a helicopter as explosions ring out around you.
The bro characters that you play as are parodies of 80s and 90s fictional heroes like John Rambo, The Matrix’s Neo, Blade, Mr. T., Terminator's T-800, Evil Dead’s Ash, and many more. You’d be amazed at how many characters can slot the word “bro” into their name.
There is an interesting system at work in Broforce. You will be killed in one shot, but finding and rescuing other bros dotted around the level grants you a bonus life. The catch is that your character is also replaced by this mystery character that you’ve just rescued. This means that you have to weigh up the risk-reward of giving up the character you’ve been using and their powers with the need to have an additional life to fall back on.
If you die as your new character, you don’t just revert to the character you had been controlling. So, in essence, you could be punished twice for one mistake. And with bullets and explosions taking over the screen at times, one mistake can be easily made. On top of that, not all characters are created equal. Believe me; you’ll be as disappointed to see Indiana Jones on screen as you were when watching The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
For the most part, Broforce strikes a fine balance between overwhelming odds and crushing difficulties. Most of the bros are well equipped to deal with the hordes of enemies thrown at them and the destructible environment, often combined with explosive barrels, offer alternative approaches. You often feel like an action star, defying death at every turn and doing it all for a just cause.
That is, up until the Rail Fortress boss who will cause you to grit your teeth with frustration. While Broforce’s bosses are challenging, this is the one that gave me the most grief. Developer Free Lives has since said that it’s their least favourite boss, while it seems to be the one that is driving fans to seek wisdom from those who played Broforce in Early Access or who are just downright good at the game. Unfortunately, this boss highlights the downfall of the bro system, as many people simply say to die over and over again until you get a certain character, at which point the boss’ weaknesses are easily exploited.
For its retail release, Broforce received new Alien-themed levels. Again, these differ in tone from the rest of the game as they require a little more care. There are loose rocks that can crush you if you aren’t aware of your surroundings when destroying the environment, while the aliens provide a completely different, and often more dangerous, threat than the far more squishy human enemies.
You might think that the bro schtick might get old rapidly, but surprisingly not! There’s also plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour to enjoy or cringe at, mainly thanks to your commanding general, and references to other indie games. I’m always fond of indie games referencing others and was particularly pleased with the appearance of Papers, Please’s Arztotzka, which is now not only glorious but also free. Unfortunately, no one asks you if you like liberating other people.
Broforce is fantastically over-the-top in every way possible, chock full of bullets, explosions, and humour. If you like liberty and freedom, Broforce is a must play.
Mark O’Beirne
4.5/5
