Wii

Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy

It's understandable that not every gamer wants to make games themselves, but even if you're just a shooter fan and not a creator, you should still give Blast Works a chance. The core game is cute and clever -- probably not a tide-changer, but it's definitely unique enough to be worth something within its genre (it's an awesome sequel to Tumiki Fighters, at any rate). And if you've got the desire to design games (and share them with the world via Blast Works' included online tools), the editor will teach you some basic fundamentals. It may not make you that indie darling, but it may well inspire you, which is the biggest step.

The concept already makes Blast Works a nifty game, but the best reason to pick up is the editor feature: You can create your own levels, ships and enemies and tweak practically every variable associated with them. It's simple enough that anyone familiar with PC image editors can understand it, yet deep enough to allow for unique creations. And with built-in online trading, you have a promising venue for both young and old wannabe game creators.

If there’s anything Blast Works doesn’t get right, it’s… You know, there isn’t much of anything it didn’t get right. I could fault it for being short, but all space shooters are short. I could fault it for being challenging (and frustrating on some of the harder difficulty settings), but all space shooters are like that. Even so, Blast Works isn’t cheap. It won’t kick you while you’re down. That doesn’t mean you won’t scream a few obscenities while playing – fans of The 40-Year-Old Virgin might feel the need to shout, “Kelly Clarkson!” a few times. But that comes with the territory, and this is territory that shouldn’t go unexplored.

There you have it. In one fell swoop, Majesco and Budcat Creations have delivered reliable content sharing and DLC for the Wii. The web-based workaround certainly wouldn't fit with most other gamers, but it works very well here. Of course, all of this would be for nothing were it not for the fact that the core game you can create and share content for is a highly entertaining, script-flipping shooter. Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy won't appeal to every gamer, but the inventive gameplay and limitless potential for expansion make it a must-buy for those who like their retro gaming with a twist.

I wish for more level variety in the main campaign, but fortunately a robust level creator and groundbreaking (for the Wii at least) stage downloading hub allows you to feed off interesting content created by more hardcore players.

BlastWorks isn't visually impressive, and I wish the editors were just a little easier to use. All this user-generated content might cause a storage problem, as well, as after messing around with the editors for just a short time I had already used 30 percent of my storage space. But overall, this is a great value that provides almost limitless replayability. If you consider yourself a shooter fan you should definitely check it out, but I also recommend it to gamers eager to unleash their creativity and design their own BlastWorks.

However, I'm pretty addicted to Blast Works, and this addiction might never end due to the amazing level editor and online community functions, which gives players the ability to create anything and everything in the game and share them for free online. All in all, it's an excellent entry in a criminally overlooked genre.

Blast Works, is, on many levels, quite an achievement. The game is one part shooter, one part game creator and one part trading station; and all three of these components function well. The shooter is unique and offers engaging co-op play, the editing tool is deep, and the trade depot has a large variety of free downloadable content. Budcat Creations deserves praise for creating a game hat not only offers a lot to do, but creates a game designed -- surprisingly -- with the hardcore gamer in mind.

Conceptually, Blast Works is very "gaming 2.0," and is similar to what one might expect from LittleBigPlanet later this year in terms of customization and content sharing. Although the initial collection of levels in the main campaign can grow stale rather quickly, the potentially endless stream of user-created content and the unique and entertaining gameplay make Blast Works a very worthwhile addition to any gaming library.

Blast Works is a game which will appeal to lovers of old fashioned 2d shooters. The graphics are not revolutionary by any means, the editor is complex to use and it is easy to run out of storage space. All in all however the game provides great playability and is unique in relation to the ship modification system.

Original, délirant et sacrément fun, Blast Works est un shoot'em up qui mérite le détour pour peu que vous ne soyez pas allergique à son style rétro. On regrette tout de même que, les boss mis à part, le challenge se résume trop souvent à essayer de distinguer quelque chose dans le chaos ambiant. De même, l'éditeur de niveaux nous a enthousiasmés par ses possibilités mais déçus par son manque d'accessibilité. Au final, le titre constitue tout de même une bonne pioche pour les amateurs d'un genre qui brille par sa rareté sur Wii.

Some players will love building their own stages in spite of the hefty time investment required. The tools are definitely here to create some memorable zones. Other folks will quickly tire of the process and will prefer to play the campaign mode. However, the flaws there mean that the experience grows tiresome ahead of its time and then such gamers are left with a game that showed a whole lot of promise but for the most part didn't quite live up to any of it. Blast Works is something special for the right individuals, but for the rest of us it's disappointingly average.

I was originally hyped for Blast Works, but I ended up disappointed. Replayability is hampered by the Wii’s online capabilities. I logged in three times to download or share content, but there was nothing available. This is a big problem, since building a stage or a ship from scratch is so time-consuming; a player who takes the time to learn to use the game editor and creates original content is likely to only do it once. At the end of the day, Blast Works is a great idea, and one game makers should further develop, but it’s not yet diverse enough warrant owning it.

Despite its novel premise, the visuals are terribly bland. Not only does the game toss the same old enemies at you over and over again, but the landscapes are incredibly uninspired - almost barren. Apparently the developers put more effort into the editors that let you design your own ships and stages, but I really don't see the point. Hollow and unfulfilling, BlastWorks is less of a blast and more of a bust.