SneakySnake
April 12th, 2007, 10:38
From the company that brought you the beloved Geometry Wars, comes a new game titled Boom Boom Rocket. This arcade title is somewhat noteworthy being the latest game from Bizarre, but also because it's EA's first published title in the Xbox Live Arcade domain.
Here's the quick summary:
My opinions are mixed on the title overall. Some parts came together really well, while others left something to be desired. In brief, for an arcade title I think it's probably rather good, but compared to my expectations/what it could've been, I think there is some considerable room for improvement.
Here's a more comprehensive breakdown:
Visuals - Score: 7
I think that I expected more from the visuals, despite what many have said, I think that there could've been a lot more "wow this is craziness" factor. Some parts can be rather dull, that is... if anything is happening at all. Even on intense parts rhythm-wise there isn't a feeling of craziness or mayhem taking place on the screen. I guess this could be good because it is after all - a rhythm game. The way it's designed you need to be able to see the upcoming commands, but I think they could've pushed that balance a lot more before it became a hindrance. Perhaps having some ambient fireworks in the background at all times or making the explosions bigger all the time or at intense parts. While on the topic of explosions, I think that they are decent in the game, but there doesn't seem to be a ton of variety, not even in bonus boost, where the explosion type changes to be a bit cooler, but then doesn't really vary from that one new change, and then it just goes back to regular. The graphics are of similar style to Geo. Wars in terms of explosions and stuff. There is nothing that really struck me as all the cool or noteworthy. The city background that you fly around is reasonably well done, but it's not that stimulating and eventually you just tune it out as you focus on the gameplay. It doesn't have that explosive feeling of Geo. Wars that gets your blood pumping. Not explosive enough... ironic... I know....
Sound - Score: 8.5
Every successful rhythm game thus far has been hugely dependent on great audio. Obviously, the two most popular being Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero. In BBR, the sound quality is great and sound effects are authentic and well utilized. The soundtrack is basically techno-ized versions of famous (maybe not to some...) classical works. I found many of the techno renditions to be pretty amusing personally. The fact that a lot of people have probably heard most of these a few, if not a million, times makes it easier to just pick up and play the game because many songs you've already got an idea of the basic rhythm.
Probably the worst part about BBR, especially in contrast to DDR and GH, is that it only has 10 tracks to play. This affects both my score for the audio and the gameplay (further down.) This means that one can play through the game in some form quite quickly, although perfecting all the songs will take some time. In addition, on the flip side of using such well-known pieces for its soundtrack, coupled with the fact it only has 10 songs, it makes the "I will blow my brains out if I ever hear that song again" factor quite high. Some can probably handle this better than others. Some songs are also quite a bit more enjoyable than others in this regard. With today's simultaneous release of new songs for GH2 - I'd guess it's likely that we'll see some Downloadable Content action on Live sometime in the future for BBR - at least hopefully. Let's also hope they don't slap on a 1500 point price tag. YUCK! *Cough* Some free, or even cheap, new songs would definitely go a long way to adding to the overall value of BBR.
Gameplay - Score: 7.5
Let's get to the point. It's a rhythm game folks. By now most of us have been familiarized with this shtick. Despite so many re-hashings of a seemingly limited genre, BBR does a relatively good job of keeping the concept fresh. The biggest changes being that it has a bit more freeform feel. That is too say the commands, notes, or fireworks in this case, are not always in the same linear column. In addition to being launched in various locations from the bottom of the screen, the "fireworks" also curve horizontally to mimic the arch of real fireworks before they explode. This adds to the artistic style of BBR as well as keeping things a bit more interesting and fresh. At first, it gives a more hectic feel than many other similar games, but that feeling subsides for most part as you play any given song a few times over.
One of the biggest areas that disappointed me in Boom Boom Rocket, something I was expecting from the company the brought us Geometry Wars, was that feeling like barely in control and somehow still kicking ass. A sense that you're teetering on the edge of loosing but still coming up clutch. I think Geo. Wars did a lot better job than BBR in that respect. It's not as much of an adrenaline rush as I was hoping for. I think that may stem more from the visuals not being as awe-inspiring as Geo. Wars, or perhaps just the type of game isn't as suitable. Whatever the case may be there just wasn't the same Geo. Wars feeling that I was really hoping Bizarre could pull off once again.
