by Stephen DeckAlso available on Switch, Linux, OSX, and Windows
Review written by Stephen Deck; originally published 07/08/2018 on Teacher by Day, Gamer by Night
This review is a few days late, but this was my yay America game last Wednesday. To celebrate Independence Day for the United States, Jerome and I played through all of Broforce start to finish. I wasn’t really sure what to expect going in, but after all of about thirty seconds, I was saying “Dear God, literally everything about this game is perfect.” And it’s true. This is the most perfect and accurate portrayal of the core of the American spirit. And I don’t necessarily mean that as a compliment.
Broforce is a pixel art run and gun shooter that brilliantly caricatures American foreign policy and our general “shoot first, ask questions maybe sometime but don’t get your hopes up” attitude. It’s fun no matter what, but it’s definitely best enjoyed with local multiplayer. The plot is absolutely amazing. You’re part of an elite American military unit going around the world to deliver freedom and democracy whether folks want it or not. Just as you’re starting to run out of terrorists to kill, ALIENS SHOW UP AND INVADE. Of course, being the world’s enforcer of justice, America steps in and deploys the Broforce to kick some alien ass. BUT THEN SATAN SHOWS UP. It’s stupid. It’s beautifully, brilliantly, gloriously stupid.
The visuals are pretty plain being pixel art and all, but they get the detail right in all the right places. Each “bro” on the Broforce is a parody of an action movie hero. You’ve got Bronan the Brobarian, Brochete, The Boondock Bros, Brommando, Rambro, Broheart, the Brolander, Double Bro Seven….it’s amazing. All of the characters are extremely fitting representations of the people they’re based on, and the fact that you don’t get to choose your bro – you just spawn as a random bro – can be annoying at first but ends up forcing you to use all of the bros and really makes you appreciate the comedic effort that went into the game’s development.
The music and sound effects are amazing. Guns have satisfying effects, the music is over the top and awesome, and the explosions look and sound glorious. The gore and blood spray from dead enemies is absolutely fantastic and will definitely please your inner psychopath. As great as the gameplay is, though, the best part is definitely the writing. Each mission has a short blurb giving you some context for why you’re going there. They start off sounding reasonable – terrorists are trying to steal weapons or something – and then quickly descend into (depressingly accurate) ridiculousness like “These people are different from us! Kill them!”
I really can’t heap enough praise on Broforce. It truly is the greatest multiplayer experience I’ve had in a LONG time. It’s fun, it’s hilarious, it’s challenging but not (usually) outright BS, and it’s a perfect couch co-op game. I can’t recommend this highly enough. Download it. Doesn’t matter if it’s PlayStation, PC, or – once the port is finished and released – Switch. Just buy it. Play it. Love it. BROFORCE!
