Games of the Abstract: Broforce (2015)

 

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Developer: Free Lives

Up to Four Players

Windows (Steam)/ OS X/ Linux/ PlayStation 4/ Nintendo Switch

 

Spoiler Warning for Game Play

Like exactly it says on the tin, and surprisingly managing to cross a line between tribute and copyright, Broforce is almost every action movie hero, almost as many as exist, reinterpreted as a squadron of sprite homages blasting random assortments of goons led by business suit Satan in fully destructible environments. I come to this game with a tinge of nostalgia as, before it became a fully fleshed out game released on Steam, and console and phone systems, Broforce was a game on the site Miniclip, an web site devoted to independent games that I used to play in the twilight zone of my gaming days. That was an era of not playing games at all, but still going onto MiniClip for this and a few Metal Slug tributes that, as indie games became more popular, showed a lot of talent in themselves. The great thing is that, after all this time, Broforce is still a good game in its fully formed, fully buff version.

It is a loving parody, openly and unsubtly parodying American action films, from a South African based developer, with sincere love too from them. Completely expanding from the MiniClip version, this has a choice of unlockable characters to play, beginning with a parody of Rambo, Rambro, based on the Sylvester Stallone character. You acquire more, an entire small squadron, when you rescue hostages that also count as your lives system, as the American flag you erect is your check point mid-level and a larger American flag allows you to restart a level after a game over from that point. Die, least in the non-hard modes, and if you have multiple lives, you spawn again. Lose all lives and, in non-hard modes, you can start the level quickly if you wish to continue. In its standard form, your starting character becomes randomised in when you gain more characters, as if every time you die or get a hostage.

This adds an unpredictability as, the more Bros you get, the more variety you get, as each has different types of basic gun fire, with some having thrown weapons or melee instead, and an unpredictable variety of special attacks, be it Time Bro (Timecop (1994)) having a time stop function, or the Brominator (The Terminator (1984)) turning into his robo-skeleton version for invulnerability. The films referenced are diverse, be it the Predator or even Uma Thurman's the Bride from the Kill Bill films. With the exception of some of the ultra obscure figures of American action cinema, like Don "The Dragon" Wilson, the only real absentee is Steven Seagal, as every key a-level and b-level star of American action cinema of the eighties and nineties, sometimes in multiple forms, are represented. The eclectic nature of the choices is found in that, among the first few who are in the cut-scenes, you have Laurence "Mr. T" Tureaud's B. A. Baracus, of the A-Team TV series, with MacGruber (2010), a figure from the 2010 titular film who, on the television show Saturday Night Live, is a parody of the TV series MacGyver.  However, in spite of this, that figure managed to be one of the best characters for me in his sticky explosives.

It is in the game's favour that, due to some of the most rewarding players to use, this game comes to me also with great interest as a huge cineaste but one who admits never getting into action movies. Alongside the fact I have softened to this, with greater interest, Broforce has managed to get me even interested in MacGruber and The Boondock Saints (1999), a cult film, due to its tributes here, the later duo able to last longer even when one is killed, and acquiring a Billy Connolly sprite as their special, which is surreal as the Scottish comedian is a huge household name in the United Kingdom. More so this game helps raise the interest of these films, even those I may never actually enjoy, as one of the funniest moments comes come the MacGruber parody's special. In a game where, alongside clever A.I., the mask goons react with their variety of noises and grunts, the special involves throwing out a turkey full of explosives; imagine, especially as a secret achievement involves getting ten at once, throwing a roast turkey out, attracting the attention of all goons nearby, making curious noises and moving towards it with question marks over their heads, only to let it explode or press the special off to set it off. It is of a morbid and twisted sense of humour, but it was absolutely entertaining to witness every time

And, as a hazard and a tool, when things blow up, baring the few metal constructs and ladders, every piece of terrain and object can be destroyed. Per cube block, you have so many strategies to work with even if railroaded by levels in one direction, as there are likely multiple ways to reach the end goal, to climb the ladder of the helicopter that swoops in to rescue you, even if it means shooting the terrain underneath if possible to and improvising digging under hazards. You can climb up walls if reachable, blow up nearby objects, or take advantage of rolling explosive barrels to fall down ladders or push over propane tanks which fly in the direction pointed. Even a stray box can crush enemies, as is one having to be aware of falling stone blocks or explosives nearby. Destroying the entirety of the ground beneath as well leaves oblivion for everyone who falls, something which is even necessary for one boss who refuses to stay down.

