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| 'Splosion Man after he has blown up a barrel to help him reach a high ledge. |
In a secret laboratory, a being made of living explosions called ‘Splosion Man has been created. But he is totally insane and does not want to stay there, so with the player’s help he stages a break out, blowing up everything and everyone along the way.
The player controls ‘Splosion Man as he travels through 47 levels. As a platform game, ‘Splosion Man’s obstacles include pits of acid, floating platforms, and walls of spikes, among others. The only thing ‘Splosion Man can do is explode, that is the only thing the buttons on the controller allows, the exact same explosion. ‘Splosion Man’s explosion acts as a jump, and he can explode up to three times, though each subsequent explosion propels him not as far. After three explosions ‘Splosion Man is vulnerable to weapons and cannot explode for a second while he recharges.
'Splosion Man uses his explosions in other ways to get past obstacles. The biggest is his wall jumping ability, which he can do three times to climb up shafts. He can also use them to blow up attacks robots and occasionally deflect missiles back at turrets.
The other big tool ‘Splosion Man has at his disposal are exploding barrels. There are regular exploding barrels which propel ‘Splosion Man higher than normal jumps. Several obstacles are bypassed by leapfrogging ‘Splosion Man from suspended exploding barrel to barrel. The second kind throws ‘Splosion Man really far and make it impossible to control his direction. The third kinds, which are really orbs instead of barrels, are kicked by ‘Splosion Man to destroy switches.
The player is awarded a score at the end of each level, which is then put up on the Xbox Live leaderboards. The score is based on how fast the player gets through the level, how much stuff they destroy and people they blow up, and whether they find the cake that is hidden in each level.
A typical level will include several things. ‘Splosion Man will in a level probably have to escape a rising tide of water by quickly bouncing up walls, or trying just make a jump by exploding three times, or dodging around lightning bolts, typically platform puzzles that rely on the player having split second timing to successfully make it through.
‘Splosion Man starts off easy and gets harder as the game progresses. While levels at the beginning may take only two minutes to complete, by the end levels may take up to 15 minutes to finish.
The graphics are okay, but not notable for anything. The scientists and ‘Splosion Man look like cartoons, which is fine, but they lack detail. The laboratory has mostly the same white and metallic corridors. The labs change colors twice, but they all start to blend together after a while.
The music is not memorable either, except for the guitar riff that happens every time ‘Splosion Man explodes.
There is not story, just ‘Splosion Man trying to escape. There is no evidence that the scientists are even doing anything wrong.
‘Splosion Man himself is a little funny. He is prone to making gibbering weird noises and pop culture phrases while he runs around and explodes.
There is a multiplayer mode. Presumably it is at least as fun as the single player mode.
The game does have replay value for anyone who likes to show off high scores. Players can go back and try to go faster through the levels, or try to track down every cake in the game, and it immediately goes up on the leaderboard for everyone to see.
If ‘Splosion Man has one flaw is that the later levels become too difficult to be fun. There are several puzzles that demand the player be absolutely perfect with their timing; barrels that are a little too high to reach or platforms that move a little too fast. The end result is the player dying several times for a being a little too slow. And it never feels fair. The occasional uncomfortable camera angle does not help either.
There is also a problem with a lack of variety in the game. All the big different challenges are revealed halfway through the game, which leaves the player with nothing but more difficult challenges later on. It is not much of incentive to know that the only thing the player has to look forward to is more suffering. There is the sense of achievement for completing a difficult level, but that is all.
‘Splosion Man is not a bad game for ten dollars. But, it can be really frustrating, so anyone who hates unfair challenges should probably spend a little more for a better game.
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