This Brave Soldier review is played and tested on Nintendo Switch. The game is developed by JM Neto Game Dev and published by EastAsiaSoft and available for $3.99/€3,99 in the Nintendo eShop. The game is also available on Xbox (Series S/X/One), PC and Playstation (4/5).
Run-and-gun games have always been a hit-or-miss for me as a subgenre. During the 8-bit era, these games often fell into two categories: either arcade ports that were extremely rudimentary, relying heavily on the player’s memory and being extremely hard to master, or masterpieces crafted by companies like Capcom, Konami, and Sunsoft that still hold a special place the hearts of so many retro gamers.
Just the mere thought of playing Contra, Mega Man, or Blaster Master is enough to compel me to dust off my old consoles or set up an emulation box to relive those experiences. What sets these games apart from many arcade-based titles is their inclusion of genre-defying gameplay mechanics, that pushed gaming forward.
Keeping it really old school
Brave Soldier: Invasion of Cyborgs sticks to the conventions of the more arcade-style run-and-gun games. In this game, you play as the brave soldier who is sent on a mission to get rid of cyborg invaders that claimed our planet. The opening scene of the game introduces the cyborg leader, resembling a robotic cosplay version of the Red Skull, who clearly outlines his sinister plans. He intends to conquer the planet using sheer force. Naturally, your goal is to disrupt his plan and send that sucker back from whence he came.
Thus we start our 2D platformer/shooter adventure, spread over 30 levels with 3 bosses in between those levels. The shooting mechanic is straightforward, quite literally. You can shoot forward or turn around and shoot the other way. There are no diagonals, making the overall engagement with enemies and the environment very basic. Secondly, although the later stages force you to do some vertical movement by hopping rope lines, in general, the game is extremely linear and horizontal.
Barrels go Boom!
The level design is livened up a bit with destructible barrels that can be used to blow up enemies. It would have been nice if enemies could utilize those barrels in the same way. But many times I could use a highly combustible oil barrel as a stand to shoot enemies camping out on higher ledges. The enemies that had weapons to shoot a barrel either shot straight through it or were never in shooting range of the barrels in the first place.
There are some other environmental hazards like Contra-turrets and ‘chained-saws’ . No, not chainsaws, that is where the chain is the saw. Here, the blades of the saw are moving along a chain, just to be fully accurate. In later stages there is a brisk gust that tries to blow you of your platforms. Here is were the little bit of difficulty comes from, and in the last 5 levels you do have to manage the turrets, chained saws and enemy fire in order to survive. Also jump timing or getting hit mid air (which stuns you) could help you ending up in the depths between platforms, from time to time.
Bland Rambo, or Blando
Visually, the game has a cute and colorful way to depict the Vietnam-like jungle aesthetic we know and love from about 50% of 80’s and 90’s run-and-gun games (and movies, for that matter). It was either this or gang-riddled big city back alleys. Too bad that almost all of the levels use the same jungle design, and there isn’t more variety. Bringing variety would also allow for more interesting level interaction. It does change a little bit to a more mountainous area and others with a bit more desert feel, but it doesn’t do anything with the actual level design.
All the characters in Brave Soldier are incredibly bland, despite each possessing a unique ability in their repertoire. The enemy types all appear as slightly modified palette swaps, lacking variety and originality. Even the bosses fail to captivate, as they are uninteresting and uninspired. However, the game compensates for these shortcomings a bit with a broad selection of weapons, each providing a distinct capabilities, which adds much-needed depth to the gameplay. The pick-up icons for weapons frequently appear throughout the game, but unfortunately, your acquired weapon is swiftly lost upon getting hit.
For the Future generation
After completing the 30 levels Brave Soldier game offers, I feel that the developer designed the game as an entry-level run-and-gun experience for younger players. If not, this is an area where Eastasiasoft should consider marketing it. The gameplay mechanics are kept at a bare minimum, without any signs of cherry-picking proven game concepts from the nearly 40 years of video game examples I just mentioned. Instead, it sticks to the early days of the genre. The game feels as if it misses some additional mechanics, just like the title misses the between “of” and “Cyborgs”. Even the title feels incomplete.
Okay, this doesn’t sound like a glowing recommendation based on all the critiques in this review so far. But then again, at $3.99/€3,99, this is a budget title. Yes, It does take shortcuts in gameplay and overall design but has all the basics well in check. The controls are tight and responsive, and everything runs smoothly without any technical glitches. It is on the easy side, with quite a few checkpoints per level. Also, your health bar is pretty forgiving with a quite a lot of hit points. As I said, this at least makes it accessible for younger players. Especially when compared to contemporary Contra-likes like Blazing Chrome, Super Cyborg, or the aforementioned BroForce. The fact that it doesn’t cater to the die-hards, is a strong point in my opinion.
Even for a game that aims to be accessible and low-budget as a run-and-gun experience, within its own limitations, it could have achieved much more to make the gameplay engaging and challenging. The game quickly passes by in just 1.5 hours without anything truly significant or memorable. The level design, visuals, enemies, and boss battles all fall somewhere below or around average expectations. However, considering its price, which is less than that of a Tall Latte, it does provide enough value to be entertaining for at least couple of hours.
