Bang!

Technology is growing ever more complex and that’s a good thing, especially if it means advancement in the gaming industry. And while revolutions aren’t always measured in huge leaps forward, it’s nice to see some developers thinking outside the box, even in small steps. Bang! The Official Video Game is certainly not the biggest advancement ever seen, but is one of the pioneers in multiplatform gameplay. This card game is playable simultaneously between PCs, tablets and iOS devices. Unfortunately, beyond its revolutionary technology, there isn’t much to see.

With simple, clean graphics, this cartoony western is set around a simple and well-known concept of an unknown trifecta. There are 3 types of players, each with their own goal and none of the others know who the other person is. There is 1 Sherriff paired with a set amount of deputies, then renegades and outlaws. The lawful side needs to eliminate the bad guys and vice versa, with the twist of the renegades first having to defeat the evil side. To do this, each player receives a set amount of cards and life points and needs to gun down the opponent. There are directly affecting cards with attacking or defensive traits, secondary blue cards and specially designed green cards. That, in a nutshell, are the basics of how a game is set in the clockwise playing field.

Gameplay is really basic in both single and multiplayer mode, as it’s nothing more than a simple round of cards. Though there are achievements to unlock, it’s much too little of an incentive to get players to keep coming back. Each character has a special ability, to add some variety, but there isn’t a real balance to be found in between some obviously more blessed players and lesser traits, even with more or lesser hit points. A game is mostly chance oriented and while skill can prolong the lifespan, there are too many random elements, such as dynamite, to really excel at any round of play.

A standard playing field.

Additionally, there isn’t enough variety in cards or at least not in decent options. There are dozens of cards for each color, but several offer the same result and don’t allow for deeper tactical play beyond a certain level. Stealing, discarding and some special blue cards are just about as exotic as choices get after shooting people and that just isn’t enough. There are still some good elements to the game however, such as figuring out which character is what side or trying to rationalize moves ahead of time.  Unfortunately, just above passable is about as good as it gets.

But where Bang really shoots itself in the foot, pun intended, is the pioneer multiplayer element, which is needlessly complex if working at all. To enter, players must register, but even after that hosting or joining a play is tricky, which is counterintuitive for its pick-up-and-play design. A quick match with friends loses all purpose if it needs to be circumvented by this mode of entrance. It’s a shame, because doing this right and swiftly, could’ve made this game a ton more popular amongst casual players that just want to flock together.

Stealing cards isn't a crime. But the sherriff will end up shooting you anyway.

Still, Bang has some qualities and makes revolutionary steps in the right direction. It does still offer a quirky little game for a modest price, even if ever so pedestrian. However, its failure to rise up beyond anything special, plus its quarrels with multiplayer, makes it less appealing than it could’ve been in the end. As such, it doesn’t excel beyond anything more than a simple card game, which ultimately is a missed opportunity.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)