One other notable difference from most rhythm games is that the timing indicator is just a pink bar about 3/4 up the screen. This works out reasonably well given that the firework-commands are launching up all over the place. At the same time this can be a hassle because if you play on a big screen, more specifically a widescreen, it can be hard to take in the whole screen to make sure your getting every command. This problem isn't really that bad except when you start getting a bunch of commands launching up, and you have to scan back and forth across the screen. Speaking of commands, the game allows you to choose between showing them as the traditional arrows to work better with the D-Pad, but it also allows you to show the commands as the letters of the buttons so that you can use the face buttons more easily. This is a matter of preference but it’s nice to see that they included both. I personally use the ABXY version, but many DDR junkies might like the arrow setup better. The controls translate pretty easily to the relatively simple game design. It's not quite as exhilarating as using the GH guitar or the DDR dance pad, but for a relatively small arcade game it does the trick. Plus you don't sweat like in DDR (although exercise is good sometimes,) and you don't have to be on your feel all the time like in GH. If you know what to generally expect from a game like this coming in, the Boom Boom Rocket pretty much meets all the requirements.
Additional Notes
The leaderboards add some competition into for some people, but unless your uber at these kinds of games, be aware that there some people who are indeed UBER at these, and therefore will most likely put up inhuman top scores, but it's fun to compete amongst your friends. As always there are achievements to work for. You can find those here (http://www.xbox360achievements.org/home/showachievements.php?type=Arcade&gameID=228). It gives you an idea of the game's hard difficulty overall when the game's biggest achievement is based on the medium difficulty. I guess they didn't figure people would want to try that hard to ace all 10 songs on Hard. Maybe they were just being nice and wanted to save you some money on buying either a new controller, a gun or Rogaine, out of frustration.
I've heard from a few sources that that the GH2 X-Plorer guitar does work for the game, which could be advantageous to some hardcore GH people. I haven't heard anything about the DDR pad, but if the GH2 controller works, then it would seem logical that the pad does too.
I read somewhere, and I thought it was a great point so I'll bring it up here, was that the freestyle mode offers a great, simple activity for kids who may come over to your abode and either demand to play video games or you have nothing better for them to do. It's family-content friendly and they probably would feel like they were really cool. I can think of few young ones in my life that would probably get a huge kick out of the game. If you're in this position a lot then that reason alone could warrant a purchase for some I'd think.
On a random side-note, I've found that there is this weird blurry-ish, invisible box almost at the bottom of the screen, that fits perfectly with the background of the city at all times, but seems to be in front of the fireworks as they launch up, and it mostly blocks them for a split second. It's most easily seen if you go into free style mode and just start mashing buttons so the fireworks explode a bunch at the bottom, and you'll see that the fireworks explosion effects get cut off by what seems to be an invisible wall, or filter, of sorts. It's not really a big deal in a real game as your mostly focused near the top of the screen, and it's not really obvious in the first place, but I just got curious as to if it was a unintentional or it has some purpose. Anyone know?
Conclusions - Overall: 7.7
The game is definitely fun overall. I think it may be more for those who already like rhythm games in the first place, and would like a simple arcade version to play once in a while. It offers a nice, simple time waster - like most arcade titles. You can either play it for a long time, or just for a quick song or two. At the same time, it's not really hard for someone who’s never played a rhythm game before or who’s not very good. It deserves credit for accessibility.
Being that it is an arcade title I'd say it's definitely worth the money for what you get. The overall package is pretty decent besides the fact that you only get 10 songs initially, but like I said, we can probably expect some DLC in the future. Also because it's an arcade title I suppose it can't be bashed too much overall because there is, for some dumb reason, a cap of 50MB on arcade titles. Due to that, I'd imagine Bizarre probably had to pick and choose what they wanted to end up in the final package. This meant they probably had to whittle away a lot of the small things that would've helped out the games overall score. Since that's probably the case in my opinion, I accounted for that in my scores, although not in my write-up. Had this been a full game or had a bigger cap I definitely would've rated this game more harshly. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a 6.5 overall. Where as Geo. Wars I'd probably give an 8.5-9 overall. Maybe that will give you a point of reference when you're weighting the value of my review. Anyways, I'm done, hope you liked. I originally intended just write a brief list of my findings and basic opinion of the game to start a discussion, but it kind of grew because I was bored/I thought I'd give something back to Xboxic. (Queue the "Ahhhh. How cute!" Hehe.) Anyways, love to hear your thoughts, criticisms on the review or the random stuff I brought up. Though, most importantly on the game. Thanks.
