Slugfest 2.0 – Brawlout Deluxe Edition review

Brawlout isn’t a new game by any means, with an original launch in 2017, but the Deluxe Edition was at last launched officially in Southeast Asia, packing the base game and its DLC. This platform fighting game has 25 colourful characters you can choose from, with four of them being guest Brawlers from other indie titles. Let’s jump right in!

This game can be suitable for both the “hardcore” players and the casual ones. It is, after all, supposed to be designed for couch play. Drag along a few friends, or your family, and watch the bodies fly. Play in couch mode with the other victims in your vicinity, or go online.

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With the combination of platforming and “traditional” fighting games, this is one clash that has its own style. Those who’ve played games like Brawlhalla or Super Smash Bros, you’ll feel right at home here. As you might expect, reaching 100% on that damage meter will make you vulnerable to a knock-out move that will punt you right out of the map.

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Up to four players will go up against each other in a match, with the winner being the last man standing. There’s no such thing as blocking in this game: you either dodge or jump over attacks. Another thing differentiating Brawlout from its previously mentioned competitors is the Rage Meter that fills only when you’re being battered down. Filling the meter will allow you to use either:

Rage Burst to push back opponents, or
Rage Mode to increase your own attack and receive less damage

Mechanically speaking, Brawlout‘s controls are incredibly easy to pick up. Make simple combos with the square button. If you need to, jump out of the way with the X button. Dodging and using the rage meter are bound to L1/2 or R1/2, and move around with the joystick. The simple control scheme could be contributing to its high responsiveness to your inputs!

A fighting game needs its characters, and well, there’s the aforementioned 25-strong roster across a variety of designs and unique abilities! Just pick whichever you want; Brawlout is easily accessible to even the most unfamiliar gamer, and what better way to learn than to flail around and button mashing your way to a blind victory?

The four guest brawlers might be quite familiar to those who like indies, with The Drifter (Hyper Light Drifter), The Prisoner from Dead Cells, Yooka-Laylee from the game of the same name and Juan of Guacamelee! The various Brawlers of Brawlout can be further customized with their skins and gear, with a large variety of them to make your chosen character stand out from the pack. The game’s certainly got its own style that one can easily appreciate.

To obtain more of these cosmetics, you’ll need to break open Fluffy Pinatas. You can easily buy them in game with the coins you earn after each match, with some also available through missions. Randomly get anything from skins, gear, taunts, avatar, effects and exclusive items!

In order to unlock characters, you have to complete missions up to a certain point. You can do it in either solo, couch mode or online multiplayer: just reach the designated level and you’ll get a new character.

While the game is basically a fighting game, Brawlout also has bonus stages you can chill out in. Take a break from all the fighting with some fun mini games!

Brawlout is definitely a game best played with other people. Couch co-op opens the game up to 2 to 4 players, including yourself. If there’s not enough players, a CPU will take the remaining slots. You could opt to play solo every now and again, with Trials for the challenger to take down a boss for additional benefits. If you need extra practice, then head on over to the training areas or tutorial to get a better grip on the game. If you join the Brawlout Discord, you can sign up for tournaments too!

In this for the PS4, it can take a bit to find a match online. If you’d rather not queue up, then the Arcade mode will have a fairly standard story you can go through. Climb up the ladder and face down those foes in Normal, Medium or Hard difficulty. On completing Arcade mode, rewards will be given out as well.

As a whole, Brawlout is quite entertaining, with some weak areas. Characters could stand to benefit from a larger variety of combos or even in character action to give them more life. Then again, if you can rope in some friends to play, you’d probably have too much of a blast to notice. Definitely give it a shot with company!