An action-based tower defense, Bish Bash Bots can offer plenty of strategic fun… if you can fill a roster of four local players.
Told through one of the longest intro cutscenes of all time, this tower defense title is all about smacking the crap out of invading evil robots, you know, because AI and machines will kill us all one day. It is your job to place towers along the robot’s path to destroy them before they reach the EMP, allowing for enough time to charge and activate it.
This isn’t just a straight tower defense though. Instead of simply controlling a cursor, players instead assume the role of a cartoony character that can also attack the incoming waves of enemies with a simple bash attack. However, your playable avatar winds up dishing out the most damage. Therefore, this game is actually a button mashing brawler with a little tower defense thrown in the mix. Eventually, enough power will be stored to unleash a character-specific limit break to add some spice to gameplay.
Unfortunately, the pacing and difficulty are horribly unbalanced since the game doesn’t adjust for the number of players. The difficulty was designed as a four player experience. If you have four players, then yes, this will be a fun game because you can stand a chance and coordinate attacking/placing/upgrading. However, solo players have no chance and only results in frustration. There is just no way to fight off enemies, place towers, upgrade towers (which takes forever and locks you in place), collect the gears (currency), and activate the EMP when playing solo. Strangely, there is an online component but only has the option to join a private game using a code. There is no online matching or lobbies which is heavily restricting.
The other probably with this action-defense is the loose control. This is one of those games where you can attack at the same speed as your movement, which makes it easy to accidentally fall down pits or bump into enemies/hazards. It really is just another point of frustration.
Bish Bash Bots sounds great on paper but the execution is nearly unplayable. If you are going to make a game like this, the balance needs to be reconfigured four times, essentially making development four times as long, costing four times as much. Unfortunately, the final result has the difficulty set for four players but restricted to solo play. Unless you enjoy horribly unbalanced gameplay or have three local friends, Bish Bash Bots is an upsetting mess.
Just As Unbalanced As: Pixeljunk Scrappers
For Proper Balancing Play: TMNT Shredder’s Revenge
Wait For It: Defense Grid 3
SCORE: 4/10
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
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