On Games Managers, we always love to present you with atypical games that stand out from the crowd of games coming out on Steam on a daily basis. And Battle Splash 2.0 is one of those trying to deliver a non-violent shooter where competitors bombard each other with water. Thanks to a key sent by the publisher, I was able to take a look at the early access of this title developed for five years by a studio based in Vietnam, in Hanoi.
At the launch of the game, the atmosphere is immediately given: we find ourselves in a game with typical Asian graphics where the fighters are all girls in short skirts.
Four levels, four maps, are available: medieval town, medieval citadel, countryside and paper world. For everyone, the graphics are quite nice, with plenty of places to hide, even if it lacks perches to get high, offering only a very horizontal fight. Some slowdowns and drops of images are to be noted, accompanied by a camera passing behind the set near the walls.
Regardless of the card chosen, the servers offered are similar, the option to host a part always remaining accessible. Having no friends to play with, I opted for the official servers running all the time. As you can see, the population is currently not there, the servers are full of bots and not players. The only mode is "Team Free For All Rule" where the reappearance is immediate, the fight continuing until the counter reaches zero or when one of the teams reaches the maximum score, before restarting automatically.
The last choice concerns the character to play among the four damsels each having special attributes and abilities, at least on paper.
Because once in a game, I didn't feel much difference, especially since they all have access to the same four weapons, only the fifth being a special ability. Girls fight each other with:
- sniper rifle
- a long-range rifle that deals area damage
- a close range pistol
- a bag of water (= pomegranate)
The principle then remains similar to any shooter: shoot down enemy targets with the left click by zooming in from the right. The precision is far from being at the rendezvous, the bots behave erratically, having difficulty managing the scenery and teleport in front of the viewfinder. Hitting your target becomes quite random, especially when friendly fire is active. Thus, if a member of his team, also made up of bots, passes at the wrong time, it is the tragedy!
Life is symbolized by the humidity level (bottom left on the interface). Depending on the weapon used and the precision of the shot, the characters are more or less wet. When the gauge is at 100%, they fall on the buttocks and the fight is over. Knowing of course that not taking water for a period of time allows drying. Fortunately, the reappearance is automatic in this mode, causing little consequence, especially since the AI does not seem vindictive (I admit having fun killing my "friends" to train me).
Based on an excellent initial idea (to offer a shooter accessible to all by annihilating the violence of firearms), Battle Splash 2.0 currently suffers from many dysfunctions that make the games fun for a few minutes, nothing more. To balance my remarks, let's not forget that the title has just landed on Steam, for a release posted on February 22, 2019. The game still has many months to perfect itself and, frankly, I hope to continue surfing on this great initial idea. They really have the opportunity to offer an original shooter that goes off the beaten track. If you want to support these efforts that could pay off, the game is available on Steam for just under € 10:
