
Game Details
- Publisher: Saber Interactive
- Developer: Big Deez
- ESRB Rating: “T” for Teen
- Genre: Beat-Em-Up
- Pros: Shaq career references
- Cons: Awful humor; thoroughly mediocre gameplay
- MSRP: $20 digital, $30 physical
If you can somehow overlook the racism and awful humor, the
gameplay in Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn doesn’t have much to offer. It is an
extremely simple side scrolling beat-em-up where you punch and kick your way
through waves of braindead enemies. Nothing in the gameplay is particularly bad
– lots of special moves when you build up normal combos, some imaginative boss
fights, solid enough controls – but it is mind-numingly, soul-crushingly
boring. It just isn’t any fun to play.
One highlight, however, is that characters and promotional
deals from Shaq’s past play a role in the game – you can transform into his Big
Diesel and Shaqtus characters, for example, and Icy Hot muscle relief serves as
health pick ups. I like this self-deprecating, self-referential humor because
Shaq is, let’s be honest, a big doofy lovable idiot (I mean that in a nice
way), so paying homage to his big doofy career outside of basketball was a good
move. Too bad the rest of the game wasn’t as well thought out.
The presentation is okay-ish. The visuals are bright and
colorful, but the environments are pretty bland and the characters are pretty
low poly and not very detailed. The sound is interesting with a new original
rap from Shaq himself, and Shaq did a ton of voice work for the game and he’s
clearly super excited and into it, which is kind of infectious.
All in all, Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn just isn’t a very good
game. It isn’t awful, but with its thoroughly mediocre gameplay and lackluster
presentation there just isn’t much to keep you interested unless you’re just a
wild raving Shaq fan. The offensive humor also can’t be ignored and has no
place in 2018. Skip it.