Mastodon

Brooke vs. World Doom Preview – Speedy, Spunky Synthwave (Early Access)

Brooke vs. World Doom Preview – Speedy, Spunky Synthwave (Early Access)
4.5

Platforms: Windows PC, Steam

Game Name: Brooke vs. World Doom

Publisher: SlyBalto

Developer: SlyBalto

Genre: Action, Adventure

Release Date: November 18th, 2021

Brooke vs. World Doom by Sly Balto

Full disclosure: challenging, wall-jumping platformers are not my forte. I tend to be more of the mosey-along-at-my-own-pace observing-the-scenery ilk. But Brooke’s blond ponytail, her affinity for pizza, and the cute title drew me to this game.

Brooke vs. World Doom game screenshot

Brooke vs. World Doom is a fast-paced, 2.5D action platformer in which the titular lead, Brooke Atomica, is out to save the world from the corporate henchmen who want to take over and destroy everything that makes life worth living. This game is still in development, and frequent updates and new items are being added every few weeks. As of this review time, there are four playable levels, and different weapons are being added all the time. This review took me longer to write because I’m still trying to finish the game.

Synthwave Spunk

Brooke is so cool! She has pink streaks in her aforementioned blond ponytail. She’s fast and graceful. She is a good shot and can fight and kick. She’s everything I would want to be if I was the main character in a video game!

The graphics are fun with vibrant, pink, purple, black, and white. One of the most engaging aspects of this game is the soundtrack by electronic composer Nitrosparxx It evokes an ’80s soundtrack with a Miami Vice vibe, and I love it.

Brooke vs. World Doom game screenshot 2

I appreciate the ability to scale the difficulty; for example, you can set it to give you unlimited lives, which I desperately needed. You can also set your health level and play the original difficulty or attempt hardcore mode, giving you extra enemies to fight. Levels have time requirements that keep you constantly on the move, and I enjoyed the challenge of attempting to beat my previous times.

The Need for Speed

This game is lightning fast. Brooke moves with dizzying speed. It is controller-supported and I found it much more intuitive to play with the Xbox controller instead of keyboard and mouse. Brooke is like a ball in a pinball machine: launchpads send her hurtling through space while enemies that look like goggle-eyed Pac-Men can be shot or punched while destroying flame-spewing turrets to complete levels. Pizza slices replenish Brooke’s energy levels.

The second level was a Japanese cherry blossom tree which Brooke had to climb by jumping from petal to petal. There were also flying carpets that had me letting out little bursts of laughter and yelps of terror while I played.

There was one minor bug where Brooke could not open a door or progress the game in any way and I had to quit and restart, but otherwise, things were smooth, and the creator is very responsive to feedback and improvements by replying to Steam comments within hours.

Brooke vs. World Doom made me want to play more action games. It got me out of my comfort zone because it has an engaging heroine, and it’s fun and kept me on the edge of my seat! It’s bright, exciting, and full of surprises, and I want to keep playing it. I want to save the world from doom and share a victory pizza with Brooke!

Brooke vs. World Doom is available via Steam Early Access.

Watch the trailer for Brooke vs. World Doom below: