Broforce is one heck of an action game with a title that I must admit annoys me. “Bro” this and “bro” that seems incredibly juvenile but, hey, many people apparently find it amusing. Broforce takes bro-isms to the extreme by letting players control a ton of action movie heroes. As the vast majority of Hollywood action blockbusters star incredibly muscular men, your cast of playable characters is 100% bro. You’ll likely recognize the likes of Rambo, Blade, The Terminator, Indiana Jones, Judge Dredd, and many others. Their pixelated appearances are quite cute.

Players run through 2D levels filled with enemies popping up everywhere. Sometimes these are just puny soldiers and other times they’re gigantic machine gun-wielding men or even machines. Getting hit once kills you so don’t get hit! On every stage there are cages that house a hero. By saving them you obtain an extra life and immediately become that character. Therein lies one of the biggest problems I currently have with the game. You can’t see who the character is before you activate them.

This wouldn’t be a big deal if every Broforce character were equally awesome. Unfortunately, some are really annoying to use. It’s rarely the case that most players will become accustomed to every character on a fighting roster and it’s much the same in this action game. Extra lives are great but not when you waste one thanks to a poor character choice.

Despite the lovely explosion-filled pixel graphics, excellent music, and easy to grasp gameplay, Broforce is lacking a real reason to keep playing. In either single player or online modes stages still tend to play out the same way. It just feels like some integral component that incites copious replays still isn’t there. Thankfully this is just the Early Access version. Given more time Broforce may be worth investing in once it launches.