Let's talk about clones for a moment. I'm not referring to cybernetics, genetic modification or Star Wars. Today I'm honing in on games that present gameplay strongly resembling a popular game to the point where someone will utter the words, 'This is a clone of (insert game title here).' These are games I try to avoid and would warn others to follow suit. I love the indie gaming scene for its creativity and desire to let its unrestricted ideas flow. I'm always caught shaking my head in shame when I gaze upon another clone of a game with the sole purpose of cashing in on the newest trend or riding the nostalgia train. I love when a developer takes a popular game and splashes their own stylistic flare on it and pushes the mechanics we all know and love to a totally different place that we never expected them to go. Bombslinger by Mode4 does just that, turning the classic gameplay of Bomberman into a western-style, rouge-like experience that can easily become a must-have title for any Switch owner, if given the right amount of spotlight. I hope that this review can help with that progression. Before I get too excited, let's get into the meat of it so you can formulate your own opinions on the Bomberman inspired rouge-like, Bombslinger.
Gameplay-Adventure Mode
5/5
I normally don't throw a game I'm reviewing into a last man standing cage match with another title that is stronger, more experience and a crowd favorite. In this case, I feel it's necessary to show why Bombslinger is a Bomberman inspired game and not a re skinned clone. From the moment you start playing for the first time, you will instantly notice the typical Bomberman style gameplay. You place bombs at your character's feet and have to move away from the blast radius to avoid dying. These bombs are used to destroy certain terrain, like bushes and crops, a variety of enemies, and chests that offer power ups. The only difference that you will notice that differs from your classic Bomberman is how you obtain your fundamental upgrades. Instead of gaining more speed, bombs, and increased blast range from loot drops, these are obtained by leveling up. This is done simply by killing enemies. If you defeat multiple enemies with a single blast, your experience-gain skyrockets, rewarding you for high-tier bombings. That is where the blunt of the similarities end.
Bombslinger has four levels. No sub-levels within each area, just four levels. Each level consists of multiple rooms and a boss at the end. Every room is procedurally generated to add variety to each playthrough of a level. This is important since the majority of your experience with Bombslinger will be spent playing through the same levels over and over again, slowly progressing to the final boss. This is where Bombslinger morphs into a typical rouge-like. Not only that, but it follows the guidelines for a solid rouge-like that is frustrating at times, but rewards you for every attempt, by obtaining new starting skills. When you begin a run, you have the choice between a pool of skills. When you boot up the game for the first time, you only have three skills to choose from; the ability to resurrect with one heart upon death, an extra heart, or extra stamina, which is used with unique items obtainable from chests or the item shop. You have the ability of unlocking 32 different skills in total, all of which are unlocked by completing specific tasks. Some of these tasks are simple, like clearing all the crops in a room, or trapping an enemy between your bombs. Others are more difficult, like completing the game with no bomb or flame (blast range) upgrades, or Hold $5000 at one time.
Starting out you can only equip one skill at the start of a run, with the ability to unlock more skill slots by completing these quests. The more skills you have unlocked, the more skills you can equip. During each run, you can find these skills in chests, and from the shop, that is always located in each of the four levels. You also can find unique items throughout each run to aid you in battle. These can range from guns, tonics with random effects, or food that heals you. Every skill and item you obtain during a run doesn't cross over into your next life. The only things that stay unlocked are the skills you earned from completing the required objectives. When it comes to the difficulty and enemies of the game, this is what glued everything in place. Every skill you earned matters because this game is relentless. Even the first level takes patience, tactical thinking, and raw ingenuity to advance. Every encounter with a select foe brings you closer to understanding their behavior and how to exploit it. I found myself dying often when a new foe crossed my path, and a sense of pure acomplishment washed over me when I was able to defeat them with knowledge, instead of pure luck.
There is more to the game than what I've described already, and it's tied together by a lighthearted story that gives you purpose, causing each carefully placed bomb to be more than just chaotic destructive. Everything I've mentioned thus far will give you a proper understanding of the core mechanics without taking away from the surprise and challenge of the western, bomb-slinging adventure that lies ahead.
