All the Bad Parts Review: Now With Good Parts!

I’ve been punching dudes for a long time. Monsters, punks, hoodlums, and even dinosaurs have felt the sting of my digital fist, but I’ve never played a punching simulator quite like All the Bad Parts. This game is the perfect example of what makes the Xbox Live Indie Games platform so damned cool. It demonstrates that one guy with a few original ideas can create a unique experience devoid of the predictable plotlines that typically worm their way into big budget productions; it dismisses the standard ‘save the world’ trite for a more personal, emotional story.

The idea behind the game is to breathe a bit of life into the old coin-munching brawler by adding light adventure game elements and the sort of off-beat, snarky humor you’d expect to see in an indie comedy. While the characters and dialogue are charming, the combat sadly fails to hold up its end of the bargain. But the game handles its thought-provoking story and quirky dialogue better than pretty much any other XBLIG out there, so it’s worth playing despite its glaring faults.

The game opens as Corbin, a seemingly average high school student, is accosted by his teacher for not completing his homework. A confused Corbin has that standing-naked-in-front-of-the-class feeling and after a few comic-book bubble exchanges, he convinces the teacher that he forgot it in his locker. As you wander through the school in search of your locker, it’s pretty evident that things are a bit off-kilter:  the school is eerily abandoned outside of Corbin, his friend, the neurotic teacher, and an army of roach-headed bullies. Time is also behaving strangely with classes ending as soon as they begin.

The mysterious intrigue is complemented by quirky, sarcastic dialogue that injects a humanity into the characters that belies the game’s cartoony, cardboard-cutout look. When Corbin first encounters giant cockroaches that are roaming through the hallways he comments, “This place needs an exterminator…or small saddles and an insequestrian club.” Sure it’s groan worthy, but it’s the kind of stuff that a generation raised on bad puns will happily devour with a smile.

Without revealing too much of the story, the game basically deals with Corbin déjà-vuing through some of the worst parts of his life and reliving some of his embarrassing memories. There are tons of games that admonish about the atrocities of war, corporate corruption, and environmental blight, so it was refreshing to play a game that attempts to yank on those far more intimate heartstrings. This isn’t a game about saving the world or rescuing the princess, it’s more of a personal story of reflection with some lessons that are relevant, but don’t feel too preachy.

Despite the novel subject matter, the game’s structure leans heavily on some pretty basic design principles. A large part of the game involves embarking on rather mundane fetch quests. Some of the levels appear to have multiple paths to explore, but this is largely a linear affair with plenty of backtracking. The good news is that the levels are at least visually pleasing thanks to the flattened, cell-shaded effect that makes the world look cartoonish. The various room and hallways are filled with humorous posters and even the names of regenerative objects like coffee (growth stunting serum) get the comedic treatment.

Unfortunately, it would seem as if the same amount of care wasn’t put into the actual combat, which makes up the bulk of what you’ll actually be doing in All the Bad Parts. Brawlers aren’t known for having a lot of depth, but All the Bad Parts’ combat is shallower than an evaporating puddle filled with crusty, desiccated worms. There are only a handful of enemies, most of which are human characters with animal heads, but their moves are pretty similar and there isn’t any reason to use different tactics; I played through the entire game using two 3-button combos. The action lacks any sort of intensity, and Corbin’s strikes connect with a sound effect that has more in common with a dog’s squeaky toy than a violent attack.

A deeper list of moves, more interesting combos, upgrades, more weapons, a grappling system, or even co-op might have helped out considerably. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as big of a deal if the game didn’t insist on throwing trios of enemies at you after every four steps or if the combat was in some way avoidable. It’s a shame because the clunky combat really bogs down the game’s momentum and gets in the way of the fantastic storytelling and characters. I finished the game on the medium difficulty setting, but I’d highly recommend playing on easy in order to avoid as many of the bad parts as possible.

Despite the mediocre combat, All the Bad Parts is still a game I’d recommend to anyone that is interested in character development or storytelling in games. It’s not just another 8-bit homage, twin-stick shooter, Avatar adventure, or Minecraft clone. This is an indie game in the most personal, low-fi sense of the term, and it’s the type of adventure that we need more of.

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All the Bad Parts was provided for review by Well Bred Rhino. A free demo is available on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and it can be purchased for $1. 

By Mike Wall at January 30, 2012.

About Mike Wall

Mike grew up and lives near Philadelphia and has been intrigued with games ever since his parents preached that they rotted his brain. He studied journalism at Penn State and got his master's degree in secondary education before realizing that not even summers off would make that job palatable. He now works in marketing and is trying to find time to continue writing a book about zombies, aliens, vampires, the end of the world, and a talking cat.