Slam Bolt Scrappers (PSN)

Posted 2 years ago By - Marko Djordjevic

Puzzles games are typically great distractions, but when played with friends they can lead to evenings that run much longer than expected. The latest puzzle title to grace the PSN is called Slam Bolt Scrappers, an amalgamation of different puzzler types and action games developed by independent studio Fire Hose Games. While the idea is certainly unique, the execution and downright difficult learning curve makes it a game that may turn friends into exes.

The premise behind Slam Bolt Scrappers seems simple at first: create 2x2, 4x4, etc.. block shapes from different colored Tetris-styled blocks that turn into weapons and begin attacking your opponent’s blocks. The one who loses all their attack blocks first loses the match. While that seems pretty straight-forward, how you get to that part becomes a challenge. In order to obtain the blocks, you need to attack flying colored monsters which hover on the top of the screen, and at the same time, either fight off your opponent who is trying to do the same or knocking them out so you then have more time to collect the blocks before they respawn. Also, those same monsters hovering can attack your blocks as well if you don’t attack them fast enough; not to mention that you need to fend off the various attacks from the created weapons destroying your blocks. Yup, it’s just as overwhelming as it sounds.

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This is where the game begins to show its ugly side. Whereas the idea of building different colored blocks to create various weapons is fun, trying to do everything else at the same time becomes so much of a pain that players will quickly lose interest. Those that stick with it will find that they will eventually grasp it, but it will take awhile. Trying to fend off against your opposition and the creatures flying around the screen, then trying to place the correct blocks where you need them to be, it shouldn’t come as any surprise to see mistakes will be made.

Of course, there is a tutorial mode to help you ease you into the game, but when the entire premise is built around local multi-player mayhem, having to teach everyone the mechanics ends up taking a while before you begin to have any fun. Even if you only have your friends learn the game’s basics, expect them to take about 15-20 minutes to do so. If you’re with three other people, then expect to wait close to an hour before any real enjoyment can be had; that is, if they haven’t already gotten bored.

Beyond the tutorial, there are two modes: campaign and battle. The campaign is nothing more than a mode used to unlock additional content for use in battle mode. Yes, in both you can have up to four people playing along, but only locally. Considering its competitive components, the lack of any sort of online play is inexcusable. Battle mode does open up more options for local multi-player, but again, you really need to play with friends in the same room for there to be any sort of enjoyment.

Graphically, the background environments are nice but don’t really add anything to the grand scheme of things. I did find that the game suffered from some pretty long load times, which seemed out of place considering it doesn’t give off the impression of requiring that much data. As for the sound, again, nothing really worth noting with a pretty standard soundtrack.

Conclusion

Slam Bolt Scrappers is an interesting concept hampered by trying to do too many things without focusing on delivering a solid, overall experience. If you have the patience to wait for friends to learn the controls, you can definitely find some enjoyment. Otherwise, if you only plan on playing the game solo, you’re better off spending your time doing something else.