PS2 Game Review: The Bouncer

The Bouncer was one of the earliest Playstation 2 titles in development. It was demonstrated during the unveiling of the system and has been in development for almost a year since. Co-developed by Square and Dream Factory, makers of the underrated Tobal and Ergheiz, The Bouncer is a visual feast with good, old-fashioned gameplay beneath its shiny surface.
Bouncer plays similar to Dream Factory's previous games, Tobal and Ergheiz. Its presentation however, is comparable to Final Fight, Double Dragon and Streets of Rage. During the game's Story mode, you select from three characters: Sion, Kou and Volt, three bouncers from a bar called Fate. A group of mysterious men have kidnapped the bar's star girl, Dominique. The three bouncers must pursue the men to rescue her and find out why they kidnapped Dominique. After viewing cutscenes, you select one of the bouncers to fight in the next battle. When you defeat all of the enemies in a fight, the game proceeds to the next cutscene. The cinematic approach to The Bouncer helps to break up the monotony commonly associated with brawling games, that is, slowly plodding along while fighting endless swarms of enemies and bosses until the end. The Bouncer can be completed in about two hours, but it has great replay value. You must play the game several times in order to unlock secret characters and to buy special moves with Bouncer Points. The game also has branching story paths and different endings depending on your actions. Multiplayer is included, although regrettably it is not for the Story mode. Up to four players can join in fun, large, brawling bouts in The Bouncer's VS mode. There is also a Survival mode where you attempt to defeat as many enemies as possible while keeping your character conscious. Unfortunately, interactive backgrounds were removed from the game halfway through development. Early movies of the game showed characters smashing each other with tables and chairs and knocking each other off of balconies, but these features are nowhere to be found in the final build of the game. It is unknown why Square left out these features, because they would have been welcome additions.

The graphics in Bouncer are stunning. They are arguably the most impressive graphics in any game to date. The character models are composed of thousands of polygons each, with smooth curves and no blocky sides or edges. Animations are detailed to the point where individual hair strands, clothing and chains move and sway independently. Vivid emotions are expressed on characters' faces. Square has employed the use of graphical filters such as motion blur and depth of field blur, giving the game a very cinematic feel. The in-game graphics look almost as good as the pre-rendered movies found in most Squaresoft titles. If you want to demonstrate the power of your PS2, The Bouncer is an excellent showpiece.

The Bouncer has also revolutionized the audio for games: it is the first game to use Dolby Digital 5.1 in its movie sequences. Standard gameplay audio is in Dolby Surround, but it is still crisp and clear. Punches, kicks, explosions and other sound effects suit the game well. English voice acting for the most part is good, although it gets slightly cheesy at times. It is no Metal Gear Solid, but it is not as bad as the terrible English dialogue in Resident Evil. Purists can select Japanese dialogue with English subtitles if they wish.

One thing must be clear: The Bouncer is no Final Fantasy caliber 40 hour epic. It is a cinematic brawling game. It is short, but very enjoyable and replayable. It is fun to play it with friends in the VS mode as well. Although The Bouncer did not meet the expectations that were set for it, it is a good fighting game with revolutionary audio and visual presentations.

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