'Broforce' blows away expectations for 2D gaming

A giant chrome anthropomorphic eagle, with a huge star (reminiscent of that on the Texan flag) for a chest and American flag-painted wings, explodes onto the screen in a flash of lightning. The eagle screams and flexes its bulging arms. The eagle’s entry complete, a deep masculine voice roars “BROFORCE!” with throat-rending force, while a soundtrack comprised of blaring horns, shredding guitars and suspense-building strings blasts in the background. Then the game’s main menu appears.

With its cacophonous opening sequence, “Broforce” -- a 2D shooter-platformer developed by Free Lives and published by Devolver Digital -- presents an experience that is equal parts homage to and parody of testosterone-soaked action movies, their hulking heroes and the kind of unthinking attitudes toward military might they so often present. “Broforce” has been in development since April 2012 when it began as a submission to the Ludum Dare game jam and has been available via Steam Early Access since April 2014. After a year and a half spent in Early Access, “Broforce” finally released on Oct. 15.

In “Broforce,” players begin selecting missions by maneuvering a helicopter around a blocky three dimensional representation of the game's world and navigating to a “terror hotspot” somewhere on the globe. After choosing a mission, players must navigate a level by killing enemies and avoiding environmental hazards. Players accomplish these goals by taking control of a “bro,” a cartoonish parody of a well-known action hero. “Broforce” derives much of its character from its bros, each of which has a name made from the nom de guerre of a popular action hero with “bro” unceremoniously shoved into it (Rambro, Brominator, Indianna Brones, Bronan the Brobarian). These equal parts cringeworthy and hilarious “brombinations” are enough to make Barney Stinson request the highest of fives. Along with silly names, all bros have a unique primary weapon and special ability that pay homage to the character that inspired them. Indianna Brones, for example, sports a whip and has a potent revolver as a special ability. For all their disparate weapons and abilities, the 30 bros of “Broforce” are united in their fragility -- each can only withstand a single shot or endure a single explosion before dying.

Where “Broforce” shines is how it makes players choose between bros. A lesser game would have had players simply select a bro at the beginning of the level, leaving them to pick a character that they liked and/or that suited their playing style. Instead, “Broforce” assigns the player a random bro at the beginning of the level and scatters imprisoned bros throughout the level. Freeing one of these bros grants the player another life, but also randomly changes their player to another bro. This way, players have to decide whether the guaranteed extra life is worth being assigned a new, random bro. The randomness inherent in bro selection challenges the player to come up with a way to best the enemies before them with the tools they have and introduces something of a cerebral element into the otherwise tired 2D side-scrolling shooter formula.

The game's other defining feature is its destructible levels. Almost every part of the game’s levels can be reduced to dust by gunfire and explosives, and “Broforce” encourages delightfully hectic experimentation as the player tries to destroy the level around their enemies without killing themselves. Tunneling through a level (using a machine gun) to reach a gas main that, if damaged, will explode and cause a building full of cartoon terrorists to plummet into the abyss also elicits a sublime childlike giddiness.

The combination of randomly selected bros and chaotic level destruction that defines “Broforce” makes it a (literal) blast to play with friends, either through the game’s online or local cooperative mode. Up to four players can team up to battle through the game’s levels, and the tension that comes from how easy it is to kill your fellow bros is a recipe for high fives and/or streams of expletives.

The gameplay is outstanding in both single and multiplayer, and, fortunately, its presentation measures up. “Broforce” wears its influences on its sleeve, employing a gorgeous pixel art style and character designs reminiscent of classics like “Metal Slug” (1996 - 2009) and “Contra” (1987). “Broforce” also features a narrator of sorts, who, though he sounds scarcely capable of human speech, roars monosyllables when important game events occur. His pained growl of “Nraawwwagrh!” when the player has failed a mission is a highlight.

There is very little not to like about “Broforce,” which features an uncommon level of polish in both its art and gameplay. Some players may find its militarism distasteful, but, all in all, the game is more a commentary on the depiction of force in film than an endorsement of the American military.