Broforce (Hands-On) (PC) Preview

The goal of each level is to reach the end of the map before evacuating among a sea of fire and explosions. There are no time limits, which creates the choice between racing to the end of a level or slowing down to rescue as many prisoners as possible. Captives are important because freeing them unlocks more bros, each of whom has a unique weapon and special ability. A few examples include John Rambro (parodying Rambo), Bro in Black (inspired by Will Smith's Agent J from Men in Black) and the Bro Hard (taking his cue from the best Christmas film ever: Die Hard). Each character is randomly unlocked after saving a certain number of POWs and randomly assigned at the start of each level or after respawning at a checkpoint.

Destructible terrain is a big part of each level as it opens up a number of strategic options. Simply put: if a bro can walk on it, a bro can destroy it. This means that the avalanches of explosions that occur during most skirmishes with enemies can reshape the landscape to send enemies plummeting to their deaths. It's also possible to take a more cautious approach and shoot, or stab, away at the terrain to carve a path around the enemy and launch a surprise attack. The freedom to devise unique approaches to levels does a great job of staving off repetition, but creates a risk of destroying so much of the scenery that it becomes impossible to progress without restarting the whole level. Thankfully this only happened twice during one playthrough, so there's no need to hold back excessively when dispensing explosive balls of freedom.

The main part of the game takes place in the campaign and arcade modes. The levels in both of these are the same, but the former offers the choice of in which order levels are played by selecting different parts of the world map. The arcade mode takes the campaign levels and presents them in succession, without a map screen. Some levels purportedly have a slightly different layout, but, for the most part, completing one mode is a very similar experience to completing the other. At the moment it takes about five hours to complete the levels on offer in the campaign, but the developers are working on adding new missions in future updates.

As fun and frantic as the single-player campaign is, the action really comes into its own in the aptly named Bro-Op mode, which supports up to four people. Once everyone has loaded the level, there is little to no slowdown or lag during gameplay when playing locally or online, which makes it easy to enjoy the fast-paced action with others. It is easy to lose track of the action in Bro-Op mode, thanks to the increased number of bros, but the camera does try its best to keep everyone viewable on the screen. Broforce should definitely be experienced with as many people as possible, but that's not to say that the single-player campaign isn't a delight in its own right.

Outside of the campaign and arcade modes, a few other modes exist with different goals and add further value for money to this appealing package. Firstly, explosion run is a set of unique time attack levels, which must be completed under the pressure of a sea of fire that threatens to envelop everything in its path. This additional content is a great challenge for those looking to test their skills even further. Co-operation goes out of the window in the race mode, which pits players against each other to complete the level first or, at the very least, be the last bro standing. The frantic nature of the multiplayer action is amplified in this free-for-all contest. Both explosion run and race mode can be played locally or online with up to three others. A deathmatch mode is also available, which again supports up to four people, but can only be played locally. Here, the goal is to eliminate other competitors in levels filled with the enemies and hazards found in other modes of play.

If the huge amount of content that has already been packed into the game doesn't sound like it's enough, a level editor is also included. The editor is the very same one that is used by the developers themselves, so it is robust enough to satisfy the most creative of designers. Custom campaigns can be made by linking together levels and Steam Workshop integration makes it easy to share creations around the world. Between the excellent gameplay already provided by the developers and the scope of user-generated content, there isn't much chance of running out of things to do in Broforce.

The graphics are simple, but very lively and colourful, thanks in no small part to the abundance of explosions. There are a couple of moments of slowdown when the action becomes exceptionally chaotic, which is disappointing given the modest art style, but these are very rare occurrences and may be ironed out in future updates. Different backgrounds, such as jungles and city backdrops, are well designed and do a great job of avoiding banal settings. The chaotic action is met with powerful sound effects that personify every bullet and bang seen on screen, while an enthusiastic announcer is always on hand to boost morale at the start of a level and also makes unlocking each bro a memorable event. The audio is only let down by a lack of music in most levels, but the developers have listed new music as a planned update via Early Access.