Thought The Expendables wasn't cool enough with its veritable who's who of action movie heroes? Well, prepare to have your mind blown by the awesomeness that is The Expendables: The game! 8-bit retro style!!
I find it interesting that two movies I'm dying to see come out on the same day. Both Scott Pilgrim and The Expendables hit theaters on Aug. 13th, but what's even more coincidental is they both have 8-bit style videogame tie-ins. The Scott Pilgrim one is a little different in that it's being developed as well for the latest consoles, but The Expendables is going for a broader appeal. Do I sense a trend here?
The Expendables game can be played on Facebook. While I do my best to avoid any game related to Facebook, I absolutely cannot put this one down. It plays almost exactly like a Contra game and you get to choose from 3 different characters (which denote easy, medium, or hard levels). This thing captures old school so well that you can't even go backwards! Like the games of old, once you pass a section of the screen, there's no turning back.
You get the standard controls; moving, jumping, and action. Experimenting reveals a level of depth as sliding moves and jump kicks can be performed with satisfying results. If you manage to beat the game then you'll unlock a bonus mode. Beating the game again in this mode can unlock alternate endings, Easter eggs, and landing on the top 10 scores will get you official swag from Lionsgate.
If nothing else, play this game for the nostalgia factor. Break, who made the game, totally nailed the style and feel of those classic side-scrolling action games (even down to the "cheap" and teeth-clenching deaths). Rather than feeling limited, however, the style actually works for this game, and is probably the best videogame representation we could ever hope to get for this movie. You know that you're at least glad it didn't turn into some terrible $60 slapped-together console game.
The only real downside is that you have to 'Like' the fan page and share all of your information before you can actually play it. It's not a huge deal, but it will put off some people. It's worth the effort to feel so much testosterone emanating from an 8-bit game.
-Jordan
[Edited By Moderator]
