Many people claim that our bodies are a temple. What happens when that temple is filled with angry micro-organisms intent on making us sick? Well, that’s where the gameplay of Plasma Puncher comes in! Plasma Puncher is a new action brawler with a cellular focus; you are the last white blood cell charged with defending against an army of microbes bent on invading the bloodstream!
Plasma Puncher reminds me immediately of the film Osmosis Jones, but only in the setting and overall idea. Tomatotrap Games has created a colorful action game that gives you full control over a white blood cell that fights microbes using his fists. Taking down amoeba one punch at a time is hard work, but thankfully there are power-ups and upgrades to make things easier. Instead of progressing from level to level, punching amoebas and protecting the body from viruses, the goal of Plasma Puncher is to destroy the Spherical arena you are walking on. By defeating waves of enemies you can charge your power bar, allowing you to utilize a special attack to damage the surface. Damaging the surface depletes the Mother Microbe’s overall health. Once you deplete its health, you can enter into it, fighting the core and defeating the Mother Microbe once and for all.
Killing enemies allows you to collect “Bluish” particles, which charges your power bar. However, killing enemies also releases golden particles, which are used to purchase upgrades for your character. As you progress through waves, you can also acquire cosmetic hats that change the way your White Blood Cell looks. Combat is pretty fluid but is very challenging as you have no idea what you will face from wave to wave, requiring a bit of trial and error.
Plasma Puncher is a fun timewaster, but it is fairly repetitive. It has multiple difficulty levels for people who find themselves eager for a challenge. As you progress you also can unlock a Hardcore and Time Trial to push your limits even further. There honestly isn’t much else to the overall mechanics of Plasma Puncher, but it works as a fun waste of time. There are plenty of achievements to go after if you find yourself interested in getting them all, and the main game is somewhat fun.
The problem that Plasma Puncher runs into is that it’s most fun mechanics are power-ups and late game combat. The problem with that is, the Power-ups are few and far between (unless you spend valuable golden particles on them, thereby eliminating the ability to get permanent upgrades) and the enemies can be unfair in the way they move and attack. Some attacks are practically unavoidable, while some enemies can fly out of your reach, making it incredibly frustrating. There were many times that I played through an entire wave, only to take unfair damage from the last (or second to last) enemy and have to start the wave all over again.
Plasma Puncher seems like a flash game that was sold on the Steam Store. It is fun for a little while, but there’s not enough substance to it to really set it apart from the other games in the genre. I like it, and there are other people who will too, but it doesn’t have what it needs to make it great. There is no real storyline, no progression beyond the upgrades, and no change in scenery beyond different enemies. Beating up microbes is fun, but eventually, it does get a bit boring.
A PC Review Key for Plasma Puncher was provided by TomatoTrap for the Purpose of this Review
Plasma Puncher
Pros
- Fun Premise
- Smooth Controls and Gameplay
Cons
- Late Game is Imbalanced
- Enemy Patterns are sometimes unfair
- Lack of Environmental Variety
