LogFAQs > #962017848

16. Boomerang X

Movement-based shooting is a subgenre of first-person shooters I have been constantly telling myself I would eventually go down the rabbit hole of while proceeding to only slightly dip my toes into its abyss. Last years Doom Eternal and 2016s Doom gave me a strong indication that I really enjoy shooting things while moving. In fact, the less you move while shooting things, the less fun actually shooting things is. As a certified American citizen living within the center of the rust belt, aka literally Indiana, I am required to love destroying things with guns, just as my country destroyed my lifestyle with money. However, I have never fired a true, physical gun before, not because I have any issue with responsible use of a gun, but because guns are very loud and annoying in real life. Virtual guns are loud but sound quite cool. Perhaps my inability to destroy animals or bottles or human beings or whatever else the typical angry white male tends to use a gun for means I do not belong where I currently am. Perhaps I should move to a place like Connecticut to do my virtual gunslinging. Until that point, I will continue to partake in playing extremely violent video games where I destroy various beings, sometimes for no true purpose. As I do this, I will continue to pretend that living in Indiana is not a complete waste of my time.

Boomerang X is a first-person shooter, mechanically speaking, though not aesthetically. You use a bladed boomerang to destroy things in Boomerang X. The boomerang is probably the lamest ranged weapon of all time, yet adding blades to it makes it very cool. You throw your boomerang at black sludge enemies and that is the entire video game. But the way you throw and catch your bladed boomerang is what creates the depth of Boomerang X. If you want to stand still and simply throw your bladed boomerang to destroy a sludge monster, then catch it so that you can throw it again, you are absolutely allowed to do this. However, you will be fucking lame if you do.One of the core mechanics of Boomerang X is the ability to launch yourself toward wherever you threw your bladed boomerang. Using this ability allows you to juggle your body in the air as if you were a majestic falcon or eagle or bat. The more things you murder with your bladed boomerang, the stronger you become, as new abilities for murdering are presented to you based on how good you are at killing.

Boomerang X is not the most polished game. It takes about two hours to beat, and less if you arent bad at it. In that two hours you are presented a handful of arenas where the goal is to murder some amount of specific sludge monsters. Most of these arenas are pretty simple ways for you to practice your flight, until the final two levels which hate you. I spent about half of my playthrough in the final two sections, one of which is the final boss, which adds the unseen, to this point, challenge of taking damage from the walls of a relatively tiny arena. Because of how constricted the campaign of Boomerang X feels, and how little is done outside of direct combat, it feels more like a tech demo for a much larger project. I am imagining an adventure with the scope of a Doom reboot or a Half-Life using the mechanical concepts put forth in Boomerang X and this brain is picturing something glorious. As a demo, Boomerang X is a phenomenal showcase. As a video game I paid money for, Boomerang X is solid but messy.

Boomerang X Score: 4/6