Bears In Space

Bears in Space feels like a game that was lifted directly from the early 2000’s, remastered and then released today, and I mean that in the best possible way. With the recent deluge of fantastic retro-flavoured FPS games, I think it’s high time for a kitschy comedy 3D boomer (millennial?) shooter renaissance. Though I’m sure it’s not for everyone, Broadside Games have delivered a delightfully ridiculous debut title and if you’re a 90s gamer kid I urge you to check it out.

Bears in Space is a Saturday Morning Cartoon experience in the guise of a twitch FPS. Its absurdity, tight shooting and charm easily paper over the game's weaker elements making it a solid game to play in between bigger and deeper releases

Bears in Space is an old school shooter game that makes you lough, challenges you and gets you involved in an absurd world that's absolutely worth exploring.

Despite appearances, Bears In Space is an FPS that knows what it's doing. Bullet hell and platforming, weapons to upgrade and secrets to find, madness galore, infernal boss fights and gameplay deviations, there really is a bit of everything in this bizarre Australian title which may not be perfect, but where it is written that a video game necessarly have to be one to be fun?

Broadside Games’ Bears In Space is an anomaly in the sense that it is like many things, but there is really nothing that is truly like it. As a first-person shooter, it is a chimera that gleefully gobbles up facets of so many other classic games – not just shooters – to create a girthy gameplay experience that can change at a moment’s notice to deliver something completely out of leftfield without giving the player mechanical whiplash. Yes, a moment ago you were casually shooting robots – but this is the Virtua Cop-esque shooting section. And a little later we will do the fishing minigame, okay? On paper it would read like the scribblings of a madman, but in execution it all ties together beautifully into a medley of frenetic fun.

A fun, light-hearted entry into the now packed Boomer Shooter genre that does enough different to stand out from the pack. Its addition of bullet-hell style mechanics and use of comedy make this one worth a look.

The gameplay is hectic, the boss battles are challenging, and the mini-games are enjoyable and allow for some respite in an enjoyable game that pokes fun at itself and other games of the genre.

Bears in Space and its colourful visuals, weird gags and minigames, as well as its retro sci-fi setting, goes in a direction similar to High on Life. However, the jokes are a little more on the family friendly side. There's no blood, you only spill the oil of hordes of robots. The game options allow you to tweak everything from incoming and outgoing damage to aim assist settings to the amount of challenge you want to put up with in platforming sections. This makes the game more accessible to younger and less experienced space adventurers. With a good 15 hours of play time, Bears in Space can feel almost a little too long.