Note: The following is a second opinion on the title Like a Boss. Our first review gave it a 5 out of 10, but another staff member came away with different impressions. We offer both to help you make an informed decision on this title. For our earlier review, please click here.
Everyone loves a good villain – especially when they get the chance to play them! To unleash your fury upon a world of foolish peons who shall bow to your will!
Or, wait, is that just me? Oh, you want in too? Well then, you’re in luck! Like a Boss is a hilarious twist on traditional MMO conventions, letting you step into the shoes of an epic raid boss who is tired of taking punches from all those pesky human players and their “leet skillz”.
While you start early on as an end raid boss – not unlike a certain Lich King – you soon get the chance to craft your own malevolent menace to maim malcontents. You choose from a variety of races and three starting classes, before diving into battle in an action-RPG across the pixelated, low-poly landscapes of a fictional fantasy MMO.
This design decision is brilliant two-fold: On one hand, the traditional roles of players in battle (tank, DPS, ranger, support) all make for a perfect set of enemies to fight. Better yet, Like a Boss layers itself in all sorts of MMO-themed jokes and settings to help immerse you by ironically winking to you about the absurdity of it all.
It’s like if Dungeon Keeper and Ben “Yahtzee” Crowshaw’s Mogworld came together and had a snarky, hero-smashing baby.
Combat is a simple tap and drag affair, including an optional soft auto-attack feature that takes control whenever you aren’t giving input. The auto-attack also has you home in on enemies you might not have noticed, ensuring you clear levels efficiently, but never automatically uses your powers.
As a result of the slick, easy to use to controls and helpful features, fighting is a breeze. The game’s opening hints to more involved tactics and planning, but just starting out, your epic struggle won’t be with meddlesome heroes but instead a cadre of menus that ambush you at every turn.
To say that Like a Boss wants you to keep playing is an understatement. On top of traditional achievements and daily rewards, there’s a crafting system, the ability to send minions to revisit zones you’ve cleared for extra loot, and more, as you play through. Within an hour of playing, I experienced just as many tutorials on how to navigate menus as I did levels for bashing heroes, and while the flavor text certainly inspires a few chuckles, it leads the experience to feel more than a little dense.
It’s not that we haven’t seen these concepts before, or that the designers have the wrong idea about how to layer their game, but its pacing grinds the fun to a halt when you should be getting a feel for what makes the game great. This is particularly disappointing since Like a Boss plays with some interesting ideas, like that instead of countless piles of useless loot, you earn resources and crafting materials to create new items that fit your playstyle, like a more directed version of Firefall‘s progression system. I just can’t help but feel this great idea could have been presented a little more smoothly.
If you can get past the obtuse handholding, the only other major gripes I had with Like a Boss was how most missions are two to three minutes long at best, and that the meta-joke of breaking the 4th wall of an MMO isn’t taken further. There’s a lot that could be explored with this concept besides amusing minions and stomping players complaining in internet speak. With games like Downgeon Quest tapping into a similar vein of comedic fantasy roleplaying, it’s a shame we’ve yet to see one of these settings taken to the fullest extent.
Visually, Like a Boss is pretty good, but the voxel look is one many players will be accustomed to by now thanks to titles like Slayaway Camp and Minecraft. By contrast, the soundtrack is wonderfully charming, carrying the same whimsical yet menacing air of the story it accompanies, and heightens the action. The overall sound design is just as good, with a satisfying woosh and clang to the sword and sorcery battles.
As far as microtransactions go, you can earn premium currency by consistently logging in, with extremely generous rewards for those that bother to sign in consistently for a month. You can also double your rewards for each mission by watching an ad at the end. You can really feel the developers conveying that they’d gladly not charge an arm and a leg by offering alternative means to stay competitive in the game. The only element here that may turn players off is that there is an energy system, although it wasn’t too much of a bother during my time playing.
On a whole, Like a Boss is a great concept executed decently. It doesn’t break the mold in any regard, but it’s still worth your time if you need a new action-RPG to scratch that lootfest itch. There’s regular events and content updates rolling out, in addition to online co-op. As the old saying goes, “it feels good to be bad”!
[review pros=”Become a villainous overlord with ease and cackle at the humor.” cons=”A tedious number of menus to delve through to experience the depth Like a Boss has to offer. Also, an energy system.” score=8]
[appbox appstore id1055347265]
[appbox googleplay id=com.versusevil.likeaboss]
