Bish Bash Bots

• DEVELOPER: CATASTROPHIC_OVERLOAD
• PUBLISHER: Firestroke
• PLATFORMS: PC, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
• GENRE: Tower-defense
• RELEASE DATE: October 19, 2023
• STARTING PRICE: 19.99€
• REVIEWED VERSION: PC

Just when we think tower-defense titles have exhausted all the ideas they can, along comes Bish Bash Bots. With cooperative, as well as singleplayer gameplay, Bish Bash Bots will definitely interest fans of this genre. With a large number of regions to explore and bots to destroy, and the fact that this game has a similar concept to some of the most famous Team17 games such as Moving Out or Overcooked, then we can safely say that Bish Bash Bots will not disappoint you. Although it can be compared to those games, this title stands out enough on its own.

Simple gameplay concept

Bish Bash Bots follows a very simple gameplay; you take your hammer and bash robots or upgrade turrets to win. Of course, this is the essence of the game, there is a large selection of turrets, each of which has a different type of shooting and will differ according to the regions you are in. For example, you have a sniper that shoots bots from afar or a Tesla that slows them down with electricity. Each region, whether you are in water, desert or volcano, brings its own challenges. In the desert you often have to drink water to avoid dehydration from the heat, in the rainforest slimes appear that either heal bots or block your turrets from firing. It should be mentioned that the bots drop orange gears, initially you get more at the beginning and as the game goes on you get less and less. The goal is to charge the battery shown in the upper corner to 100% and hit the main base to complete the level. The waves of enemies also vary, sometimes there will be more of them, sometimes there will only be special bots, and you are required to plan your positions carefully.

Special skills are very useful

To make this not just bot bashing, we have different skills at hand, and each character has their own perks. For example, you have a shield that repels enemies, a mine that you can set to explode, the ability to make a cube that upgrades turrets, etc. There are four characters in the game and they differ in color. A red character can upgrade turrets faster, a green one to move faster, a yellow one hits bots harder and a purple one gets your skills back to use faster. This concept is very well done and adds extra fun to the game, but some characters are just more useful than others, which definitely shouldn't be the case. There are also various cosmetic items that you collect by playing and solving challenges, that is, each level has its own challenges. For example, you cannot allow bots to enter the base, you can only build that particular turret, you must throw bots into a pit, etc.

Interesting levels, but sometimes frustrating gameplay

One aspect of the game that bothered me was the way to upgrade turrets by hitting them, however, that would be fine if it didn't last very long. Turrets have five levels, they get stronger with each upgrade, and you'll almost never get to the last one, because it's too important to have more of them than one on the last level. Although there are cubes that upgrade turrets, which are dropped by bots when you destroy them, it's still extremely frustrating to stand and pound the same turret for eight minutes. In Bish Bash Bot you have to be tactical, you have to carefully choose which turret to place and make the most of the environment around you. What this game lacks is an arrow that shows where the bots are moving, because there are levels that change during gameplay and then, for example, the bots start moving to the other side. Also, I don't know why there is an option to hit other players, I understand that the feature should be there to make the player think about their actions, but not have them fly ten meters away from you if you accidentally hit them.

There is not too much difference between singleplayer and multiplayer

Although it is possible to beat the game when playing alone, the developers didn't think too much about how to balance the levels and difficulty in that situation. Of course, it is more fun when you play with someone, however, there is not too much difference in the amount and movement of bots, for example, you will come across one level where they will appear on the left and right side, in addition, you are also slowed down because you are in water, so the movement is more difficult, which means you will be forced to think both ways while important resources disappear on the other side. Yes, playing solo is more demanding, it will require you to reset harder levels until you learn the movement of the bots, that is, from which side exactly they come. As I already mentioned, some characters are more useful than others, for example we can take the red character that allows faster turret upgrades which is very useful if you are playing alone. Multiplayer is much easier, in the sense that you don't have to think about everything, but the element of the game that frustrates the most is the whole slowness, i.e. the turrets do too little damage and those flying bots can only be killed by one turret, which becomes chaotic if you don't have them installed.

You can never rest in Bish Bash Bots, there is always some action going on which is a very good thing. The controls are done well for both PC and console, but the movements are a bit clumsy and there is a chance that the game will just play tricks on you and make you fall into the pit instead of the bots. The graphics are simple, charming and attractive, as if you are in a cartoon. While you won't often be following the story going on in the background, the reason why Bish Bash Bots offers a slightly fresher approach is precisely because of the variety in challenges and levels, as each one is unique.

Review copy provided by the publisher