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Bomberman
Act Zero
Bomberman
is one of video gaming’s most prolific characters, having appeared in
dozens of games since his debut on the Nintendo Entertainment System.
Nearly all of the titles have featured bright graphics and cutesy little
characters, but for some reason, Hudson and Konami decided it was time
to change all of that. Yes, Bomberman Act Zero is a reimagining of the
venerable series, removing all of the sugary aspects and replacing them
with a dark and sinister atmosphere, coming to the Xbox 360 and PSP late
this summer.
Your
Bomberman is now a badass robot trying to escape from an oppressive
factory, and the only way to do so it by blowing the heck out of
everything. It’s pretty shocking, although once you get over the
drastic change, it actually looks pretty cool. Regardless, it still
looks pretty weird to see Bomberwomen with boob jiggle. Graphically,
it’s not meant to be the most attractive game on the planet, but it
does have some nice texturing, even though they’re pasted on
intentionally repetitive environments.
The
Xbox 360 demo I played focused primarily on the single player mode. The
camera focuses on the character as you run around the maze, instead of
giving an overhead view of the action like the old games. Also new is
the addition of a life meter. Get winged by an explosion and you’ll
lose a tiny bit of health, but get caught in a blast and you’ll be
weakened quite a bit. It’s definitely a change from the one-hit kills
of the old game, and it’s yet to be seen how this affects multiplayer.
Bomberman
Act Zero is being marketed as a budget title in
Japan
, but it doesn’t appear to be headed that route for the American
release. The 360 version will have full online play, one of the first to
have it since the old Dreamcast and Saturn renditions. Hopefully the
full version will keep some of the classic multiplayer elements in case
older gamers find this new installment too alienating.