Like any child of the 80s, I have a soft spot in my heart for brawlers that can only be filled with a punch to the face of a velociraptor. I’ve cleared the raging streets, finished the fight, and cleared out the sewers so many times that the city gave me my own waste removal truck. I also happen to have a ridiculous soft spot for Get Rich or Die Gaming, an outrageous adventure game with horrid voice acting, sleazy sex appeal, and tons of kitsch. So, naturally I was a bit pimped pumped when I heard that Baller Industries’ follow-up to Get Rich would be a brawler. So how did I feel after I got my hands on this bizarre monstrosity?
The story, characters, cut scenes, and dialogue are exactly what I would expect from Baller Industries. Characters act in extreme fashions, experience 180-degree mood swings for no apparent reason, and enjoy shouting profanity. It’s absolutely insane, but in all the best ways like the He-Man Christmas Special. The plot follows a main character who has been sober for 10 years, but somehow keeps finding new ways to get stoned, drunk, or otherwise intoxicated during what has to be the worst day ever experienced by an auditor. I can kind of see why he’d want to stay clean, because apparently the slightest narcotic in his system causes him to flip out and kick the tar out of everyone like Scrappy Doo on speed.
Unfortunately, it’s the butt-kicking part where the game really falls apart. Let’s Get Fiscal really looks the part, at least when it’s not in motion. The characters are large, colorful, and have ample animation to convince you this could be from the SNES era. That feeling is completely shattered when you see an enemy get stuck repeatedly flipping from left to right as if he was doing his best impression of a tornado spinning around. The first time I saw it, I chalked it up to a charming glitch, but after a dozen times on a single playthrough, it was clear this was a pretty serious bug.
Minor gripes like that could be forgiven if there was a bit more to the combat system, but the action is shallow even by typical brawler standards. You get one basic attack and just a handful of special moves such as a pretty sweet one resembling M. Bison’s Torpedo Crusher. There isn’t even a jump attack, which is pretty mind boggling considering even lame brawlers like Renegade let you do that. Cooperative play? Don’t be silly. As simplistic as it is, the combat is at least serviceable. If you’re the kind of person who thinks all brawlers are boring, this will be torture, but as a fan of the genre, I really didn’t mind it all that much because I enjoyed the awesome story segments so much.
And then I got to the broken-ass boss of level 3. I don’t know what the hell Baller Industries was thinking or if the game is just absolutely glitched, but I spent a good twenty minutes trying every available tactic to no avail. When the boss gets to about a quarter life, he becomes invincible and recharges his health back. Again. And Again. And Again. The game’s balancing was pretty busted up to that point as well. The first boss was a pair of buffoons who were impossible to avoid and killed me at least 3 times before I destroyed them thanks to the game’s unlimited continues. I’m pretty sure the second boss was a pacifist because he just stood there as I pounded his face in without mercy. But that third boss was a show stopper. Literally.
In case you can’t tell, I have pretty mixed emotions about Let’s Get Fiscal. I think I really want to like it more than I ultimately do. It’s disappointing that the developer came so far and clearly put the time in to try and create a quality product, but just fell a bit short. With a few more months in the cooker and with some refinements to the actual combat, Let’s Get Fiscal could have been really special. Sadly, it’ just a below average brawler with an incredibly wacky story. Hopefully some updates can help salvage this one, and if you’re a fan of terribly amazing stories, check out the demo, but this is a rough one to recommend buying.
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Let’s Get Fiscal was purchased for 80 MS Points ($1). A free download is available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
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