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Hard, bizarre, and definitely worth the download. No, I'm not talking about porn -- it's Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This?, a must-play strategy game for the dirt crazy, slime-loving sadist in all of us. Listen, I've played a lot of role-playing games in my lifetime, but most involve some cocky, prepubescent hero tearing up some dungeon to find a treasure, or save some bratty princess, or kill some supposed badguy that could just be left alone (probably) and nothing would really happen (probably). Not content to the let the good guys have all the fun, NISA released Badman exclusively for the PSP through PSN.
You are a pickaxe that must defend the God of Destruction from heroes across 8 story stages, a bonus story mode, and training and edit modes. Badman is a dungeon defense strategy extravaganza that has already spawned a sequel in Japan. It flips the script on traditional RPGs, mixes in some humor, strange retro-styled graphics, and pure nerdy strategy to become the perfect companion for your PSP. But is it good? Why yes, actually, it's probably one of the most unique game concepts to come stateside this year, though, as can be expected, you won't simply walk through Badman, you'll have to earn each and every victory.
The premise is simple: break blocks to reveal creatures that evolve larger creatures that protect your Badman. Master controlling such a volatile ecosystem and the heroes will never stand a chance. Excelling in this game relies on two factors: luck and skill. The skill involves how you create your dungeon structure to maximize reproduction and strength. You have to balance the population so that they don't die of starvation and so that some creatures, like dragons, don't kill everything in their path. The luck comes in to play when trying to breed the bigger mana-based creatures such as dragons. When heroes die, they release mana to surrounding blocks that can be used to spawn spirits and eventually dragons. Sometimes this lets you build a dragon by the third stage and sometimes it never happens (example).
Luck also controls how the various elements interact and travel through the maze. Sure, you can create patterns for creatures to follow, but sometimes it's best to just sit back and let nature do its thing. Expect to play through the story mode many, many times as you devise devious ways to slay each hero and populate your soil with the most mana. They say patience is a virtue and you'll need heaps of it because when you die, you have to start back at stage one. Once you best the normal story mode, there's a bonus one that can be accessed with a short code.
Besides story mode, there are challenge stages meant to train you in the nefarious ways of dungeon making and an edit mode that let's you augment a hero and test him over a few stages. Badman offers plenty of challenge (perhaps too much challenge), can be taken in brief doses or for extended runs, and has enough humor to make it all the more enjoyable. I do wish there were more monster types and a longer story mode (this has been addressed with the sequel, let's hope it makes the trip over as well!).
For a strategy game, Badman is like nothing you'll come across and it offers a new way to look at the ridiculous business of RPGs (I'm a fan, so I can write that!). If you're a proponent of slime, hurting heroes with dragon poo, or simply making neat shapes out of grids, then Badman is for you. If you hate dying, don't like strategy, or actually think the heroes in this game shouldn't be killed, then maybe stick to something less interesting, like coin collecting.
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