Sorry for posting reviews on consecutive days but, thanks to writer’s block giving me more time for computer games, I just ended up completing the main campaign from the 2015 2D action-platformer game “Broforce” and I just had to talk about it 🙂
I was still in the mood for action movie themed games after completing “Maximum Action” (2018) last August and, since there had recently been a major update to “Broforce”, the DRM-free edition of on GOG was on special offer and had been reduced to about £2.50. Since I had vague memories of seeing a seriously awesome animated trailer for this game years ago, I decided to give it a shot. And I’m so glad I did.
Still, a note about the PC version of the game on GOG: it possibly appears to be a console port. This isn’t a big deal but I initially thought that the game was broken because when it told me to “Press X”, nothing happened when I pressed the “X” key. It turns out that you actually have to press whichever key is set to the “attack” key (which is “z” by default for single-player). There’s also seemingly the option for local multi-player on the same keyboard, with the characters staying on the same “screen” until both move forwards.
I should also apologise if any of the screenshots here are “clipped off”. In order to get the best performance out of the game on my PC’s early-mid 2010s integrated graphics, I switched to a low non-widescreen resolution – and many of the game’s character introductions are designed with widescreen in mind….
Let’s take a look at “Broforce”. This game may contain FLASHING IMAGES.
“America! F...” Ooops! Wrong thing! This is “Broforce” (2015), not “Team America: World Police” (2006)
Set in the year 1993, the game follows an elite team of the world’s greatest action heroes – working for America – who are on a mission to save the world from balaclava-wearing terrorists, space aliens and even the Devil himself.
One of the first things that I will say about this game is that it is pure, silly FUN in the best possible way 🙂 Not only is it a parody of at least twenty different movies and TV shows, but it’s just this frenetic pixel art action-fest which is filled with explosions and character changes and humour and destructible scenery and electric guitars and…. this game is so cool 🙂
Yes, this is a tough puzzle-like boss battle where you can only indirectly damage the boss using perfectly-timed exploding canisters. But, damn, does it look cool though!
The main gimmick here are the characters. Every time you die or gain an extra life (by rescuing a hostage), you switch to a different member of the team. Each one has different weapons and special attacks, so the game keeps changing throughout each level. And literally all of these characters are parodies (often with the word “Bro” in their name) of famous action movie/TV show/comic characters. The more hostages you rescue, the more playable characters you unlock.
My personal favourites were the ones based on Judge Dredd, Dirty Harry, Ellen Ripley, Tank Girl, El Mariachi, TimeCop and Indiana Jones. But sometimes you’ll get unlucky and “roll” a character who isn’t as good – like the “Terminator 2” parody, whose main attack has a surprisingly long “wind up” time and lots of recoil. This variety of characters keeps the game interesting throughout because you constantly have to change your strategy.
Woo hoo! It’s Tank Girl! I mean, “Tank Bro”. But, even off-brand Tank Girl is still awesome 🙂
One other cool thing about the characters is that unlocked characters carry over between game modes. For example, after the 2023 “Broforce Forever” update, you probably won’t rescue enough people to unlock every character in campaign mode but, if you hop over to arcade mode afterwards, you can “grind” for extra characters – with the characters you’ve already unlocked – to your heart’s content.
This cool game – with its extensive “fair use” – is also a glimpse into what popular culture could be like if copyright rules were less strict. Not to mention that, by parodying so many different things, it not only becomes its own unique thing but it is also greater than the sum of its parts too.
Not only that, like in “Worms” (1995) and “Red Faction” (2001), almost everything in the level is destructible. This adds even more depth to the fun gameplay by allowing you to use different strategies. For example, if you keep dying trying to jump over some spikes, just tunnel beneath them instead. Likewise, if you want to avoid some tougher enemies, just bypass them with a tunnel.
Seriously, this element alone adds a lot more *bald eagle screech* FREEDOM to the game and makes it feel very different – and more fun – than a traditional 2D action platform game. Not only that, explosions also destroy the scenery and will often happen in cool-looking chain reactions as well. This game is so awesome!
Yes, you can literally just dig a tunnel to sneak past the bad guys if you want to. Ordinarily, this would be “cowardice”, but the fact that your main tunnelling tools are: swords, machine-guns and/or explosions makes it feel a lot more badass.
In the campaign mode, there’s also this cool “Commander Keen”-style level select screen – albeit in 3D – where you get to fly a helicopter around the world and choose between missions. Story missions unlock in groups of two or three, but there are optional “covert ops” that can give you extra items. The two of these that I played were themed around different movies (“Indiana Jones” and “Aliens”) and were noticeably more difficult than the usual campaign levels, mostly because you don’t get any extra lives.
Each campaign mission is about 3-10 levels long. The game has a “lives” system and mid-level checkpoints. The smaller checkpoints seem to reset if you get a “game over” but if you find one on a tall metal platform, then it seems to save your progress a bit more permanently. The game also seems to auto-save, either at the end of each mission or – sometimes – each level.
Seriously, I love this style of world map design in platform games. It reminds me a lot of the old “Commander Keen” games. It’s also the only part of the game that is in 3D as well.
As for the difficulty, on “normal”, the game has a reasonably decent difficulty curve. Most of the time, it is challenging without being too unfair. You’ll need some determination in order to complete the game, but the very quick restarts mean that you can be back in the action within seconds – which helps to prevent the game from feeling too frustrating.
Also, I just loved this game’s sense of humour too. It doesn’t take itself even remotely seriously, with hilariously satirical orders from the US general who introduces each mission (“Freedominate them!”), numerous fun little details (such as how one death animation shows the thumbs up from “Terminator 2”), the way the terrorists sometimes screech “Broforce!” when they see you, the hilarious after-credits segment, several silly cinematics – such as a random scene showing the backstory of one of the game’s terrorists – and hilariously melodramatic introduction animations for bosses (like the feared “Terror-Crawler”!).
And, yes, this random backstory movie for one of the game’s numerous henchmen is both hilarious and tragic at the same time. Especially since it plays mere fractions of a second before he is blown to smithereens. Could it be a serious commentary on the inherent evil of warfare? Of how, regardless of how good or evil someone is, we all possess a shared humanity? Or…. *Corny caveman action hero voice* “No! Fighting good! Villains bad!“
There’s also a good variety of enemies to fight, with “Serious Sam” style characters who will run towards you and explode, numerous “cannon fodder” henchmen, various “I can’t believe it isn’t a Xenomorph!” alien creature parodies, a few demonic monsters and stuff like that. As well as environmental hazards, giant bosses and even a vehicle or two that you can use, this game never gets boring or monotonous.
As for length, it’s probably a medium-length game if you just play through the main campaign. I wasn’t counting the time, but it was probably at least 6-8 hours in total (if not more). After you’ve finished it, you can still go back and play the optional levels that you missed. But the game includes different game modes, a level editor, multiplayer and stuff like that. Not to mention that, thanks to its heavy focus on fun gameplay, it has a lot of replay value too.
All in all, this game is just FUN 🙂 If you want a fast-paced explosion-fest made by a team of action movie fans, then this game is worth playing. It’s also one of those games which looks “mindless” on the surface, but has deep enough and challenging enough gameplay that you’ll actually have to focus your full attention on playing it. And, again, it is just FUN!
If I had to give it a rating out of five, it might just get a five 🙂
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