I have fond memories of Saturday mornings at my dad’s house. I’d wake up around 9, grab a bowl of cereal and a glass of chocolate milk, and set up in front of the TV for the best block of television that has ever existed. Saturday morning cartoons remain a cultural touchstone today, and Allods Team Arcade has attempted to harness that nostalgia with their new game, Blast Brigade Vs The Evil Legion Of Dr. Cread.

And, to my utter delight, they absolutely reached that goal. Blast Brigade is a game that simultaneously feels like the cartoons I watched as a kid and what those cartoons might have become had they grown up with me. It’s action-packed and irreverent, and somehow balances a surprising amount of heart with a devilishly challenging series of Metroid-style levels that kept me hooked over the majority of its 20-hour campaign.  

Story

I wasn’t sure how much the story of Blast Brigade would really matter when first jumping in, but I came away reasonably impressed with the story that Allods Team Arcade has crafted. The narrative itself is pretty straightforward, but it still manages to create enough of its own identity to offer a good time.

B.L.A.S.T., the titular organization, is a United States task force devoted to combating the forces of evil around the world. One such force of evil, Dr. Cread, has sequestered himself on a tropical island with a cabal of other notorious bad guys. They’ve imprisoned the local population and are taking advantage of the island’s natural resources to fuel their plans for world domination, which feels eerily like a plot point from Disney’s animated hit, Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Recognizable narrative beats aside, the real fun of the story comes from the characters and how well they all play off one another. Jeff Jefferson, the leader, is a remarkable character who quickly shows himself to be both a gung-ho maverick and an empathetic and inspirational captain.  The rest of the team is made up of a Soviet assassin named Shura, a cyborg Scotsman named Galahad, and an island native with a heavy burden who Jeff somewhat problematically nicknames Vortex.

The relationships each character forms with one another and how well the dialogue conveys these bonds are what made the story of Blast Brigade feel worthwhile. Jeff takes on an older brother role for Vortex, encouraging her and reminding her of her strength at every chance. Even Shura, a career spy who struggles with emotional attachments, shows a real fondness for her newfound colleagues by the game’s end.

In the time I spent with these characters, I grew to love them, and I found myself wishing there were some way I could keep interacting with them after I finally rolled credits. Fortunately, a shocking, twist finale and a tantalizing “to be continued” leave me hopeful I’ll get to see more B.L.A.S.T. adventures in the future.

Gameplay

There are two key pillars to the gameplay in Blast Brigade: combat and movement. In the beginning, players only have access to a limited selection of weapons and mobility options, but the game unfolds itself in a way not unlike a Metroid title. In the end, Blast Brigade is a tricky, challenging, and somewhat frustrating platformer that is positively stuffed with secrets and hidden collectibles.

Combat in Blast Brigade is a mix of fast action and carefully timed attacks, and it requires a great deal of attention and precision to get just right. Each region features a slate of unique enemies to take on, and learning their attack patterns and how to best deal with them was always an exhilarating challenge. That said, these encounters do become a little tiresome when combing back through the levels, especially since enemies respawn every time you leave a room.

Boss battles were the notable exception to this, often functioning as an exam for all the lessons learned and abilities acquired up to that point. Each boss features unique mechanics and powerful, hard-to-dodge attacks that challenged me to use every tool at my disposal. I died many times, but I came back wiser and stronger with each new attempt.

As for the weapons themselves, the arsenal at my disposal was serviceable, if nothing all that impressive. Most of the primary weapons feel nearly identical to one another, though the secondary weapons each have a bit more personality. While new weapons became available as I progressed through the game, I largely stuck to a set loadout until I’d unlocked the legendary weapons hidden behind a set of collectibles.

While the weapons I used defined the moment-to-moment action in Blast Brigade, my chosen modules were how I planned ahead for a difficult fight. Modules are essentially passive perks that alter how the game works: some offered damage boosts when meeting certain criteria, while others helped with damage prevention. There’s a wide variety of modules to choose from and crafting the best combination provided an unexpected level of depth and customization.

Finding the modules (and the batteries that power them) is also part of the gameplay experience, as they’re hidden all throughout the island. Secret pathways, trap-filled rooms, and quirky side quests often offered them as rewards, along with a myriad of other collectibles that ranged from permanent health boosts to alternate costumes for the core cast.

Navigating the world to find all these secrets is where Blast Brigade really taps into its Metroidvania inspirations, and it largely gets the formula right. Each team member has their own unique movement action that opens the world up a little more, and many of the game’s most challenging puzzles combine these abilities to create deadly, sweat-inducing gauntlets. These challenges might not always feel fair, but conquering each one gave me a powerful sense of satisfaction.

Audio and Visual

The music was pleasant, and it’s notable that the developers gave each biome its own thematically fitting score. It’s also worth mentioning that the game has an impressive amount of voice acting, and most of the performances are very well done. Jeff and Shura are standouts, bringing their dialogue to life with crackling tension and witty intonations. Vortex’s performance, on the other hand, felt a little phoned in, especially considering the fact that she’s an island native with a very flat American accent.

The game’s visuals, however, were almost perfect, evoking that Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic in just about every frame. The animations are startlingly smooth, and each character has a remarkable range of expressions to convey their various emotions. The background and environmental art is bold and colorful throughout, though it does at times mesh with the foreground in ways that made platforming sections a little trickier than intended.

What Could Be Better

I think the biggest thing Blast Brigade needs are some accessibility options to make it a bit easier to get through. Some of its more difficult platforming sections were so challenging that I considered giving up entirely, and the lack of accessibility options meant that I had no recourse other than to “git gud.” It’s a charming game that I want more people to play, but it really needs to be more accessible for all gamers.

I also had multiple issues with murky background art mixing into the foreground, which caused more than a few failures during some of the game’s harder movement challenges. It even happened in the middle of the final boss battle, which was more than a little frustrating.  

Verdict

Blast Brigade is a charming, funny, and surprisingly tender game with an impressive amount of depth and more than enough content to keep players hooked for a couple of dozen hours. With its colorful cast of characters and interesting spin on the Metroidvania genre, Blast Brigade is a worthwhile addition to any gamer’s library.

Blast Brigade is available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.