Here's the quick summary:
My opinions are mixed on the title overall. Some parts came together really well, while others left something to be desired. In brief, for an arcade title I think it's probably rather good, but compared to my expectations/what it could've been, I think there is some considerable room for improvement.
Here's a more comprehensive breakdown:
Visuals - Score: 7
I think that I expected more from the visuals, despite what many have said, I think that there could've been a lot more "wow this is craziness" factor. Some parts can be rather dull, that is... if anything is happening at all. Even on intense parts rhythm-wise there isn't a feeling of craziness or mayhem taking place on the screen. I guess this could be good because it is after all - a rhythm game. The way it's designed you need to be able to see the upcoming commands, but I think they could've pushed that balance a lot more before it became a hindrance. Perhaps having some ambient fireworks in the background at all times or making the explosions bigger all the time or at intense parts. While on the topic of explosions, I think that they are decent in the game, but there doesn't seem to be a ton of variety, not even in bonus boost, where the explosion type changes to be a bit cooler, but then doesn't really vary from that one new change, and then it just goes back to regular. The graphics are of similar style to Geo. Wars in terms of explosions and stuff. There is nothing that really struck me as all the cool or noteworthy. The city background that you fly around is reasonably well done, but it's not that stimulating and eventually you just tune it out as you focus on the gameplay. It doesn't have that explosive feeling of Geo. Wars that gets your blood pumping. Not explosive enough... ironic... I know....
Sound - Score: 8.5
Every successful rhythm game thus far has been hugely dependent on great audio. Obviously, the two most popular being Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero. In BBR, the sound quality is great and sound effects are authentic and well utilized. The soundtrack is basically techno-ized versions of famous (maybe not to some...) classical works. I found many of the techno renditions to be pretty amusing personally. The fact that a lot of people have probably heard most of these a few, if not a million, times makes it easier to just pick up and play the game because many songs you've already got an idea of the basic rhythm.
Probably the worst part about BBR, especially in contrast to DDR and GH, is that it only has 10 tracks to play. This affects both my score for the audio and the gameplay (further down.) This means that one can play through the game in some form quite quickly, although perfecting all the songs will take some time. In addition, on the flip side of using such well-known pieces for its soundtrack, coupled with the fact it only has 10 songs, it makes the "I will blow my brains out if I ever hear that song again" factor quite high. Some can probably handle this better than others. Some songs are also quite a bit more enjoyable than others in this regard. With today's simultaneous release of new songs for GH2 - I'd guess it's likely that we'll see some Downloadable Content action on Live sometime in the future for BBR - at least hopefully. Let's also hope they don't slap on a 1500 point price tag. YUCK! *Cough* Some free, or even cheap, new songs would definitely go a long way to adding to the overall value of BBR.
Gameplay - Score: 7.5
Let's get to the point. It's a rhythm game folks. By now most of us have been familiarized with this shtick. Despite so many re-hashings of a seemingly limited genre, BBR does a relatively good job of keeping the concept fresh. The biggest changes being that it has a bit more freeform feel. That is too say the commands, notes, or fireworks in this case, are not always in the same linear column. In addition to being launched in various locations from the bottom of the screen, the "fireworks" also curve horizontally to mimic the arch of real fireworks before they explode. This adds to the artistic style of BBR as well as keeping things a bit more interesting and fresh. At first, it gives a more hectic feel than many other similar games, but that feeling subsides for most part as you play any given song a few times over.
One of the biggest areas that disappointed me in Boom Boom Rocket, something I was expecting from the company the brought us Geometry Wars, was that feeling like barely in control and somehow still kicking ass. A sense that you're teetering on the edge of loosing but still coming up clutch. I think Geo. Wars did a lot better job than BBR in that respect. It's not as much of an adrenaline rush as I was hoping for. I think that may stem more from the visuals not being as awe-inspiring as Geo. Wars, or perhaps just the type of game isn't as suitable. Whatever the case may be there just wasn't the same Geo. Wars feeling that I was really hoping Bizarre could pull off once again.
