
A slight disclaimer before going in: this is not going to be a normal review. In fact, this isn’t going to be a review at all – it’s going to be more of a first impressions. Whilst I did want to review it, unfortunately several factors prevented me from doing so. Most notably, being a multiplayer-only game I had problems actually getting into a match; sometimes I may be lucky enough to enter a lobby with another person, but I could only get enough people to play a game once – and that required a long time of waiting around. Considering I could only play the tutorial and a single match, I feel it’s inappropriate to frame this as a full review.
With that being said though, I really wish that the lack of people playing it was the game’s biggest problem…
Even though the game is free to play, credits for the store were provided for coverage purposes.
BLASTING OFF AGAIN
The best way to describe Blast CircusĀ is that it’s effectively a VR version of the Gladiators TV series, albeit with some over the top and generally explosive minigames. After working your way through the tutorial and customising your avatar, you can then head off to the lobby where you’ll have to wait (usually for a very long time) for other competitors before heading off into the games themselves. These games could see you dodging cannonfire, deflecting fireballs, or even juggling bombs. There’s a nice mix of activities, and being the best will earn you first place on the winner’s podium.
Winning will earn you coins that you can use in the in-game store (although you can use real money to get store credit for free) to help personalise your avatar. There’s not a whole lot of choice currently available (in fact, after buying the one item I liked, I didn’t bother with anything else) and there’s very little customisation for your avatar outside of the clothes they wear, which is a little disappointing as it means that most of them look very similar.
The main problem Blast Circus has is that it’s just not very fun to play. Aside from the occasionally infinite loading bug that forces you to restart the game, my main issue was with the character’s mode of locomotion. With no legs to speak of, your character can only drag themselves across the ground with their arms and it is just so. damn. slow. It feels like it is trying to ape (sorry) Gorilla Tag, but lacks the speed and fluidity that makes that game a joy to move around in. In fact, it’s such a hassle that I thought the game was broken at first and even reset my boundary to try and rectify it. I was mortified to realise that the developers actually intended you to move around like this. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so obnoxious.
Of course, Blast Circus is an early access game, and the full release may end up being quite different from this early product. I certainly like the concept in theory, and both the visual style and soundtrack definitely suit it well. It’s just that the implementation leaves a lot to be desired. I really hope the developers can work on the issues in the coming months and make it enjoyable to play – which hopefully will result in there being more active players to play with.
VERDICT
Even though the game is free to play, it’s really hard to recommend it in this state. Aside from the very low player-base, the game just isn’t all that fun to play. If they can improve the game’s movement system and add some more options to personalise your avatar then maybe they can salvage it – but I fear the damage may already be done.
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