All The Splodin’ Ladies – Ms. Splosion Man Review

I’m going to start this review off with a full disclosure: I’m a diehard, unashamed fanboy of everything related to Twisted Pixel. Since playing their first title, The Maw, when it first came out on XBLA, I’ve been absolutely hooked to every game they have subsequently released. They also rock the positively best beards in all of video game land.

That said, I was a bit weary when I heard that they were releasing a followup to their 2009 masterpiece Splosion Man. Upon completing Comic Jumper, I began to fantasize about what genre of gaming they could give their creative minds a go at, but to go back and do the same style of game all over again just seemed like an obvious step backwards. Nevertheless, I was excited, and when I was presented with the opportunity to give the game a go, I jumped at it.

And I can safely say, it is the absolute best game I’ve played on XBLA all year.

The story of Ms. Splosion Man takes place immediately following the events of Splosion Man. The evil scientists devise a plan to trap Splosion Man using his one weakness: cake. The trap works, and they successfully detain the short-fused hero. During their celebration, one of the scientists accidentally drops a bottle of champagne on one of their computers, resulting somehow in the creation of Ms. Splosion Man. Her origin doesn’t make sense, but it totally fits the in the universe that Twisted Pixel have created the game in. From that point, Ms. Splosion Man sets off on a quest across three worlds and over 47 levels to set her man free.

One thing many developers try, and very few are able to accomplish, is to make a game funny and entertaining without being overly cheesy or goofy. Twisted Pixel have figured out the correct formula to get this right every single time, and Ms. Splosion Man is no exception. The very first thing you see when the game is booted up is this video:

It takes real cojones to call out the number one video game engine in the industry, but Twisted Pixel have the muscle to back it up. I’m not saying that Beard is in any way, shape or form superior to the Unreal Engine, but it is capable of a lot that other games have been unable to do with Unreal.

In any case, from the very beginning, the game starts out with a good laugh, and it never lets up. Across all three levels, there are plenty of characters and events that occur that will not only make you chuckle, but will help to break the tension and frustration you will have during the later levels. As a comedy junkie myself, being able to play a game and get a seriously large amount of laughs out of it is a testament to just how spectacular and brilliant the writing and production team at Twisted Pixel are. More developers should take a lesson from this team on how to properly do comedy in games (I’m looking at you, Duke Nukem Forever).

The obvious homage in the title of Ms. Splosion Man is, of course, the allusion to Ms. Pac-Man, and the comparison could not be more appropriate. If you can remember back to those beautiful halcyon days when arcades ruled the landscape, Pac-Man was one of the most popular games of it’s time. When Midway created Ms. Pac-man as an unofficial sequel to Pac-Man with some tweaks to the basic gameplay (four different mazes, semi-random paths from the ghosts, etc), it was an unrivaled hit, prompting Pac-Man developer Namco to eventual turn the title into an official title. Although Ms. Pac-Man was, in essence, the same game as it’s predecessor, the small, subtle changes that were made to it instantly made it a far more enjoyable game, and catapulted Ms. Pac-Man to become one of the most recognizable and popular video games of all time.

In that respect, what Twisted Pixel have done with Ms. Splosion Man mirrors that history. Though at it’s core, Ms. Splosion Man is another batch of Splosion Man with a literal bow placed upon it, the tweaks to progression, gameplay, and design have taken it to a place that Splosion Man never could. Every level is designed impeccably, and if you die or make a mistake, it is solely your own fault (no matter how many times you curse the developers, like I did). The puzzles are a lot trickier than Splosion Man, even in the early stages. It’ll take a lot of mental power to make it through the game even for the most dedicated and hardcore gamer. Upon finally completing a difficult level, you feel a real sense of accomplishment, as if you could take on the entire world after having overcome something in this game. That feeling disappears right after you start the next level, and begin cursing everything and everyone you have ever known due to a hand slip or a mistimed splosion.