One other notable difference from most rhythm games is that the timing indicator is just a pink bar about 3/4 up the screen. This works out reasonably well given that the firework-commands are launching up all over the place. At the same time this can be a hassle because if you play on a big screen, more specifically a widescreen, it can be hard to take in the whole screen to make sure your getting every command. This problem isn't really that bad except when you start getting a bunch of commands launching up, and you have to scan back and forth across the screen. Speaking of commands, the game allows you to choose between showing them as the traditional arrows to work better with the D-Pad, but it also allows you to show the commands as the letters of the buttons so that you can use the face buttons more easily. This is a matter of preference but it’s nice to see that they included both. I personally use the ABXY version, but many DDR junkies might like the arrow setup better. The controls translate pretty easily to the relatively simple game design. It's not quite as exhilarating as using the GH guitar or the DDR dance pad, but for a relatively small arcade game it does the trick. Plus you don't sweat like in DDR (although exercise is good sometimes,) and you don't have to be on your feel all the time like in GH. If you know what to generally expect from a game like this coming in, the Boom Boom Rocket pretty much meets all the requirements.
Additional Notes
The leaderboards add some competition into for some people, but unless your uber at these kinds of games, be aware that there some people who are indeed UBER at these, and therefore will most likely put up inhuman top scores, but it's fun to compete amongst your friends. As always there are achievements to work for. You can find those here (http://www.xbox360achievements.org/home/showachievements.php?type=Arcade&gameID=228). It gives you an idea of the game's hard difficulty overall when the game's biggest achievement is based on the medium difficulty. I guess they didn't figure people would want to try that hard to ace all 10 songs on Hard. Maybe they were just being nice and wanted to save you some money on buying either a new controller, a gun or Rogaine, out of frustration.
I've heard from a few sources that that the GH2 X-Plorer guitar does work for the game, which could be advantageous to some hardcore GH people. I haven't heard anything about the DDR pad, but if the GH2 controller works, then it would seem logical that the pad does too.
I read somewhere, and I thought it was a great point so I'll bring it up here, was that the freestyle mode offers a great, simple activity for kids who may come over to your abode and either demand to play video games or you have nothing better for them to do. It's family-content friendly and they probably would feel like they were really cool. I can think of few young ones in my life that would probably get a huge kick out of the game. If you're in this position a lot then that reason alone could warrant a purchase for some I'd think.
On a random side-note, I've found that there is this weird blurry-ish, invisible box almost at the bottom of the screen, that fits perfectly with the background of the city at all times, but seems to be in front of the fireworks as they launch up, and it mostly blocks them for a split second. It's most easily seen if you go into free style mode and just start mashing buttons so the fireworks explode a bunch at the bottom, and you'll see that the fireworks explosion effects get cut off by what seems to be an invisible wall, or filter, of sorts. It's not really a big deal in a real game as your mostly focused near the top of the screen, and it's not really obvious in the first place, but I just got curious as to if it was a unintentional or it has some purpose. Anyone know?
Conclusions - Overall: 7.7
The game is definitely fun overall. I think it may be more for those who already like rhythm games in the first place, and would like a simple arcade version to play once in a while. It offers a nice, simple time waster - like most arcade titles. You can either play it for a long time, or just for a quick song or two. At the same time, it's not really hard for someone who’s never played a rhythm game before or who’s not very good. It deserves credit for accessibility.
Being that it is an arcade title I'd say it's definitely worth the money for what you get. The overall package is pretty decent besides the fact that you only get 10 songs initially, but like I said, we can probably expect some DLC in the future. Also because it's an arcade title I suppose it can't be bashed too much overall because there is, for some dumb reason, a cap of 50MB on arcade titles. Due to that, I'd imagine Bizarre probably had to pick and choose what they wanted to end up in the final package. This meant they probably had to whittle away a lot of the small things that would've helped out the games overall score. Since that's probably the case in my opinion, I accounted for that in my scores, although not in my write-up. Had this been a full game or had a bigger cap I definitely would've rated this game more harshly. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a 6.5 overall. Where as Geo. Wars I'd probably give an 8.5-9 overall. Maybe that will give you a point of reference when you're weighting the value of my review. Anyways, I'm done, hope you liked. I originally intended just write a brief list of my findings and basic opinion of the game to start a discussion, but it kind of grew because I was bored/I thought I'd give something back to Xboxic. (Queue the "Ahhhh. How cute!" Hehe.) Anyways, love to hear your thoughts, criticisms on the review or the random stuff I brought up. Though, most importantly on the game. Thanks.