Are you looking for an action-packed mobile game full of fun characters and battle modes? Then Brawl Stars might be the perfect game for you. Brawl Stars is an online real-time strategy that is fun for the casual player or veterans of battle royale games. The game features many modes that all have their own objectives as you battle it out to be the last one standing.
Brawl Stars is a free-to-play multiplayer arena game that is both fast-paced and filled with action. It was developed by Supercells and globally released in 2018. It is available on both iOS and Android.
Pick a Brawler
Every online arena game needs its own cast of characters that makes playing the game exciting. Brawl Stars features over 30 characters that you can unlock and play as. They all have different playstyles that are good and bad at different things. For example, Dynamike is capable of throwing long-range bombs at the enemy. He is best played from a long distance and is weak against close range combat. Some Brawlers are best fitted as damage dealers, while others serve as support and can heal the team.
Each character comes with their own Attack that you can adjust and aim at an enemy or object. Using up an Attack will cause your attack bar to go down, and you will have to wait for it to reload if you run out of attacks. The characters all have different ranges in their attacks, reload speed, and stats. No two brawlers will have the same skillset, so you will need to master a variety of styles.
As you attack and damage your enemies, your Brawler will charge up their Super Ability and unleash a special attack on your opponents. One of my favorite Super Ability is Rico’s Trick Shot. This ability fires bouncing bullets in any direction and can bounce off walls and corners.
You can level each brawler by collecting Power Points for that specific Brawler. Power Points are mainly earned through the Brawl Boxes, but you can also buy them with coins at the shop. Leveling them up will increase their health and damage. Once you reach level 7 with your Brawler, they will unlock their gadget slot. Each Brawler has their own custom gadget that will give you an advantage in battle. By fully maxing out a character to level 10, you are able to unlock their Star Power, which is another ability that you can equip on your Brawler.
Brawl Boxes are the main way you can earn new brawlers, coins, gadgets, Star Powers, and more! A regular Brawl Box will allow you to receive up to 3 random items and a Big Box will give you up to 4 items. The biggest box, a Mega Box, will give you up to 6 items. The items are completely random and based on chance, but the amount rewarded will vary depending on the box type.
Earning New Brawlers
At the beginning of the game, you will automatically unlock Shelly. You can unlock new characters through earning Trophies, opening up Brawl Boxes, or from the shop. Each Brawler is sorted into different rarities ranging from Common to Legendary. There is also the Chromatic class that is made up of characters released in the season pass and later released to the F2P players. The higher the rarity, the harder they are to obtain from the Brawl Boxes.
Pick a Mode
There are many events that you can pick from that range from single-player like Solo Showdown or team-based games like Brawl Ball. Each game mode has its own separate map and objectives. There are also special events that occur on the weekend or ranked competition games. Each game also goes by fairly quickly and will usually take less than 3 minutes to complete a match. This quick gameplay allows you to causally play it on the go or if you have a couple of minutes of free time every day.
One of my favorite game modes in Brawl Star is Gem Grab, where your team is required to collect 10 gems. Each team will have to duke it out and try to collect 10 gems before the timer runs out and avoid getting ambushed by the other team and get your gems stolen.
Another game mode is showdown which is split into Solo and Duo. In both Solo and Duo Showdown, you must work alone or with a partner to be the last one standing. As the game processes, a toxic fog will begin to expand within the arena, forcing players to get closer together. You must outsmart the other players and be the last one standing.
You can create your own team, but the game will also match you with random people to play with as well. The success of random matching does vary, as it is hard to communicate effectively with random people. I’d suggest building up a team with people you trust, especially for some of the rank matches or events.
Battle it Out
Once you picked a Brawler and a game mode, it is time to battle it out and become the last Brawler standing. Each mode has its own objective to win. By winning battles or ranking high in a match with your Brawler, you are able to earn Trophy Points. The amount of Trophy Points a Brawler has can also be lost by losing a match.
What I Liked
Brawl Star combines fast-paced action and co-op play, allowing up to 2 of your friends to join your team. Each mode has its own objective and brings a fresh take on the shooter genre. The game is constantly being updated with new characters and modes, so there is a ton of content for players to play through. The game is also generous with its rewards, as you do not have to spend any money to unlock new Brawlers. New Brawlers can be easily obtained with money, but F2P players are able to unlock them as well through the Brawl Boxes. Free-to-Play players will struggle with obtaining gems to unlock the rarer items or even coins to upgrade your Brawlers. However, with time and effort, it is not hard to unlock the Brawlers. Each match also doesn’t take very long and you will also receive daily missions that you can complete.
What I Didn’t Like
When randomly matched with other players, it is hard to communicate with one another. The game does allow you to send emojis during a match, but there is no effective way to communicate with your teammate. The matching of the games could also be refined. When I unlock a new Brawler and go in a match with them, I would often be paired with other Brawlers that have a higher level them me. The game matches through the amount of Trophy Points a Brawler has, which doesn’t take into account the amount of Star Points the player has collected for that Brawler. It becomes increasingly difficult to face off against opponents with more health and will deal more damage than you.
Conclusion
Brawl Stars is a game where you must face off against other players in a real-time battle royale. You must be quick on your feet as one mistake might cause you the entire game. The Brawlers you can play as are truly unique and all have different skill sets for you to try out. Some Brawlers are better than others, but they all have their weaknesses and strengths. The developers are also working on new updates for the game and are constantly working on new characters and game modes for the players. The game is very easy to get into, as the controls and modes aren’t hard to understand.
Gameplay 4.5/5
The gameplay in Brawl Stars requires you to battle it out with other players. It requires strategy and coordination with your teammates that don’t always work out with random pairing. Each game mode offers something new and has different requirements to win the match. Each Brawler also has their own special set of skills and weaknesses that you must master. You are able to unlock new characters by winning Trophy Points, but a majority of the other Brawlers are locked behind a loot box system and will require luck to obtain.
Enjoyability 4/5
Since this is a battle royale game, Brawl Stars requires you to outperform other players to win the match. Overall it is enjoyable as each match you get the chance to show off your skills. However, there are times where you will become frustrated with your teammates because of a lack of communication or they are constantly getting bullied by the other team. Losing a match means you lose Trophy Points, and the higher amounts of Trophy Points you have on a Brawler means that you will be matched with more skilled players. Once you reach around 500 Trophy Points on a Brawler, you will be matched with more tough opponents and will have a high chance of losing a lot of points if you are not careful.
F2P Friendly 4/5
The game gives you plenty of rewards in the season pass and does not require you to spent any money to unlock characters. However, if you truly want a new character, you are required to used Gems, the game’s premium currency, to unlock them. F2P players will have to wait until they are lucky enough to unlock the new characters in the Brawl Boxes they obtain. As a F2P player, you will also find yourself struggling with obtaining enough coins to level up your Brawlers. It might take over 3000 coins to fully level up one character to level 10.
Score: 4.2/5
*All photos and images of gameplay belong to their respective owners
The Informal Gamer 