Brawl Busters is developed by SkeinGlobe and published by Rock Hippo. The game was officially released December 15, 2011. It’s a third person action MMO with equal parts PvE and PvP. Brawl Busters uses a free-to-play model with the option to rent in-game content with money. Does this new title have enough under the hood to entice new players and keep them hooked?
Starting out, players choose a body type, face, skin tone and starting class. There are five classes total in the game. The Slugger has a powerful bat and can use ranged attacks, but has low HP and moves slower than most classes. The Firefighter has the longest attack range, above average HP, and the slowest movement speed. The Rocker is the most balanced of the classes with no real notable strengths or weaknesses. The Boxer has the fastest attack and movement speeds, but also has the lowest health. The Blitzer has the highest attack power and HP, but the slowest attack speed. In my time playing the game, I didn’t notice a serious lack of speed among any of the classes. Each brings something unique and there is wide variety of play styles to match any type of player. As characters progress towards the cap of 20, they will unlock the ability to use all the classes. Once unlocked, classes can be swapped out before matches and respawning within matches.
Players are limited to one character per account. There wouldn’t be much reason to create more than one character anyhow, since all of the classes eventually unlock and you can remodel your
character permanently for 9,900 Rock Tokens. Once a character is created, there are a number of very helpful solo training missions to take on which familiarize players with the rules and controls of the games. There is an option to do solo missions, but it is currently not available for selection. Competing in multiplayer matches rewards the character with XP and Busters Points. BP is a form of currency used to purchase additional weapons and clothing. When browsing gear, there is a non-functional option to select “Favorite” gear. I assume this would put that gear into a separate category and make it easy for players who like to window shop. There is also the option to purchase Rock Tokens. Rock Tokens can be exchanged for temporary special items including gear and accessories. Currently Rock Tokens can be purchased in four different packages, 10,000 RT for $9.99, 20,000 RT for $19.49, 50,000 RT for $47.49, and $100,000 RT for $84.49.
There are no stats initially available for player gear, but upgrades can be purchased in packages of 1,5,10, and 20 which can then be equipped to gear. Upgrades are “permanent” and cannot be applied to the starting equipment. However, when applying upgrades to gear, a spinner is presented. When applying one upgrade, it moves back and forth between applying the upgrade or not. When trying to apply a second upgrade, a third option is introduced where upgrades on current gear can decrease by one. When trying to apply a third upgrade and beyond, the risk increases further. Another option is unlocked that risks destroying the gear entirely.
The game is strongest in its multiplayer. There’s a strong assortment of match types which promise something for everyone. Team Deathmatch has teams of four trying to net nine kills in five minutes to win. Glow Rush is like a headhunter mode with players collecting Glow from fallen enemies. Once a team collects 43 Glow, they win the match. Zombie Survival is my personal favorite and pits four players against waves of zombies which increase in difficulty. There are three difficulty options for Zombie Survival which increases the amount and ferocity of the zombies in addition to the number of waves required to survive. Free-for-All is exactly as it says where the player whom racks up the most kills in five minutes wins. Boss Battle pits four players against Bubble Yum, a behemoth pain in the butt. Finding matches appropriate for your character is easy with the Channel selection. Level 1-5 characters fall into the Rookie Channel, level 6-15 characters go in the Advanced Channel, and level 16-20 characters join the Elite Channel. Player stats are tracked across all game types and there are leaderboards available for those obsessed with climbing the charts.
There are seven maps that can be played in each of the different game modes. Each has a unique theme and is filled to the brim with interactive objects. There are booths and destructible objects which give the players up to two special attacks. These can range from AoE bombs to a phone which teleports players to the nearest phone booth. Phone booths are placed around the maps and present players with an exit in sticky situations.
The gameplay is a riot and I quickly fell in love with the fun and light-hearted style mixed with fierce competition.
It’s easy enough to join a player hosted match or create one of your own. The only issue with this model is that all players must hit a “Ready” button before the host can launch the game. Games are not launched automatically, so if a host is not paying attention or walks away, it can get quite frustrating trying to get matches going. Another frustrating point is that if a player quits a match while in play, it will cancel the match for everyone else and negate any XP and BP rewards. The entire team should not be punished for one person dropping out. At the very least, XP and BP should be awarded for participating. Leveling up characters and acquiring BP for gear is looking to be a bit of a pain with the rewards for completing games being relatively low. It’s not terrible, but no game should feel like a grind to get the next great thing. It should flow and provide incentive without getting tedious.
Visually, Brawl Busters is very reminiscent of titles like Monday Night Combat and Team Fortress 2. Every character has their own personality and it shows in everything from their posture to how they attack. The bright colors and theme park styled environments are an unexpectedly excellent staging ground for fending off swarms of zombies. However, some of the posters and details in the world don’t look so great when you get close to them. Another great factor is that the game isn’t resource hungry. It can run remarkably well even on the most outdated systems.
There’s plenty to enjoy and the foundation is rock solid. The grind is a bit of a deterrent, so expect to put some time in. That’s easy enough to do since Brawl Busters is a blast to play. There’s also a great deal of replay value as you can unlock everything in the game on one character. There’s a lot to do, it’s simple, fun, and should be tried by everyone.
by~ Christian D.
GamingClimax.com Writer and Author of ZeroAnd09 Blog