This is where I love this game, which can be difficult before you even consider the harder mode, where you permanently lose characters if you fail with them until a game over, but this is a rare case where you have a lot to work with regardless of skill level to enjoy the game. Perseverance and learning is possible; strategy is possible; almost avoiding all enemies is actually possible baring boss fights for total strategy; sheer bloody-mindedness is possible and even encouraged at points, and sometimes your enemies, especially with those with dynamite vests on who run at you and explode, destroy everything before you even get to the next land mass. Some things for me were pains, such as any character with a minigun being useless for me to use fully, but even that for another player could be an advantage, as for the fact it takes a long time to fire, you can if firing in reverse make it possible to fly over hazard with these characters, and that the random changes in characters in a level happen a lot. A James Bond stand-in, based on Sean Connery with multiple different specials, has for the first a seemingly useless martini glass you throw over your shoulder, baring the fact you can hit a goon and kill them with a perfect shot. You can risk close combat with melee characters; you can hijack the robot suits you later encounter; even the Predator parody, if killed, refers to the film canon by having a self destruct that is set off as revenge. This game allows so many options you cannot be stuck in a scenario unable to complete it, and this also has up to four players for gameplay, which will add a greater sense of chaos too.

One disappointment with Broforce is the lack of women in the Bro-team - you get The Bride from Kill Bill, Eileen Ripley from the Alien films, Rose McGowan's character from Planet Terror (2007), with a rifle leg, and Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin's comic book character Tank Girl, likely based on the 1995 film adaptation, but that is more an issue of sexism in American cinema with the lack of female action heroines over the years baring a few like Cynthia Rothrock. This is not a slight on developer Free Lives who, with two different Chuck Norris characters, can make them both unique, one found roundhouse kicking people, one taking advantage that grenades if they hit a goon kills them in a perfect throw.

The campaign, rendered in a 3D helicopter travelling to locations, including challenges to gain new specials, does elaborate more on the original Miniclip version, grounded at first in hyper-violent military warzones. Why spoiler warnings have been included, as it caught me off-guard and would be a surprise for a player to encounter, is that, as part of expansions into the full game, the fact you eventually fight Satan in Hell for America turns out not the biggest twist. Instead, it is that, in their non-union equivalents, the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise appear. And in spite of that joke, as these are purple, this game does not disguise how, in this context, these creatures in this tribute really emphasise how scary the concept of them were when created for the original 1979 Alien film, or how in any videogame they are dangerous foes is used properly. They prove some of the toughest or at least challenging additions as, attacking the goons as they will you, there are facehuggers, who if they get you or another enemy will implode from their bodies as purple Xenomorphs, as the Xenomorphs themselves too when killed have acidic blood which destroys the ground. Additions for these versions, including crushing teeth and fang surface traps, and giant worm ones which spew out facehuggers, including a level entirely around avoiding one that devours all it jumps through, and this proves a challenge that, like the action tributes, actually emphasises how special these creations are. This game shows, for a franchise which has had some terrible inclusions, how striking these figures are, more a challenging than even Hell, where only the homing flaming skulls and grotesque bulbous acid spewers prove anything as relentless.

The only way you could follow on from Broforce, which I wish could have a sequel, and be comparable to fighting Satan would either be Space Nazis on the Moon or more aliens. Until then, there was a bonus free tie-in to The Expendables 3, called The Expendabros (2014) with the main cast reinterpreted and making up for not having Dolph Lundgren in the original version. That is a slight little campaign but alongside the challange, emphasising the traps you encounter more (such as giant rocket launcher turrets and the prescience sensitive traps with fire giant buzz saws one direction), it also has its own set of Bros to play with that have their own skills to learn. In Broforce itself, there are the campaign mode, the Arcade version which cuts out the cut scenes, a multiplayer mode, and a Lever Creator which, alongside being able to play and download levels created by other players, offers an enticing challenge in terms of creating your own levels, such as witnessing someone having recreated a hellish adaptation of Ghouls n Ghosts (1988), Capcom's notoriously difficult game, with a Conan stand-in.

The game's sense of fun for me, and this does not spoil the moment for me at all, is when, parodying its aesthetics when it reveals a boss for that level, it instead focuses on a random goon in a really twisted joke. One where they, when it focused on, has his entirely life story from birth, to marriage and recruitment in the enemy side explained in cut scenes, with he and everyone wearing the balaclavas, only for him to abruptly leave as he was introduced. Action cinema's history including its jingoistic nature has steadily been ebbed away as the older American films are looked back on fondly as their own cartoonish world. Some of this reaction is ironic, but some of it, despite the violence, is something more wholeheartedly fun, something which I have grown to admire in the likes of Wakaliwood, the Ugandan film studio out of a poor community who created the cult hit Who Killed Captain Alex? (2010), and now having returned to it Broforce. As much as it is taking the piss out of the image of the United States' perceived gun-ho militarism in other countries, such as the voice over for the start and game over screens from each mission screaming in the most macho voice possible, undoubtedly the creators love these films. Even without this beautiful aesthetic on top, everything mechanically in this game is also exceptional with is perfect. Returning to this as an adult, I feel in love with Broforce in this version rather than have a nostalgic experience.