Of course, a game this good needs a score that will match it in terms of wittiness and creativity. Once again Twisted Pixel do not disappoint. Most of the music was created by their audio genius Matt “Chainsaw” Chaney, otherwise known as the man behind the incredibly catchy “Everybody Loves Donuts” from the original Splosion Man (as a side note, I think it’s entirely criminal that the donuts song never hit the meme level that Portal’s “Still Alive” did). Every theme to every stage compliments the action wonderfully, and the game features several incredibly catchy tracks that, in my opinion, are even better than the donuts song. My favorite song in particular is the track “Badonkadonk,” which plays whenever you decide to skip a hard part of a stage. It should be noted that, when you do cheat in the game, Ms. Splosion Man’s rear end balloons up to over twice it’s original size, a “curse” you must endure if you decide to cheat in any level. Brilliant.

In the original Splosion Man, players were tasked with trying to find the hidden cakes in each level. Although this was meant to help extend the single player experience, I didn’t really get into it. Ms. Splosion Man chases after shoes instead of cakes in this game, and although it isn’t any different from Splosion Man’s collection, I still find myself going back to it in the hopes of finding one more pair of shoes to add to my collection.

On top of that, there is also a ghost mode, where you can replay single player levels against your top time, or the top time of someone on the global leaderboard. Although I’m not a hugely competitive person, I have spent many hours in the early morning light attempting to place in the top 10 of the overall leaderboard, a feat which is extremely easy to do right now since the game isn’t out yet. I have a feeling once more gamers get their hands on the game, I’ll still find myself coming back to challenge top player ghost runs, in the hopes that I can keep that little bit of pride I feel about sploding better than the rest of the Xbox Live Community.

Ms. Splosion Man’s multiplayer plays much like the previous game did, but with all of the tweaks and enhancements that the single player received. It even has it’s own set of individual levels that are completely different from the single player, as well as it’s own unique ending. It definitely gives you a stronger desire to complete the incredibly difficult multiplayer levels. However, not all of us have friends who play games like Ms. Splosion Man, or, like I discovered with my roommate during a multiplayer session, you may have friends who just don’t really seem to have the timing or hand-eye coordination needed to successfully complete each level. To that end, Twisted Pixel have also introduced the unique 2 Girls 1 Controller game mode.

In this mode, one player is in control of two Ms. Splosion Men, with the left stick and LB button controlling the first one, and the right stick and RB button controlling the second. You’ll have to have the patience and mental capacity of Stephen Hawking to get through anything beyond the first stage, however, as I sadly learned after a 45 minute attempt to beat level 1-2. It may not be for everyone, but I’m sure there will be a few hardcore gamers out there willing to give it a shot. There’s also a Hardcore mode for the single player, which disables all check points, and makes any enemy interaction with Ms. Splosion Man immediately kill her. Those of you with some anger management issues may want to steer very clear of this mode.

Above all else, the thing that really stands out the most for me about Ms. Splosion Man was just how incredibly good it is at making each level seem fresh. I never once had the desire to switch the game off and play something else, which I must say is an experience I haven’t had with a game in quite a long time. Just when you think you have the game figured out, it throws something at you that will take you completely by surprise, and push you to play just a little bit more. The final boss battle in the single player was the biggest surprise I’ve had in quite a while. I never, ever would have expected the final boss sequence to be what it was. I refuse to spoil it for you, but I will say that any retro gamers out there will get a huge kick out of it.

Without a doubt, Ms. Splosion Man is the best XBLA title available today. The fantastic music, hysterical story, and extremely challenging single and multiplayer modes will keep you coming back again and again. It is, in my opinion, Twisted Pixel’s masterpiece, and all the evidence one would need to prove just how capable the team could be on a full retail release game. To get all of this for only 800 Microsoft Points is the deal of a century. You’d be an absolute fool to not buy Ms. Splosion Man the second it hits the marketplace.

In taking a step back to a previous title, Twisted Pixel have once again made a huge step forward. Much like Ms. Pac-Man, this game has set the bar high for what games in this market are capable of. If you’ve never played a Twisted Pixel game before, pick up Ms. Splosion Man. If it does not convince you that a small independent developer can deliver a game that provides just as much, if not more, entertainment than a big box developer, I don’t know what will.