Don't blow your splode

You're in a lab. There's been some kind of accident. You wake up feeling strange, and as you see the terrified look in the eyes of the other scientists in the room, the truth hits home. It is you they fear. Looking at your hands, you realize that you are no longer a mere man, but a monster with powers beyond that of any mortal. It's time for some revenge!

Hang on a moment. Didn't I just share my opinions of Prototype the other day? Ah, but this is not that game, for in this title you have not the ability to run up walls or glide through the air, nor the power to take the shape of those around you or form your arms into weapons. But there is one thing you can do. You can blow yourself up. The game is 'Splosion Man, and it hit Xbox Live Arcade last week. Since I finally got a couple of days off from work, I decided to throw down 10 bucks and give it a go.

Okay, so what is it? Well, it's a side scrolling puzzle platformer; 3D models, but on a 2D plane of movement. You are cast in the role of the title character, as you "splode" your way through a series of 50 levels. Exploding is the only thing you can do, and you use it for jumping, attacking, blowing up barrels, and triggering switches. You can explode 3 times, after which point you must land on the ground or slide down a wall to recharge. Recharging only takes a second, though, and is clearly represented by the change in color of your character. Although this doesn't allow you to triple-jump in mid-air, you use your talent to blow yourself back and forth between walls in order to traverse the levels.

I went into this game expecting it to be pretty heavy on the puzzle elements, but quickly found that fast eyes, quick hands, and good jumping skills were a lot more necessary than an analytical brain. In other words, it's a platformer. However, it's not quite like the popular ones of old, where enemies were the biggest challenge you faced (there are a few enemies, but these are the least of your worries). Instead, it's all about getting yourself from point A to point B, which often involves a complex series of walls jumps and well-timed explosions near conveniently placed barrels (with pits of death below, of course). As the levels go on, these sections get increasingly harder, with switches to hit along the way, and the possibility of rising water speeding up your journey.

Inevitably, I died; on some sections more than others. There are checkpoints every few minutes, but those few minutes could contain many jumps and obstacles, so this is definitely a game where memorization is key. Of course, if you die too many times on any level, you will be offered "the way of the coward", where you skip to the next level, and have to suffer a humiliation. Not that I would ever use that option, but I suppose it's nice for some.

So far, 'Splosion Man may sound like a frustrating and difficult game, but the thing is, the platforming mechanics are really fun. There's not a lot to learn, but the levels are well designed, and the controls are solid. Sploding off walls and combustible barrels is what you're going to spend most of the time doing, and it feels really good. The tricky sections never get too annoying, and there's a real thrill that comes from finally conquering them (and isn't that why we play video games to begin with?).

Let me put it this way: I finished the game in 2 days, and my final play clock was at around 14 hours. That's not any kind of miracle, but a game of that length would usually take me a lot longer than that - I just don't have that much time to play. However, I constantly found myself wanting to play just one more level, then just one more, until I suddenly realized that many hours had passed. And even now that I'm done with the single player game, there's still more fun to be had! I'm revisiting the levels to find all the hidden pieces of cake scattered around (47 altogether), and then I'm going to try out the multiplayer.

From what I know, the multiplayer game takes place on 50 all new levels, with many co-op mechanics to master. You'll have to time your jumps in order to splode each other to otherwise-unreachable sections, which means a mastery of the single player game is probably best. This is the reason why I haven't tried it yet - I don't know anyone else playing the game right now. Maybe I'll sit down with my girlfriend on of these night and we can try it together, as I definitely don't want to miss out on any of the fun.

So overall, 'Splosion Man is a really fun and well thought out game, and I would definitely recommend it to platforming fans. The levels may have been a bit samey-looking all the way through, but what was sacrificed in art assets was more than made up for in level design and control mechanics. Although not screamingly funny, there are certainly a few chuckle-worthy moments (especially towards the end), and some very amusing achievements (my favorite kind). There's also a "downloadbale content" menu option, so with any luck we'll be seeing more levels in the future. Of course, this will only happen of the game is successful, so my advice would be to go and buy it right now. It's 10 bucks well blown.