Nothing says fun like bumper cars. It's the only safe way motorists can take out their road rage frustrations and it's one of the few ways children can get behind the wheel. Naturally, fender benders and vehicular battles should make for great video game material and Big Bumpin' for the Xbox and Xbox 360 uses the premise in what is easily the best of the three Burger King Xbox titles available at the restaurants right now.
Big Bumpin' takes players to the carnival where they will participate in five different game modes, which all take place from behind the wheel of a bumper car. Just like in Pocketbike Racer, Bumpin' lets you assume the identity of one of the franchise's mascots such as The King, Subservient Chicken or the tasty Whopper Jr. Oh, yeah, and Brooke Burke appears yet again.
The last man standing mode is your standard smash fest where collisions deplete a car's damage meter until they explode in defeat. Added to the mix are a handful of different stages all featuring their own little deathtraps - trap floors, saw blades and pitfalls around the edge of the stage anxiously await to eat up your car. While the battles do not typically last long, they are extremely fast-paced and frantic and when you add in three other people, the mode is a party game on its own.
Players get to play keep away in the own the puck mode where points are accumulated the longer they can hold on to a puck without getting bumped. Another game mode uses the puck once again as hockey, pits two teams of two against each other in a game of... well, hockey.
Shockball has players running away as the game mimics hot potato. When a player is tagged, they become "it," and if they're still "it" when a time meter depletes to nothing, an explosion causes them major pain. Lastly, power surge has players rushing to a light, which they try to bring back to their base to score points.
The game's single-player mode puts players in a series of tournaments that mix up the five game modes and awards with tournament points the competitors according to how well they perform. There is a handful of unlockables to be found in the one-player affair but Big Bumpin' is built to be a multiplayer game and if you're not going to round up some friends or take the game online, you won't take in the fun Bumpin' has to offer.
The graphics on their own aren't too special, but the game utilizes some great effects in its lighting and explosions. The characters, as in the other BK games, feature some decent detail. Looking around, the environments aren't anything too special but when you play on battle stages in the last man standing mode, the stages come alive with the deathtraps and are visually stimulating in the fast-paced action.
On the other hand, the game's sound is hands-down its weakest aspect. Generic carnival-like music and other timid sound effects are easily lost in the game's frantic pace. The custom soundtrack feature comes in handy to pump out tunes that fit the pace of the game, especially when you've got a raucous crowd of friends over to duke it out with.
The controls are simple as the game uses only the analog stick to move the cars around, allowing anyone to pick the game up right away and jump in the action. The scheme fits in quite well with the nature of the game and keeps with the "anyone can play" philosophy of a party game.
The single-player mode offers little to do, however, even though it features unlockables, a horrible character creation mode and achievement points for those playing on the 360. Seeing as how the vast majority of the achievement points are only available through online play, it is clear to see the online modes and its multiplayer were the focus of the game. After about an hour of going through each tournament, there's nothing left to go back for.
Even with the multiplayer mode, there are only a handful of stages to play on, which really drags down the replayability of the title. While the game is fun to play with other people, with the slim amount of options, it's unlikely a group will be able to go for an extended amount of time with the title.
For $4, if you've got a hankering for some online party action on the Xbox, you can't go wrong with Big Bumpin'. By no means is it the best party game ever made and while it lacks in features, replayability and single-player options, its multiplayer should be able to get a rise out of players looking for some frantic competition. Besides - where else are you going to see a collision between a chicken and Brooke Burke?
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