‘BattleBlock Theater’ Review
BattleBlock Theater has finally arrived after 5 years of development. Created by The Behemoth, the same studio that brought us the incredibly successful Castle Crashers, BattleBlock Theater is a multiplayer platformer that is brimming with content. The sheer amount of things to do make this game a great value, even if it’s far from the best indie platformer on the Xbox.
One of the things that The Behemoth does exceptionally well is humor and Battleblock Theater is arguably their funniest title to date. The game opens with a hilarious video describing a bunch of friends enjoying an adventure on the sea with their best bud, Hatty Hattington. Of course everything doesn’t go according to plan and the groups of friends are shipwrecked on a mysterious and rundown island. Like most islands, the place is inhabited by technologically advanced and sadistic cats. The cats put an ominous hat on Hatty’s head, which possesses him and makes him the master of ceremonies. You see, these cats like to force their prisoners into deadly theater performances where the player has to fight for their own survival.
If that premise isn’t cracked and ridiculous enough, the entire game is narrated by a hilarious and manic announcer. This narrator adds a lot to not only the story, but the actual gameplay as well since his commentary is witty and corresponds exactly to what’s happening onscreen. He’ll mock you when you die, yell “Goodness Gracious” when you burst into flames, and isn’t above the occasional fart joke. The humor extends beyond just the audio and story though. There are plenty of sight gags, ridiculous animations, and oddly dressed cats. It’s a silly game which is even more fun when played with friends.
The audio and story aren’t the only fantastic thing about BattleBlock Theater. Dan Paladin’s art and animation is as bright and charming as it was back in the flash version of Alien Hominid. From the nefarious cat security guards to the ravenous raccoon with antlers monsters, BattleBlock Theater is expertly animated and stamped with The Behemoth’s signature look. The island theater that serves as the game’s stage select is filled with background details that add a lot to the overall package. Battleblock Theater is like playing a sick and demented Saturday morning cartoon, —just looking at it in motion will often bring a smile to your face.
The core game mechanics are actually the weakest part of BattleBlock Theater. It’s a decent enough, if generic, platformer, but the fighting mechanics are clunky. I found it far less frustrating to avoid fighting enemy cats then attempting a beat down. Running past them leads to the cats killing themselves due to a lack of enemy artificial intelligence. Items and weapons range from useless joke to overpowered and seem like a peripheral add-on.
What the core gameplay lacks, BattleBlock Theater makes up for in quantity and variety. Every level of BattleBlock Theater is filled with a variety of blocks, traps, enemies, items and power-ups. Most of the campaign levels task you with collecting at gems and making your way to the exit, but there are time challenges at the end of each chapter. The game does a good job of mixing time and skill based jumps with puzzle solving segments. There’s never much repetition and things change dramatically when you play the campaign cooperatively.
Battleblock Theater is more than just a single player and cooperative campaign. There are a slew of multiplayer game types in the Arena mode that range from Color the World (touch blocks to turn them your team’s color) to Basketball to Racing. Everyone is likely to have their own multiplayer favorites and some are more balanced than others, but the fact that there are so many, and such a good variety, means that players will be hard pressed to find nothing they enjoy. Add to this a level editor that lets you create your own levels and hundreds of collectibles and you have a game that you can spend years playing.
You can get out of BattleBlock Theater what you put into it. The Behemoth had a lot to live up to after Castle Crashers and five years of development, but you can tell that they crafted the game with a lot of love. I’m not quite sure that BattleBlock Theater was worth the wait, but that certainly doesn’t make it a bad game. If you hate platformers, you probably should avoid this game, but otherwise there’s a whole lot of fun to be had…plus there isn’t a game around with more cats.
Review summary Pros:
Fantastic story, manic narrator, and humor. Heaps and heaps of content. Great level variety.
Cons:
Core Gameplay mechanics are weak. Poor enemy AI.
Rating: 86%
