I know what you’re thinking… a game review for something on Facebook? YES! A game review for something on Facebook! Let me assure you, it will all make sense once you finish reading this review.
Today Grab announced that their latest game, ManStruggle, is available on Facebook. I know that at first glance the title ManStruggle might make you think of some horribly naughty things, but get your minds out of the gutter people. The title of the game is actually spot on.
ManStruggle is a throw back to the fun 8-bit era in terms of graphics, and the controls… well, there are no controls. You just button mash the A on your keyboard. While to some of you it sounds rather boring, I’m sure there are many Mortal Kombat fans that loved the “Test Your Might” challenge. This is just like that, except the goal is to wrestle an opponent down to the ground.
I gave ManStruggle a go, because I was actually really interested in it, and I can see it’s appeal. Since none of my friends are playing ManStruggle yet, I couldn’t participate in the ‘Struggle VS. Friend Now” or ‘Struggle VS. Friend In Person” game modes, but that’s OK. While there was the ‘Struggle Roulette’ available, I chose to try ‘Arcade Mode VS. CPU’ instead. Before starting, I made sure to customize my man, giving him blonder hair and some cute green Speedo-y bottoms. Once I finished up with that, I was ready to kick some ass and drop fools.
Remember how I said that all you have to do is button mash the A key? Press that key like your life depends on it. Your player is standing in a lock with another dude, and once the countdown finishes and hits zero, you need to keep tapping the A until either you fall in failure, or the opponent drops making you victorious. A word of advice: once you finish the first battle, don’t think the game is over because you will keep going against guys in random locations until you either quit or lose. I first dropped my guard until I saw another countdown starting and I had to scramble to start trying to break my keyboard for a second time.
I believe I made it through 7 rounds before I finally lost, and like most games that progress like this, each round does get harder. The guys won’t fall down as easily, and you REALLY have to try to take them out. There was one round where I kept smacking that poor A for almost 30 straight seconds. It was crazy. Also, the music for this was really nice and it was mainly due to the fact that Vincent Diamante, the composer for the hit PSN game Flower, was the one behind it all. He really managed to capture the classic NES feel, and it complimented the graphics perfectly.
While I wouldn’t recommend ManStruggle for gamers who want something with a story, because there clearly isn’t one, I would recommend this for the old-school gamers who loved things like Punch-Out, or for those who want to beat the crap out of their friends on Facebook. Come to think of it, there are a few people on my friends list who I’d love to drop like a sack of potatoes, but we won’t get in to that. This is also something I can see as being an excellent stress reliever, so I imagine that many Facebook users will be going through keyboards left and right.
If you have a Facebook account, check out ManStruggle here, and be sure to click on over to Grab’s official website for more fun games!
