Brawlout is a new competitive fighting game where 2-4 characters (Co-op or free for all) battle it out in fast-paced, chaotic combat with the goal of knocking each other off a stage 3 times until only the victor is left standing. The game looks and feels extremely similar to Nintendo's long running popular franchise Super Smash Bros. I would go so far as to say it’s basically a reskin - which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing.

Gamers that don’t have access to a Nintendo Switch for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game won’t be able to play it as it’s a hardware exclusive. Therefore, Brawlout serves as a way for PS4 owners to play what is essentially the same game without having to fork out the cash for a Switch. Before we address the subtitle of this review, let’s break down the game’s core features and mechanics.



Gameplay

The game’s main screen allows players to select from single or multiplayer battles (online or local) which include team or free for all modes. You’re able to select 1v1, 2v1, 3v1 or 2v2. Online play will most likely be a key component in enjoying this game to the fullest as there will seemingly be regular events and tournaments to compete in (with exclusive event unlocks to boast). Having never played this style of fighter, I opted to jump into the training tutorial for a run down (sorry not sorry). The tutorial covered movement (L Analog), basic (Square) and special (Triangle) attacks as well as ways to keep yourself on the stage and how to send your opponent flying wherever possible.

I found timing the dodge mechanic (R1 or L1) correctly to be really frustrating and the amount of times I got hit trying to get it right turned me off of how realistically useful it will be in battle where everything moves at a crazy fast pace. The “Up special” (holding analog up while hitting triangle) doubles as both an attack and upward trajectory move to help characters return to the fighting stage should they fall off. For example, Paco uses his tongue to either latch onto a nearby foe or grab onto the ledge whereas Olaf Tyson creates a pillar of ice underneath his feet.



At first, I found the combat chaotic and confusing as when more than 2 players interact, it’s hard to keep track of who’s who. I often found myself struggling to feel in control of my character’s actions or unable to evade attacks. Most of my first couple of games consisted of being spun, thrown, kicked, etc., and before I knew it, I was flying off the edge of the stage. Now to be fair, the more I played the better I became (naturally), but I never got to the point where I felt it was relatively easy to beat a 1v2 (What this game considers Medium difficulty). With that said, I’d recommend that gamers who have never played anything similar to this only pick up Brawlout if they enjoy competitive fighters and love the challenge of sinking some solid time into the game to develop a decent skill level.

Each character begins the fight with 3 lives represented by white bars at the bottom of the screen under the relevant character picture. Additionally, the HUD will display a Rage meter that fills up with a red line and a bold percentage number that increases as you fight. The meter, once filled halfway, will allow a player to stop their characters momentum (L1+R1)(which can be useful if you're flying off the stage), and once the bar is filled all the way, the same button combination unlocks a “Rage” mode that increases damage and resistance for a few seconds. The percentage number indicates how sensitive your character is to being launched off stage; the higher the number, the farther your character flies.



Characters & Progression

Right off the bat, there are 9 core characters with up to 2 locked character variants each. This is not to be confused with skins (which are also unlockable). The character variants do have cosmetic differences from their base characters but boast 1 or 2 different or additional attacks. To be completely honest, having them sit separately as unique characters feels like a cheap way to inflate the game’s character roster. These variants act as an incentive to play with many different characters as you can only unlock them by levelling up their base forms. After fights are completed, players earn XP and coins based on performance, CPU difficulty (if applicable), and placement. These coins can be used to buy Pinatas (Loot boxes essentially) which contain skins, emotes, etc. At the time of playing, I don’t believe there are microtransactions to buy more coins, as they need to be earned in game (that's a plus in my books).

Look and Feel

Brawlout’s colours are vibrant with sharp tones and elevated contrast which is admittedly an attractive look for such an animated and loud action game. I just wished they would have used this to its full potential by maybe adding some flashy ultimate moves. The music is fitting to the game’s character, getting you right into the mood with upbeat rock music, guitar shredding timed to a borderline rave tempo.



Oops! Something Went Wrong

And now to finally address the elephant in the room. It’s disheartening when you’re in the middle of an exciting fight and all of a sudden your game crashes. At first I thought it was just a case of bad luck but soon enough, I realised something was very clearly wrong. During 25 minutes of play, the game crashed twice when playing on my own. During local multiplayer with my friend, the game crashed after every fight. So at least it has a pattern… I think. Games that tend to crash often leave a sour taste in gamer's mouths as it completely breaks a players momentum and it’s easy for us to just not start it up again after the second crash and play something else instead. With that being said, I do believe that developer Angry Mob Games will patch the problem at some point but until then, I cannot with good conscience recommend this game to anyone. The current version of the game I’m running on PS4 is 1.7.4.