Splody – PS4 | Review

By Myles Jordan
| 3rd October 2018
| PS4, Review
| 2

Splody is a game that makes very little effort to hide the fact it is a clone of another game. At first glance, it’s obvious that the developers of Splody took a heap of inspiration from the classic Bomberman series, with the core gameplay being directly lifted from those games with little to no changes beyond superficial power-ups or visual differences.

Now, I’m no Bomberman veteran or anything of that nature. I played a bit of Bomberman 64 back in the day, but more recently had a chance to dabble with Super Bomberman R for the Nintendo Switch, back at the midnight launch for the console. To be transparent, I’m not the biggest fan of that style of gameplay.

Splody, however, is like Bomberman on crack. Both in the sense, it’s visually quite bland and difficult to look at and in the sense that everything you know about Bomberman is just taken to ridiculous extremes in what feels like an attempt to claim “innovation”.

What do I mean by this? Well, the ability to play 64 player matches is the first thing that jumps to mind. A fun distraction, sure. A bout of pure chaos and chance with little to no skill requires, sure. But an actual addition to the gameplay formula that makes Splody worth playing? Not a chance.

If there’s one thing I can appreciate about Splody, however, it would be the Trophy List. Besides a fairly simple platinum (something we can all appreciate), the trophies themselves are very referential. The first one you will likely unlock even makes a direct reference to the game being a Bomberman clone, with some others being references to memes and other internet age garbage.

This review is really very difficult, I have no real prior experience to draw on when it comes to this genre, the game itself is clearly very derivative of another revered franchise and to be completely honest: I don’t care for the gameplay at all.

Whilst this game might appeal to those of you who really love Bomberman, I would suggest getting your hands on the newly released PS4/Xbox One port of Super Bomberman R. Simply for the better production values alone.

Final Impressions

I find little calling me back to Splody. Hopefully, it finds its niche and an audience who will appreciate it more than I did. Ultimately though, this appears to be the “Garfield Kart” of the Bomberman genre.

*Code kindly provided by the publisher for review*

Developer: Dashing Strike / Publisher: Dashing Strike
Release date: 18/09-2018
Platforms: PS4
Platform Reviewed on: PS4 Pro