Análisis Drunken Fist – Xbox Zone

Eastasiasoft Limited, a small indie game developer, tries to remember, with a different tone from the traditional, the genre of beat them with Drunk fist.

If it was already frowned upon to solve problems with a punch or a kick, in this game we will give a new turn of the screw. Not only will we distribute balls left and right, but we will also do it under the influence of alcohol, in a completely drunk state.

A little history of the genre

The beat them, also called “me against the neighborhood”, have been with us for decades. Without a doubt the standards of the genre are the classics Double Dragon and Final fight. But there are also mythical ones like the saga Renegade, Vigilant, Ninja Turtles… as well as dozens of other wonders Capcom, SNK O Konami They brought us to the 90s of the last century, the golden age. A time when they reigned in the already gone recreational (arcades), with people lining up to play.

The genre has not adapted very well to the evolution of graphics towards polygons and 3D and, except for honorable exceptions, such as The Warriors O God’s hand, the genre was gradually banished to the background and lowered its quality until it fell into hell in total decadence. This was of such magnitude that it led to its almost total demise and ended up being relegated to independent development. But there is no evil that does not come for good and the genre evolved until the hack and slash, very present to this day and with Bayonetta O The devil can cry

The arrival last year of Streets of Rage 4, suite of three exclusive original pieces from MegaDrive of Sega, restored the splendor of the classical genre by bringing it back to the fore. And it’s following the wake where it arises Drunk fist.

But… is Drunken Fist serious?

Drunk fist it puts us in the shoes of a man returning home after a drunken night. For this we will have to face all kinds of characters, including the police, who will not make it easy for us. This game has no more history than that. We control the character totally affected by the symptoms of excessive alcohol consumption, as we march through street scenes full of unwanted.

The game is a beat them, but with subtle touches that make the experience more strategic. The protagonist moves and acts in a state of total drunkenness and with enormous difficulty in maintaining his balance. It has a bar that indicates your alcohol level, which will gradually decrease. If it falls out completely, we’ll lose the game. We will have bottles located in different places on the stage, but we will have to be careful to locate them and not to leave any aside.

Of course, we also have a life marker, which can be filled with burgers (another nod to the classic beat’em up). In addition our protagonist does not stop drinking, and of course, we will have to urinate all that.

Urine also serves as a secret weapon. Enemies that pass overhead can slide and fall to the ground, losing some of their energy. But beware, you can also slip with your own urine and end up on the floor giving rise to really shocking situations.

It is clear that the authors of the game intend to pay homage to a classic genre but with constant touches of humor that will make us smile more than just because of the ridiculous situations that are generated from it.

Polygons are back in fashion

The graphics of Drunk fist are those of the timelines mentioned above, that of the transition from pixel graphics to polygons. This has already been successfully taken over in the fun Hot Shot Racing and its clear homage to the classic Virtua Racing, while obtaining a better result than the present.

The scenes and their lighting are softer and more updated in the present. But the characters are completely polygonal

This is perhaps the weakest point of the game, which although it gives it a certain grace, they should have been textured or at least a little bit optimized for that polygonal look. It is precisely in this graphics section that we find one of the main problems of the game.

Being close to the walls, the character is momentarily “stuck”, which makes the camera even go behind the walls. This results in a momentary loss of character and location, which can be quite annoying. Added to this are other bugs in the characters that can even be funny.

Dizzying gameplay

The character controls are very basic and intuitive. Most of this section is about commands. And it’s that alcohol makes our character’s movements anything but normal. Maintaining a straight line as we walk will be nearly impossible as we stagger by the effects of alcohol. Also, by trying to go fast, we can end up with our face kissing the ground, with the resulting loss of energy.

This is where a certain strategic factor comes in. If we don’t get a bottle on time, we lose the game. But be careful with the races, because when you fall you lose energy and if we have little we will die too. It is this strategic factor that will make you try again and again to overcome the different phases.

Although it looks like a game with a sense of humor and except for the first phase, the difficulty increases. The objective of each scenario is to destroy different kinds of enemies such as college cops, hipsters, office workers and classic enemies which cannot be missing in everything beat them

Yes, we are missing the option to play doubles. Such a game mode would give the title a little more depth and replayability.

Music and effects

Music is one of the strengths of the game. These are their own compositions very much in the style of those that they can put in the slums in which our character moved before returning home. They’re instrumental, but these metal and electronic compositions are catchy and you’ll end up humming some of them.

The sounds also follow this humorous tone present in the game. The bumps and drops look so exaggerated as if from a movie of the charismatics Bud spencer and Terence hill it was. To make you stand out when you finish off the enemy with a single good hit, you will hear an “Oh yeahhhh” that will make you smile.

Conclusiones drunk fist

Let’s make one thing clear. Obviously, it’s not a game where we have a deep story or very developed characters. It’s a game of disconnecting our sessions from other more relevant games.

It should also be noted that this is an adult game despite the humorous tone. And is Drunk fist this is not exactly an example of behavior. We will have to continually get drunk by urinating on public roads while we make others bite the dust without relying on the issue of blood.

That is why we cannot stop recommending this game for adults and that the little ones at home are far from the screen.

If you’re looking for a triple A, forget it. If, on the other hand, you’re looking to laugh, remember the past of a genre you love for its fun and simplicity, this is your game.