Broforce Review

Broforce is both an homage to and a parody of every over-the-top action film to come out of Hollywood, with a particular focus on the 80s and 90s. It's a side-scrolling, platform shooter in which you "go Rambo" on America's enemies such as terrorists and Satan. Or rather, go "Rambro" as the game gives the bro treatment to its roster of heroes, giving you the chance to play as heroes such as Brobocop, Broheart, and the Brominator.

Your goal in each level will be a familiar one to action movie fans: get to the chopper. Standing between you and that chopper is an army, and any one of them can put an end to you bro with a single shot - bros don't have health bars, they go all in. It might seem like the best way to get through the enemies and to the chopper would be to keep your finger on the fire button while bulldozing your way across the screen until you reach the extraction point, but that's not the case. There's a certain amount of thought required to traverse the games vertical and completely destructible environments, and you can often get rid of troublesome enemies by getting a little creative. You can tunnel through areas just by shooting your way through the dirt. Avoid a minefield by going deep under it, kill a group of enemies by taking the floor out from under them or dropping a boulder on them from above, or make a hole to start dropping grenades through. You'll have to be careful, though, because it's possible to set off some crazy chain reactions of explosions that can take you out as well or create a gap that's too wide for you to cross.

This is a challenging game because it's not strictly a pure action a side-scrolling shooter, but I really enjoy the puzzle aspect to the game - selecting the best way to cross the level takes a little thought and planning, and each failure only served to motivate me to jump back in and try a new approach. The levels are challenging in a good way rather than in any unfair or unbalanced way in which cheap deaths masquerade as an increased level of difficulty. Each time I failed in a level I felt compelled to go charging right back into it, certain that I had a new trick up my sleeve that would get me to the chopper this time. This is also the case in the game's boss fights that are epic, multi-stage affairs that are difficult to walk away from until you can do so victoriously. The game supports co-op play, and while that may seem like it would make it easier to get through the game the opposite is actually the case. Trying to keep the mayhem at least somewhat under control is difficult enough when you're by yourself, but add another person to the mix and real pandemonium ensues. While it may not help you finish the game faster unless you are a seriously coordinated team, co-op can certainly lead to so much craziness and laugh-out-loud moments it's worth playing just for the experience of playing it.

The game manages the bro roster in a unique way in that you can't select the bro that you want to control. You'll open a level with a bro selected at random from the roster of bros that you've unlocked. If that bro is killed, you'll fail that level and have to restart it. The way to avoid this is to rescue other bros from cages while playing the level. Each time you free a bro you'll earn another life, but you'll switch to using the bro that you rescued, which again is selected at random. Different bros each have different weapons, both primary and special, and the bro that you are using has a big affect on gameplay. Rambro is pretty awesome with his assault rifle and grenades, but the gameplay takes a very different turn when he is replaced Brade, a katana-wielding melee fighter. And then there's MacBrover, whose primary weapon is sticks of dynamite and who has a special weapon of a roast turkey stuffed with dynamite. Personally, I like all of this because I feel it adds a level of challenge to the game; you've got to make due with the weapons that you have on hand. Some gamers may not like that they can't stick with their favorite bro through the whole game, but, seriously, c'mon bro, embrace the challenge.

At first glance Broforce may look like a basic side-scroller built on a one-note joke, but there's a lot more depth to the game than that, both in terms of gameplay and humor. If you like challenging games and are looking for something a little different, then Broforce should be your new bro, bro.