xXHorrorHippoXx
July 23rd, 2009, 01:39 AM
I have to be honest: before today, I had no idea what “Splosion Man” even was. There was talk about it on Live, and in the forums, but I never really had the urge to actually go out and do a bit of research. I awoke this morning...well afternoon, saw that Fyronik was playing it, and then downloaded the trial.
I’m glad I did.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/HorrorHippo/Splosion-Man_04_jpg_626.jpg
Splosion Man is a platformer that is hard to compare: in my best effort, I would have to say Sonic and N+ on steroids. You play as...well, Splosion Man, a small being who can explode on command using either the “a,” “b,” “x,” or “y,” buttons on your controller. The explosions cause you to jump into the air, and double jump if needed. Splosion Man can jump up to 4 times when fully charged.
The basic goal of each of the 50 levels is to go from point A to point B using your exploding abilities. The levels are fast-paced and filled with puzzles for you to solve. You must use exploding barrels to thrust you higher, and you must disable turrets that the evil scientists are controlling, to continue on your way. I personally found that some of these puzzles and levels are really, really hard, but the game cuts you some slack with the “Way of the Coward” where, after a pre-determined number of deaths, you are able to skip the level in order to continue your progress throughout the story. I found this useful, but not very satisfying. Certain points in the game require your puzzle solving skills to be ace in order to avoid the walls of spikes or the flying turrets, and as I mentioned, this gets annoying. There are 3 boss battles throughout the three different “lands” (that don’t look much different...) and these battles leave you questioning yourself on what the hell you are supposed to do. I must of spent 2 hours on the first battle until I figured out how destroy the stupid thing.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/HorrorHippo/Splosion-Man_06_jpg_626.jpg
There are also 50 completely unique multiplayer coop levels where you must use cooperative abilities in order to progress. In the time I played, there was little or no lag, and the levels were well designed to play very cooperatively. It plays like Little Big Planet where if you are too far away from your partner, you have 5 seconds to get back on screen before you die. This gets annoying when your partner (up to 3 partners) are just running ahead, and you are stuck.
47 of the single player and 47 of the multiplayer levels have cakes hidden inside them. These are the agility orbs, or the skulls of Splosion Man. Some are really easy to find and get, others....well are controller smashingly hard to get, but they add a good replay value to the game. There is also a time trial mode where it is you against your best time, trying to make it up the leader boards. At the end of each level, you are shown the par time, and your time, and are scored according to scientists killed, time, deaths, etc. On your first run through, don’t expect to get close to many of the par times!
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/HorrorHippo/woa2-splosion.jpg
The graphics are really good (in my opinion...on my non-HD TV) for an Arcade Game. The developers use very unique camera angles for certain parts of the game. For example: you are approaching a large room flooded with lava and you must look at all the switches and platforms in the huge room in order to get to the other side without falling. Since this is a time based game, you have to do it in one go, or you will be melting down bellow in the lava. There are even some cool in-game types of cut-scenes where hilarious events occur. The audio is also respectfully good as well. There is always some tune playing, but not an annoying one like in some games. One thing I did find annoying were the things that Splosion Man is saying. I can hear him say things, but I have no idea what he is saying half the time. This really starts to get annoying: hearing him yell some cheesy joke every time you explode. On the bright side, there is a cool song about liking donuts when carrying the fat guy to avoid the turret!
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/HorrorHippo/Splosion20Man.jpg
Overall Splosion Man is really something different and I see why it is the first of many arcade titles being released in the epic summer line-up. At only 800 MP, it is hard to go wrong. You have 100 levels of fast paced, puzzle solving action, and when they are done, you can go back and find the cakes for achievements (and really....who doesn’t like achievements?). Personally, I think it is worth is for the donut song alone.
+ Tons of great levels
+ Donut song
+ Addicting fast paced puzzle solving game play
- Frustrating at times
? WTF is Splosion Man saying?
Score
8.5/10
I’m glad I did.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/HorrorHippo/Splosion-Man_04_jpg_626.jpg
Splosion Man is a platformer that is hard to compare: in my best effort, I would have to say Sonic and N+ on steroids. You play as...well, Splosion Man, a small being who can explode on command using either the “a,” “b,” “x,” or “y,” buttons on your controller. The explosions cause you to jump into the air, and double jump if needed. Splosion Man can jump up to 4 times when fully charged.
The basic goal of each of the 50 levels is to go from point A to point B using your exploding abilities. The levels are fast-paced and filled with puzzles for you to solve. You must use exploding barrels to thrust you higher, and you must disable turrets that the evil scientists are controlling, to continue on your way. I personally found that some of these puzzles and levels are really, really hard, but the game cuts you some slack with the “Way of the Coward” where, after a pre-determined number of deaths, you are able to skip the level in order to continue your progress throughout the story. I found this useful, but not very satisfying. Certain points in the game require your puzzle solving skills to be ace in order to avoid the walls of spikes or the flying turrets, and as I mentioned, this gets annoying. There are 3 boss battles throughout the three different “lands” (that don’t look much different...) and these battles leave you questioning yourself on what the hell you are supposed to do. I must of spent 2 hours on the first battle until I figured out how destroy the stupid thing.
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/HorrorHippo/Splosion-Man_06_jpg_626.jpg
There are also 50 completely unique multiplayer coop levels where you must use cooperative abilities in order to progress. In the time I played, there was little or no lag, and the levels were well designed to play very cooperatively. It plays like Little Big Planet where if you are too far away from your partner, you have 5 seconds to get back on screen before you die. This gets annoying when your partner (up to 3 partners) are just running ahead, and you are stuck.
47 of the single player and 47 of the multiplayer levels have cakes hidden inside them. These are the agility orbs, or the skulls of Splosion Man. Some are really easy to find and get, others....well are controller smashingly hard to get, but they add a good replay value to the game. There is also a time trial mode where it is you against your best time, trying to make it up the leader boards. At the end of each level, you are shown the par time, and your time, and are scored according to scientists killed, time, deaths, etc. On your first run through, don’t expect to get close to many of the par times!
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/HorrorHippo/woa2-splosion.jpg
The graphics are really good (in my opinion...on my non-HD TV) for an Arcade Game. The developers use very unique camera angles for certain parts of the game. For example: you are approaching a large room flooded with lava and you must look at all the switches and platforms in the huge room in order to get to the other side without falling. Since this is a time based game, you have to do it in one go, or you will be melting down bellow in the lava. There are even some cool in-game types of cut-scenes where hilarious events occur. The audio is also respectfully good as well. There is always some tune playing, but not an annoying one like in some games. One thing I did find annoying were the things that Splosion Man is saying. I can hear him say things, but I have no idea what he is saying half the time. This really starts to get annoying: hearing him yell some cheesy joke every time you explode. On the bright side, there is a cool song about liking donuts when carrying the fat guy to avoid the turret!
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/HorrorHippo/Splosion20Man.jpg
Overall Splosion Man is really something different and I see why it is the first of many arcade titles being released in the epic summer line-up. At only 800 MP, it is hard to go wrong. You have 100 levels of fast paced, puzzle solving action, and when they are done, you can go back and find the cakes for achievements (and really....who doesn’t like achievements?). Personally, I think it is worth is for the donut song alone.
+ Tons of great levels
+ Donut song
+ Addicting fast paced puzzle solving game play
- Frustrating at times
? WTF is Splosion Man saying?
Score
8.5/10