With a plot as paper-thin as that you may expect the dialogue and gameplay to be just as weak, but you’d be wrong. The one-liners, though often cheesy, are snappy and humorous, but never forced. The chemistry between Briggs and the mask is largely where the humour lies as they bounce off one another; Marlow frequently ridicules his own video game and the mask taunts you as you fall to your death after a poorly timed jump. From the outset the action comes thick and fast as you traverse a wide range of environments from thick, green jungles to dusty industrial sites and bitterly cold mountain ranges. All while taking down an army of seemingly never ending henchmen, nasty bug-type creatures and collecting health, XP and mana pieces scattered across the world.
The combat comes in the form of weapons and magic. Marlow’s melee combat is a simple two-button system. X provides a weak but fast strike, while Y deals more powerful blows, but takes longer to pull off. Combining the two results in more powerful combos and, after dealing enough damage, some larger enemies can be executed with a quick tap of the B button. While this will be your primary control method, there will be times enemies can overwhelm you, this is where the magic comes in. The left bumper allows you to unleash devastating, screen clearing magic. You’ll be picking up new weapons and magic through the course of the game and while this all works well, it’s all very typical for the hack and slash genre nowadays.
Fallen enemies will provide XP for Marlow to use in a pretty basic upgrade system. Your weapons and magic can be upgraded a total of three times and that’s really all there is to it. Often you find yourself fully upgraded before unlocking a new item that can usually be upgraded immediately. It’s a very weak system that seems to be there simply to be there, rather than a thought out tool requiring players to earn as much XP as they can.
As fun as Marlow Briggs And The Mask Of Death tries to be there are a few niggling issues that clearly show that this is a game made on a low budget. Puzzles are incredibly basic and show very little ambition to really challenge the player. You have no control over the camera that can lead to incredible frustration when you can’t see an enemy attack or even the route you’re supposed to take next. Graphically it’s a mixed bag between good and awful, which may suggest it was finished in a rush. Some animations are so sloppy they’re laughable, while interactive elements, such as moveable blocks or climbing vines, are so hidden into the landscape they’re hard to spot and leave you confused what the next move is.
Lets be clear, Marlow Briggs And The Mask Of Death is a dumb game, but that’s not a negative. I doubt the team at ZootFly ever expected a smash hit game and instead focused on just making a game with some solid combat, cheesy one-liners, a plethora of explosions resulting in a thoroughly entertaining title from start to finish. A few frustrating elements really let the experience down overall, but this low budget God Of War game may well be one of the best games that will no doubt will pass the majority of gamers by.
Marlow Briggs And The Mask Of Death is available now on XBLA and Steam.