In Space We Brawl Review

It’s really hard criticising indie games sometimes.

vtackle. It feels a bit personal, and whilst I like giving shit games the finger as much as the next bitter critic, I don’t want to run my mouth off at a bunch of guys who are probably not that much different in circumstance to me.

In Space We Brawl is a homage to old school gaming – Asteroids, Spacewar – but what’s really weird about it is it doesn’t seem to make any references to the games it takes the majority of its content from. Sure, there’s a few new twists, but Spacewar was one of the first games ever made, and ISWB just takes it and jazzes it up a bit. You pick a ship, outfit it with weapons, and go to war with your friends in wraparound arenas. We’re all familiar with the formula, and to its credit, this particular title does bring some new ideas to the table.

The game offers a series of singleplayer challenges which is essentially an extended tutorial – seeing as the game is pushed as a pure multiplayer title there’s no point adding or subtracting points on their quality.

The visual direction of the game is basic and amateurish, reminiscent of Newgrounds flash games in parts, and while the graphics certainly do the job, they don’t really evoke any kind of reaction either way. They’re not bad, but they’re certainly not impressive in any way (and that’s not saying they have to be HD with particle effects coming out of every orifice). Games don’t have to pack shedloads of effects to be visually impressive, but it doesn’t hurt to at least try something a little bit different.

I think the best standard to hold games like this up to is Towerfall: Ascension. It’s a local multiplayer game with a wraparound arena, an enjoyable singleplayer/co-operative option, and a whole bunch of modifiers you can apply to the versus meat of the game to keep it fresh and come up with your own game modes. But what Towerfall really got right was the balance in fun with every extra player added in. Two player battles go from all out duels to tense games of hide and seek, scrabbling for arrows and sliding to cover as a relentless opponent with tons of ammo hunts you down, three player games are just as tense with an extra dimension of madness, and four player fights are all out chaos where nothing ever goes quite as planned but you still have tons of fun.

My point is, good multiplayer games are fun no matter how many extra players you have. Each extra player should just heighten the madness. I managed to get a full complement of four players for a couple of hours and In Space We Brawl did keep all four of us entertained for quite some time – unfortunately, that’s the only time it really reaches its full potential. Any less than four, and it just starts to lose most of the fun. There’s not enough variety to keep you on your toes, there’s not enough going on to stay engaged. Two player is flat and just feels like a pointless slog.

The sad fact is, local multiplayer is a dying joy. In Space We Brawl is an admirable attempt at bringing us back to the fold, but gaming these days is a different animal. PS4 controllers cost £60 a pop, and most of my PSN friends don’t live anywhere near me. The console hasn’t been out in the wild long enough, and it’s still costly. Ever tried rounding up three other people with expensive next gen controllers to actually sit down and play together for an evening? It’s hard. And unfortunately, In Space We Brawl only really comes alive when you can rally up three other local players. The action quickly drops down into the level of tedium if you’re missing even one of those players.

All in all, this is a brave attempt, but a combination of disappointments knock this spacefaring shooter back down to earth. If you have three friends with PS4 controllers, this might be worth a purchase (After you’ve bought Towerfall, obviously) but for the vast majority of us, this is going to be an average title we probably won’t ever get the most out of. Even with four players, it remains an entirely middling game that feels half-hearted and uninspired 90% of the time. Perhaps with the addition of a two-player horde mode or a more dedicated duel mode, it could be elevated to something decent, but as it stands, I can’t heartily recommend it.

Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.