Blast Brigade vs. the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread Review (Switch eShop)

Hello Nintendo fans, and welcome to a review of another Metroidvania. You will be thrilled to know that this is the case Good, and if you like Metroidvania genre, you will enjoy playing Blast Brigade. All right, cheers.

What?? you want to more?!? Oh God. OK. There are only so many of these games and there is so little more to say about them. However, we speak the truth when we think Blast Brigade is good. It is a strong effort in every respect and we will strive to build on it without delay. That means now. Stop looking at that paragraph, it’s next.

In Blast Brigade, you first take control of a certain Jeff Jefferson, who seems like a non-violent version of Deadpool without the metahumor. Spring, most of metahumor – Jeff is a prankster and throughout the game there is a fun lightness to the game that makes the process more enjoyable. The comedy is not exaggerated here, because the focus is decidedly on the gameplay.

Thankfully, the gameplay makes a good impression, with a kind of twin-stick setup for shooting, a la Bleed and its sequel. The controls are responsive, the enemies are responsive and frankly, they just feel good to shoot thanks to the strong feedback and smooth 60fps gameplay. It’s all quite reminiscent of the ever-popular Guacamelee in its graphics and animations, although moment-to-moment gameplay is more like – whisper – Metroid Dread, albeit with a slightly methodical pace. It’s the free aiming that makes the game so challenging -. They can shoot anywhere, but so can enemies, and they’re pretty keen on covering the environment with dangerous traps and surfaces.

So, despite the airy tone mentioned above, Blast Brigade can be quite difficult. Enemies won’t let up and are ready to bring you down – we were a little surprised to find ourselves within the first half hour in an area absolutely riddled with spikes, walls and ceilings, also populated by a cluster of explosives . spit huge flowers. It’s tough, especially since dying means you drop money and return to the last hammock you rested in (hammocks helpfully act as save points).

The difficulty is mitigated a bit by the PDA you acquire, allowing you to augment your character with special abilities like a coin magnet and extra invincibility time on hit. this is surprisingly useful. The trick is that the PDA batteries you find can only power one module at a time, so you can’t just activate them all and become an unstoppable god.

As you play through the game you’ll rescue other members of the Blast Brigade, who essentially act as keys to various gimmick locks you’ll discover such as: B. the extremely distinctive golden hooks that you can’t interact with until you unlock Shura, who will be able to use her grappling hook to hold on to them. It’s a little formulaic in that regard, but it’s a formula that works.

The hammocks that act as “campfires” (yes, we did a Dark Souls comparison) can be quite far apart, which is a source of some frustration; The “boss runs” can be quite tedious, but the bosses themselves are extremely well designed and fun to fight. Difficult, but not unfair – although you’ll probably die from each one at least a couple of times.

The world of Blast Brigade delivers what Metroidvania fans want; A sprawling but hostile room filled with secrets and collectibles. That this is done with more identity than most is a good thing, but the fact of the matter is that it’s effectively an exercise in checking boxes. There’s nothing wrong with that; If you tick the “make the game fun” box, you’re on the winning side. But there is nothing new here. And that’s okay – what’s here may be old, but it’s executed quite brilliantly.

There’s the conundrum with games like Blast Brigade and Metroidvanias in general; The pieces of the puzzle are so often the same that even when done well, it can feel tedious. We’ve had this boredom with Blast Brigade at times, which is unfair because it excels at everything it’s trying to do. It’s just that the framework in which it works is a little weary, which – again – isn’t the fault of the game per se, but must be taken into account. Blast Brigade does what it can to make its gameplay fresh, its story and dialogue enjoyable to listen to (the voice acting is incredibly fun), and its graphics bang. But it can only go so far.

Conclusion

Blast Brigade is a difficult game to rate. It’s a lot of fun and we enjoyed our 20 or so hours cleaning up secrets and collectibles. We can’t recommend it enough if you’re still craving Metroidvanias, but those exhausted with the formula won’t find any major departures here. Maybe we would feel differently if the game had come out a few years ago, but now? Blast Brigade is still a great Metroidvania and one of the best we’ve played outside of absolute top class (Symphony of the Night, et al). Get it right now if you even think a little bit that you’re going to like it, because you almost certainly will. There’s the same affection in it as Kaze and the Wild Masks, a true love letter to Metroidvanias. Really exceptional It’s not, but Blast Brigade remains a great time if you’re not suffering from genre fatigue.