Gameplay-Battle Mode
4.5/5
It wouldn't be a Bomberman like game without some Multiplayer action, and Bombslinger made sure to deliver. Mode4 not only added the battle feature, but they took their time, nourishing and raising it to be it's own entity, instead of a being an afterthought. It was done so well that I can easily recommend this game for the battle mode alone, since it can provide countless hours with your friends and has a difficulty curve high enough to promote playing by yourself to get a leg up on your friends. Playing alone is completely feasible as well since the AI for the NPC players are tasteful, making mistakes from time to time, but packaged with enough knowledge to give you a run for your money, some times defeating you in an embarrassing way.
There are a variety of different settings you can adjust for battle mode which alter the style of play, the time each mode takes, and the levels in which your epic skirmishes take place. The biggest alteration in play style comes from your choice of DeathMatch or Last Man Standing. Both are pretty self-explanatory; DeathMatch puts the battle on a clock, the duration set by you, with the victory condition being either who has the most kills at the end of the time limit, or who gets to the kill goal, also set by you. Last Man Standing is comprised of rounds, with the goal being the last person alive in each round. The amount of rounds and health for each player is, you guessed it, determined by you.
The core gameplay is the same as the adventure mode, with some adjustments. level-up stats, like your bomb count or speed, special skills like bomb kicking, and items like guns are all acquired by destroying destructible objects on the map. The type of items dropped and if an item is dropped is completely randomized from what I noticed. This was one of the only complaints I had with, well, the entire game. There were times when five objects were all destroyed at the same time and four of those objects gave the same item. One time it was four fire power, causing the NPC who gathered them all to become a bombing God. Another time three of the four items dropped were all the kick skill. Since getting it more than once is pointless, you had to pick it up for the sole purpose of blocking your enemies from gaining that power. Changing the drop rate system to balance the amount of a single powerup being dropped and setting a limit for the same special being on the field at any given time will enhance the gameplay dramatically. Also, giving the player the ability to customize the items in a match and the rate of item drops would add another layer of depth and increase the replay value of the battle mode.
Visuals and audio
5/5
Just like every other portion of Bombslinger, Mode4 took their time with the Audio and Visuals to ensure that every aspect of your gaming experience is a pleasant one. The pixelated graphics are beautiful and each background animation and enemy sprite immerse you into the Western world Mode4 created. From the half naked farmers to the bandits laying traps throughout the map, every character has their own style of movement and personality shown by their animation and design. The few cutscenes in the game were flawlessly made, pushing this art style to the limit and proving that it doesn't take high end graphics to create a stunningly beautiful game.
The most consistent complaint I have in my reviews is the lack of music variety. Most indie games will create, or find one score and loop it throughout the entire game. This has become commonplace to the point where I will always lower my score for that, but I expect it. Bombslinger caught me off guard in the best way possible. All of the four levels each has their own score, providing musical variety for my deprived ears. The freaking shop has it's own score, making me instantly think of the Pokemon center, because I'm a 90's geek. The boss battles have their own unique score as well. There are multiple bosses for each level, and I'm not sure if I've encountered them all, so I'm not able to comment on if each boss has their own score. Regardless, Every score I've encountered in the game has a western sound that fits perfectly with the game's theme. I hope other indie devs will take a page out of Mode4's handbook. Great job guys, you've done well.
IS IT WORTH THE PRICE TAG????
As I'm sure you've noticed, I don't have any glaring complaints about Blombslinger. The biggest thing you need to consider before hitting the purchase button is if this style of gameplay is for you. Yes, it's a Bomberman like game, but it's also a relentless, unforgiving rouge-like that won't wipe away your tears. Like the Dark Souls series, the only way to improve your skills enough to complete the game is by dying. Dying a lot. Dying more than some gamers are okay with. If you enjoy a solid challenge and are open to rouge-like gameplay, then I strongly suggest picking this game up. Personally, I feel this is a must-have Switch indie and has found its home on my top five favorite Indie games currently out for the Switch. Using my standard system, I feel every dollar spent should equal an hour of gameplay. With a price tag of $11.99, you can easily get your money's worth. Depending on if you want to aim for 100 percent completion and if you start playing the Battle Mode with friends, I can see 40 plus hours of playtime in your future.
I hope this review has been helpful and was the key to your decision on how to spend your time and well-earned money. This has been another review brought to you by Program. Have a great day and Happy Gaming!