Brawl Stars

Brawl Stars is a mobile game that feels like it has been in development forever! Well, it is finally here and being brought to us from the folks that gave us games like Clash Royal and Clash of Clans, it has a lot to live up to.

What Kind Of Game Is This?

Brawl Stars is a game that is really hard to pigeonhole into just one genre. I get the feeling that the development team looked at games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, League of Legends, Overwatch and then decided how to mash these into one and make it a mobile centric experience. It sounds like a hodgepodge of ideas that would be a mess, but Brawl Stars offers some quick and straightforward gameplay and I feel that is a huge part of its appeal. At its core, this is a three vs three multiplayer game, but that is just the tip of the iceberg as there are different game modes and each one has its own style and feel.

Gem Grab

This is the main game mode. You and two other players took on another three players. Gems will spawn in the middle of the map and you need to grab ten, you then need to hold all ten until the timer runs out. Shooting an enemy will cause them to drop their gems once they die. This is fun and it forces you to work as a team which is cool. Gem Grab is my personal favorite mode in Brawl Stars.

Showdown

This clearly is their take on the Battle Royale genre. This is for ten players and as you would expect the last player standing is the winner. I know that ten players does not sound like a lot for a game of this style, but it actually works and any more would make the map way too crowded. The map shrinks as the game progresses and you can find these boxes that can give you health and attack boosts.

Bounty & Heist

In Bounty mode, your team will have to work together in order to go and kill all the other players! This is very close to being a Team Deathmatch style match and it is actually quite a lot of fun. Heist, on the other hand, is a game mode that is very MOBA inspired where your team needs to find and destroy the opposing teams safe before they do the same to yours. There is also their weird soccer game as well, but I did not get into that.

Keeping It Simple

One of the things that makes Brawl Stars so much fun is how accessible it is. The characters are all very fun and picking your favorite is easy. But the actual gameplay has been made to be as simple as possible. You have one stick to move and then a stick for shooting. Another stick will pop up only when you have the ability to use it. Keeping it simple means that anyone can jump in and play this. Speaking of jumping in and playing this. Brawl Stars matches (no matter what mode you play) tend to last a few minutes at most. This makes it perfect for a quick session while you are at work or waiting for your Big Mac at McDonald's. The simplicity though may make some players lose interest rather quickly as the progression system is not exactly attention grabbing.

Brawl Stars is a really fun game and I am really excited to see what they add to it. It does have Microtransactions, but I had fun without spending a penny. I found that each of the game modes had its own style of fun and in terms of the games style I love the cartoony look that they have gone for. Brawl Stars is well worth a download and I highly recommend you give each game mode a play.

8/10

Pros:

• Features many different game modes
• Matches are quick
• Controls are very easy to get the hang of
• Has a fun art style
• Free to play

Cons:

• It may be a little simple for some
• Not much in the way of progression