Great movement ideas presented in the format of something like a small thesis statement. More large companies should release weird little ideas and experiments like this. This feels only part-way baked, really just mixed and not yet put in the oven. That's what makes it interesting.
A fun little tech demo that could easily be expanded into a full game like Portal. However the control is a bit wonky and the animation needs work. But again it's solid proof of concept and hey, it's free, all you lose is time.
I really like the way traversal is handled. Tis could easily work as a full game, and I genuinely adore the freedom the game gives you in terms of traversal, thanks to the Boomerang. Like, I legit skipped level 2 because I just went off the beaten path.
Fun platformer, if a bit short. The concept is neat, and traversal is fun. What little story it had was intriguing. However, the levels are so open-ended that it's easy to skip the small "challenges" you're intended to do.
I see speedrun potential in this game
a ideia é maneira, mas literalmente acaba quando começa, durou 20 minutinhos só e os controles não são muito precisos, pelo menos é de graça
Would love to see this turned into a full game. Lots of potential
Boomeroad is a demo developed as part of Bandai Namco's training program. While it doesn't deliver much, its core concept could be really enjoyable, if fully developed.
The core issue I have is the movement speed, it's super slow, they even give you ability to walk by pressing shift, which is completely useless Instead of allowing you to sprint. This also affects jumping where there is almost never a reason to jump, as you cant really jump far.
Because of this, you will mainly be using rails that you spawn, on which you can grind, which is cool, but the game doesn't give you full control over the rails, and it feels little bit janky.
I could see the full release as a blend between Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Neon White. I am not sure if I recommend it, its a cool premise but there isn't really much to it.
If they address these 2 issues a full release could be really good though. And overall we definitely need more movement games like this.
The core issue I have is the movement speed, it's super slow, they even give you ability to walk by pressing shift, which is completely useless Instead of allowing you to sprint. This also affects jumping where there is almost never a reason to jump, as you cant really jump far.
Because of this, you will mainly be using rails that you spawn, on which you can grind, which is cool, but the game doesn't give you full control over the rails, and it feels little bit janky.
I could see the full release as a blend between Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Neon White. I am not sure if I recommend it, its a cool premise but there isn't really much to it.
If they address these 2 issues a full release could be really good though. And overall we definitely need more movement games like this.
Boomeroad feels like a tech demo. A lot of neat mechanics that simply don't go anywhere, and a story that feels largely non-existent. The gameplay at its core is a pretty neat idea though, and while I don't think they'll ever go back to it, this could potentially fuel a much longer, and ultimately better, game.
6/10
Game #20 of 2024, March 27th
6/10
Game #20 of 2024, March 27th
This is a really unique and fun concept! It feels very satisfying to create and use a road, especially in the air, but the action of creating itself is a little frustrating.
The straight path goes back and forth from short to long before curving, but I wish there was an indicator that showed the maximum and minimum length so I could understand how soon the road curves.
I also wish the same button to throw the boomerang was the same as prepping it, kind of like Link's hook shot in the Ocarina of Time. I kept getting confused until I remember it's another button.
I like the character design. It's not easy to create an interesting premise for a really small game like this, so it's fine to prioritize the gameplay.
The straight path goes back and forth from short to long before curving, but I wish there was an indicator that showed the maximum and minimum length so I could understand how soon the road curves.
I also wish the same button to throw the boomerang was the same as prepping it, kind of like Link's hook shot in the Ocarina of Time. I kept getting confused until I remember it's another button.
I like the character design. It's not easy to create an interesting premise for a really small game like this, so it's fine to prioritize the gameplay.
O jogo tem uma ideia interessante mas que é executada de uma meneira bem ruim. O jogo parece ser uma demo, então adoraria ver essa ideia ser expandida e mais refinada.
4/10
4/10
An intruiging tech demo that I think could be fleshed out into something really great. The movement feels really good, though I do think the trail-making of the boomerang needs to be a little more detailed & versatile to make this into a more challenging full game. I did like how open-ended the levels were which could give way to a really fun secret-hunting full game, and the lack of a damage system let me take more risks looking around. Art style is a little too plain (even that feels like a demo), but a kind of clean "Genshin Impact meets Y2K" look could be spiced up a little bit. Would love to see this one built out a little more.
A free cute little proof of concept for a movement based speed platformer. My only complaints are the movement needs to be a bit refined and sped up, and there needs to be more content past 2 levels. I don't need much story at all, but I would like maybe 2 or 3 more levels to explore and rail grind around in. All in all, it's fine.
The gameplay admittedly doesn't take full advantage of its "draw your own rail to grind on" conceit - you don't actually have that much control over the boomerang's trajectory, so in practice, you're mainly either using it as a super jump or to flip switches - but for a free game that takes maybe half an hour to complete, it's fun enough.
El concepto es muy interesante, pero no puedo darle más nota a algo tan corto y falto de pulir. Eso sí, estos nuevos desarrolladores de Bandai Namco han tenido una buena idea, ojalá la desarrollen y creen un juego completo y con más presupuesto.
A great proof of concept short game from Bandai Namco's newbie employees, and actively makes me want for this concept to be expanded into a full title in future. Movement feels fun and dynamic, it is thrilling to cross enormous chasms with ease, and the general vibe and design of the world is interesting. Really encourage people to give the game a try; it's free and gives you a unique experience with a pretty great level of polish despite its obviously limited production timeline.
Bandai-Namco released Boomeroad worldwide two days ago as part of a suite of simple and experimental games to train new recruits from their indie developer Gyaar Studio. The concept here combines a standard 3D platformer with boomerang throwing that creates grindable rails that can be chained for extended mid-air traversal. You refresh your energy gauge by passing through rings and landing on platforms, and you can increase the gauge's capacity by collecting optional artifacts. Unfortunately, the gameplay is undercooked. You can't adjust the shape of the boomerang's arc besides flattening the upward curve a little, there's very few interactable objects (switches and fans) that force the player to throw the boomerang at them for activation, and you can in fact avoid most of these elements entirely by throwing two chained boomerang arcs to climb up and walk on top of the level's walls, skipping entire sections of the level while never running out of gauge. While I thought speedrun mode would mitigate most of these shortcomings, I don't find the movement satisfying enough because there's fairly little momentum conserved upon jumping off of rails for speeding up, so the movement itself lacks weightiness and route planning isn't very interesting when you're incentivized to just follow the set path of rings for time bonuses. I suppose there's only so much I can complain about a free game nevertheless, and although I don't see Gyaar Studio returning to this, I do think they've got a solid concept on their hands that could prove to be an interesting 3D puzzle-platformer if thoroughly fleshed out with more committal movement and tighter level design.