Ms. 'Splosion Man Preview (XBLA)
Posted by Vince Osorio on 06.22.2011
The anticipated sequel to Twisted Pixel's breakout hit 'Splosion Man is hitting Xbox Live Arcade by the end of 2011. 411's Vince Osorio takes a look at the first few levels of Ms. 'Splosion Man.
Although I've yet to significantly play The Maw, my experiences with both 'Splosion Man and Comic Jumper have made me realize that Twisted Pixel is far and away the most consistently creative studio developing games for Xbox Live Arcade at the moment. All of their games are action-packed, extremely polished and, not to mention, stuffed to the brims with laugh-out-loud moments and one-liners. It's great to see a studio taking a chance with new material and adding much needed humor to a video game wasteland full of sullen heroes and graphic violence.
With that said, Twisted Pixel's Ms. 'Splosion Man is shaping up to be a worthy follow-up to 'Splosion Man in every sense of the word.
The beta I participated in had access to two single-player levels, as well as a couple of co-op (local and online) levels as well. Unfortunately, the much-anticipated "2 Girls 1 Controller" mode was locked during the beta, but hopefully I'll be able to test it out at a later date. At first, the game seems like a basic palatte swap of the first game. Change the color of 'Splosion Man, add lipstick, put a bow on top, add female vocals to the background music and voila, new game! That's where you'd be wrong.
Ms. 'Splosion Man is sassy, spunky and completely hilarious, mostly due to her quirks, not her one-liners. Her running animation, much like that of 'Splosion Man, changes from time to time. Sometimes she's skipping along on platforms. Other times, she's sliding on the ground as if she was an Olympic ice skater. One minute, she'll be performing Grand Jetes and pirouettes, and the next, she'll start up a mock telephone conversation in gibberish, with the only audible words being "blah blah blah shoes blah blah blah boys".Leave Ms. 'Splosion Man unattended, and she'll start doing the Macarena while ribbing quotes from popular Cyndi Lauper and Beyonce songs. It's absurd and hilarious in equal measures, and personally, her animations absolutely never get old, no matter how many times I've seen them.
Surely you're wondering how the game plays, correct? In a nutshell, it's a more refined, polished version of 'Splosion Man. If you're unfamilar with the mechanics, just know this: your character's one action is to explode. This is both an attack and a jump. It's up to you to use your power to traverse the labyrinthine Big Science Industries building, destroying any and all baddies along the way. Ms. 'Splosion Man doesn't change things up all that much. The puzzles and platforming gameplay are as satisfying as ever, with the second level even introducing some moving platform traversal (via a highly punishing flying car sequence). There's now a Super Mario World like Overworld screen where you can choose the next level you want to go to, which is a nice touch. Word has it that Twisted Pixel is allowing for secret pathways and hidden exits as well in the final game.
One of the big problems I had with the first game dealt with the boss battles: personally, I found them to be frustrating, overly punishing and mostly bereft of entertainment. The boss battle in the beta (which happened to be a tweaked version of a boss battle from the first game) was much more polished and entertaining than it had been before. Though it was comparatively easy figuring out how to defeat the boss, the added quick-time events and the lenient rules of engagement (instead of a one-hit kill, as is the case in the first game, you can explode out of the boss's hands if you're quick enough) made the fight much more enjoyable than it could have been.
It's unfortunate that the 2 Girls 1 Controller mode wasn't made available to beta participants, but at least the online four player co-op mode did make it. It's as fun as it has ever been, especially if you have willing participants with microphones as to better coordinate the levels. Although there's not all that much new in the co-op mode, the games I played were virtually lag free, and the level design was reminiscent of the first game, without rehashing the same platform gameplay previously seen before.
Overall, it's really hard to contain my excitement for Ms. 'Splosion Man. The game looks great, sounds fantastic (the voice work for Ms. 'Splosion Man herself is stellar), and contains the same polish, humor and great gameplay that Twisted Pixel games are known for these days. Ms. 'Splosion Man is due to be released by Holiday 2011, and you'd be sorry to not keep it on your radar.
(P.S. "Everybody Loves Donuts" plays during the pause menu. Good job, Twisted Pixel.)
