1st Impressions: Bomberman: Act Zero is an all around bad game, but the online multiplayer makes it worth playing.
The Bad: Very lame character creation mode, very hard and not much fun single player mode, no offline multiplayer, no storyline, fairly ugly visuals. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Everyone who ever said this game was bad is wrong. That is a tough statement to prove, but I'm willing to give my two cents. Bomberman: Act Zero is an amazing game and is by far the best Xbox 360 game ever released."
That was the first line of my April fools joke review of Bomberman: Act Zero. In all honesty, Bomberman: Act Zero is a pretty bad game, with the lone exception being the online multiplayer which is actually pretty fun...
This Bomberman tries to take the series in a new, darker direction by making Bomberman less cartoony and adding a female character model with breast physics. It doesn't work so well. The darker environent isn't very eye catching and you only play in this single, dingy arena. Kinda lame... The single player portion consists of you trying to beat 99 levels in a row without dieing. If you die, you go back to level 1. Not only that, but the game get's hard at level 5, so most players don't make it any farther than that...
The "story" of the game is that you are in prison and must fight your way out as a bomberman. This story isn't presented well at all and most people who play this game thought there was no story at all. The sound effects consist of explosions, which sound ok, generic techno and rock in the background, which get's old after a while, and a very baddly done female voice telling you that you died or that you won.
The one redeeming factor for this game is the online multiplayer. It supports 8 players on Xbox Live and can be quite enjoyable. It's the same gameplay as the single player, but with a bunch of people trying to bomb each other to kingdom come, it can get pretty hairly and be fun. It's worth playing or buying at a bargin bin price for the online.
Overall, Bomberman: Act Zero isn't a complete failure because of it's enjoyable multiplayer mode, but it isn't exactly a game that you need to buy..
Gameplay: The single player portion just plain sucks, but the online multiplayer can be a lot of fun.
Graphics: The visuals aren't bad, but they aren't next gen enough either...
Sound: Voice acting is dreadful and the sound effects and music are very bland.
Value: If you can find it for $20 or slightly over, it might be worth buying if you like the online. Any higher than that, and you should easily forget it...
Final Thoughts: ...April Fools!