BLAST BRIGADE VS. THE EVIL LEGION OF DR. CREAD: PREVIEW Metroidvania in beautiful 2D is hardly surprising today. But for Blast Brigade vs. T...
BLAST BRIGADE VS. THE EVIL LEGION OF DR. CREAD: PREVIEW
Metroidvania in beautiful 2D is hardly surprising today. But for Blast Brigade vs. The Evil Legion of Dr. Cread is worth watching especially closely. Firstly, because this is a project of the domestic Allods Team Arcade (internal Allods Team ), whose employees call themselves "loyal fans of platformers and games in the Metroidvania genre." Secondly, Blast Brigade is also a parody of action and spy films from the 80s. This is also not so hot news, but Allods Team Arcade turned out to be funny and colorful. I was convinced of this personally by playing the demo version provided by the developers.
Super Spies vs. Doctor Evil
From the name of the game, it is easy to understand what the plot is about. The action takes place in 1989, we play as members of BLAST - a team of super spies and fighters against evil. The main evil for them is personified by Dr. Creed, who heads the League of Deviants - she challenges the authorities and continues "an endless chain of criminal conquests." And the doctor himself, naturally, dreams of world domination and bought himself a tropical island, where he arranged a den and even began designing a large aggressive robot.
It was here that the plane with BLAST agents took off. But the aircraft crashed, the pilot was captured by Dr. Creed's henchmen, and the rest were scattered around the island. At first, only the brave Jeffrey J. Jefferson can start the mission. But in the process, he will meet other hunters for the head of the villain - for example, an islander who wants to preserve the ancient secrets of her people. And the extremely colorful Shura Raven, a Moroccan sniper, and killer from Siberia, will also stand in his way.
Yes, do not be surprised - she was born in Norilsk, but Alexandra's dad is from Morocco. Here's how the authors describe it:
Norilsk is not the most suitable place for a little girl, but Shura was stronger and more dangerous than a polar bear even as a child. She rose to fame at a young age after winning the gold medal in biathlon at the Youth Olympics (her main rival somehow managed to shoot himself in the foot ... twice). Her skill in marksmanship was quickly noticed by the special forces - Shura was recruited to make her a professional killer.
After serving undercover in various countries for several years, Shura joined the Red Devils elite super-spy team to hunt down and eliminate the leaders of the Deviant League. So she met with our Jeffrey - and immediately decided to cut off his access card to Dr. Creed's fortress, which Jeffrey recaptured in an honest and hard battle with a huge robot.
Geoffrey, of course, did not lose his head and rushed after Shura in pursuit - this is very similar to the beginning of a strong friendship between American and Soviet spies. Jefferson, by the way, is an extremely colorful comrade himself - brave, cheerful, narcissistic, and reckless; prefers open combat, is always confident in his abilities, and does not like a soul in his favorite grenade launcher. Moreover, it does not necessarily blow up what needs to be blown up - this becomes a headache for BLAST because expensive equipment often breaks down. So the doctor, whom Jeffrey finds hanging from the parachute lines, connects this plane crash with Jefferson's actions. And he broke the basic super-spy PDA by downloading some nonsense from the Internet. Therefore, from now on, the doctor will sell all his services for pumping characters to our superhero for money.
The Blast Brigade vs. The Evil Legion of Dr. Cread with humor is fine. And the general atmosphere of a bright cinematic adventure is supported by luscious graphics, a variety of locations, and obstacles that we face - here you can find the scorching sun, heavy snowfall, rivers of lava, and laser beams.
Despite a bunch of obstacles and traps, everything around seems so bright and pleasant.
Traditions that are for the good
Gameplay in Blast Brigade vs. The Evil Legion of Dr. Traditional Cread . Controlling different characters with unique abilities, we jump on platforms, pull levers to open doors, fight, overcome traps and collect parts that are here instead of currency.
Jeffrey annihilates enemies with the M-16 rifle, shotgun, and favorite grenade launcher. Shura has a sniper rifle and a laser beam. Then they can find or even collect other guns. And each, I repeat, has its own abilities. Explosion lover destroys the walls blocking the passage. A Moroccan Siberian woman uses a grappling hook. We were not shown other characters, but it is clear that their authors will not be deprived.
Yes, the set of "unique" abilities is standard. There is also a dash (we don't get it right away), which allows you to overcome chasms, avoid traps and some attacks. But on the other hand, it's hard to come up with something really unique in this genre. The main thing is how it works.
And it works well - skills are well distributed, given out at the right time, and useful. In addition, there is a system of perks/modules that can be bought from the aforementioned doctor for the collected parts. They provide various bonuses - for example, they increase the capacity of a shotgun clip. But to activate them through a PDA, you need rare batteries - one piece per ability. Therefore, you will not be able to connect everything at once. But you can collect ancient crystals, which, after being built on the basis of the corresponding building, will begin to be converted into batteries.
Other buildings also provide useful bonuses - for example, they increase the effectiveness of the healing potion, which Jeffrey restores his "hearts" with. All these construction works require special kits. It is their search that is the main incentive to rummage through the levels and return to where we could not have gotten before (before getting a dash, for example).
Overall Blast Brigade vs. The Evil Legion of Dr. Cread looks and plays great. There are bright colors, irony, style, and colorful characters. At the same time, the game is challenging - in a short period of time I met different enemies (in addition to Dr. Creed's henchmen, there is also all kinds of flora and fauna flying, crawling, and even growing on ceilings) and three bosses with different tactics at once - one of them I managed to overcome attempts from the tenth.
We were also pleased with the set of traps - they are trying to injure us with thorns, fireballs, and circular saws, which keeps us in suspense. It is also added by the fact that the save points (sunbeds) are sometimes located far from each other - and you have to run to a new meeting with the boss, again and again facing ordinary enemies. But we must run - after a death we lose the supply of parts, and it is better to pick them up until the next defeat.
Yes, some things to the authors of Blast Brigade vs. the Evil Legion of Dr. Cread would not hurt to correct. To this end, the game is coming soon to Steam Early Access (later it will appear on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch). However, even now it is clear that we have every chance of getting an excellent Russian platformer in the Metroidvania format - bright, stylish, and diverse, with colorful characters, observing all the traditions of the genre, but also with its own chips.
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