Not THAT bad, but certainly not great.
User Rating: 5 | Bomberman: Act Zero X360
With the help of a ten dollar off coupon I was able to walk away with Bomberman Act Zero for 9.99 brand new. I am not sure why I have such an obsession with games that are normally rated as "stinkers" but I had to see if it was as bad as many made it out to be. What I first realized is that many of the reviews out there seem to be suffering from a sort of nostalgic outrage, because the reality is had this game not been called "Bomberman" I don't think it would have been attacked so broadly. It does not do justice to the bomberman series, and it makes an attempt to explain why these folks are trying to kill each other in a room full of soft blocks, something most Bomberman fans don't want to think about because we don't care. Putting aside the bias of the "Super Bombermans" of yesterday that I enjoyed so much I find a game that is bad but certainly not terrible. Graphics: How much can you really jazz up Bomberman before you start to take away from the core gameplay? Its better looking then I any bomberman I have played before but it also casts aside the "cartoony" aspect of the games of before and tries to give the series its own look, one that I really don't hate but it does very little for me. Many of the "Arenas" are rather sterile and bland but that sort of goes hand and hand with the storyline. The overview provides nothing special, the explosions look like I would expect them to, the characters, blocks and pillars all also look just like what I would expect. What is interesting is that once you switch to "FPB" mode the game starts to look a lot better, except that the functionality of that mode at least I found is MUCH harder to work with then the classic top down overview that we all know. Character models are interesting although they give me the feeling of a dumbed down "What we thought the Future would look like in 1985" feel to them and that is really what hurt the whole thing for me. Customizing your bombermen or women is cool but still rather limited and from the online play I am yet to see anyone be truly creative with their design. Gameplay: The story is terrible, Basically you have to go through 100 levels to escape this compound? Great. The item that really bothered me about the single player is that once you are dead, you are dead. No continues nadda and that can be a really pain in the behind so much so that it makes you rather jaded if you play too much single player, The Multiplayer seems to be the games bread and butter and I have greatly enjoyed playing this game online, although since so few people actually own the game the online community is very dry which can lead to more frustration. The game itself plays very much like any other bomberman game you have played before, and even if you haven't the controls are so basic that there should be little problem in picking it up in less then ten minutes. Also the lack of a two player Offline mode is just tragic, the lack of a four player mode is just wrong. Sound: Awful, just tragic. I will admit that hearing the Robotic female voice saying "You are Dead" or "You are Alive" was entertaining at first but after a while it generally just becomes painful. The explosions sound rather muted but all and all not too bad, the sound you make when you die or anyone dies is pretty well equal to the pain you would experience with nails on a chalkboard. Value: It really depends, I am looking at this game as generally costing me the same as a more expensive Xbox Arcade title. If I paid 59.99 for this game I would be rather angry, but for a low enough price point this will provide you with some entertainment online assuming you can find anyone to play with.
