The Expendabros

Pros

• Hours of fun gameplay
• Play with as many as four gamers at a time
• Free
• Destructible environments

Cons

• Not made for the faint-hearted

On the whole, movie tie-in games feel more like a cash grab that exploits a big name to attract an audience, rather than offering a genuinely good game. The Expendabros differs a little because it actually plays pretty solid. The game captures the tone of Expendables 3 almost to perfection. In fact, the game copies the tongue-in-cheek vibe with hilarious accuracy, and they designers released a game that showcases Arnold Scharzenegger at the peak of his filming career.

Fans of this gaming era will see a unique blend of styles that pulls from the classic shooting games like Contra and Commando. Expendabros incorporates both agility and verticality with the sweet wall jumps found in Shinobi. You will also uncover more modern influences in the game like Tarraria where you have destructible landscapes to blaze a trail through the bite-sized levels.

Polished up with 16-bit visuals, the Expendabros design looks surprisingly detailed with the brown and green jungle styling. It hosts rope bridges, huts and makeshift structures. Power lines add an environmental flavor different to other games. The sparks fly off as you run its length. You have to knock down the generator to kill the enemies beneath you. While the characters and enemy designs look small and pixelated, you can distinguish every pixel as clear. This means you can also see more easily if a dangerous opponent fires their gun in your direction. In addition, you can watch to see if they will charge at you to explode without having to squint to see it coming.

As the movie continues, several cast members fit in the story as a playable characters. Every playable character sports his own weapon, and he can activate a special ability to keep him alive. For example, you start the game playing Broney Ross or Sylvester Stallone. He carries a light machine gun and throws grenades to keep himself alive. While these weapons offer versatility, it does attract unwanted attention. With the rescue of your first squad member, it becomes apparent how greatly the abilities differ and influence the gameplay. Lee Broxmas, for example, only carries knives, but the damage unleashed from them is apparent. In fact, they're almost as deadly as the gun, except they do not attract the same attention. In addition, you can throw them longer distances when you activate the special attack button. It mixes up the game's playing style and adds more variation.

Whenever you rescue a new character or another member in the cast, you unlock them to play. It sounds great that you can roll through a variety of characters, but the lottery style selection means you will have to learn each attack style, whether it's explosive or self-damaging attacks. Overall, Expendabros offers us a tight shooter with a hilarious sense of humor to tie in with the movie.

Pros

• Hours of fun gameplay
• Play with as many as four gamers at a time
• Free
• Destructible environments

Cons

• Not made for the faint-hearted