KMGR of "Chuck Norris: Bring on the Pain"

Image by Joriel "Joz" Jimenez via Flickr

By now, you probably heard of Chuck Norris Facts. If you don't, you'll be presented with lots of them as you play the game. Clearly, they aren't "facts", but you get the idea. The idea is Chuck Norris himself woke up on the jungle, and was fighting some enemies, rescuing prisoners of war... guns blazing... He is da man! (ha-ha)

So what's the game? It's a 2D shooter/beat-em-up similar to Double Dragon, Vigilante, you get the idea. Chuck can have a weapon, or when there's no weapon, he can use his awesome martial arts skills. Taking out VC left and right in the jungle, defeated the boss in a helicopter (with no weapons!) he somehow ended back in Texas... which is being invaded by Commies! Using his ferocious fists and round house kicks, he must clear his beloved Texas of Red Menace, and find the source of the scourge and stop it once and for all! Gather up all the points and exchange them at the Dojo for special moves, such as air kick, reverse kick, power fury, and so on.

Everything is over the top, and proudly so. Even Huck Norris himself gets a kick out of a few of these "facts". So I guess he gets a kick out of this game too, as he gets to take down Fidel Castro and Kim Jong-Il, and hundreds of commies and VC soldiers... And jump motorcycle onto top of semi, and other movie stunts. You can execute your martial art moves in the fights against multiple opponents, and occasionally, do "challenges" like "knock out all enemies in X seconds".

Graphics are okay, as the cartoony representation helps. In fact, some of the thugs during fights get tossed INTO the camera, and slides down like a wet bug. Really cute effect. Sound is adequate.

All in all, Chuck Norris: Bring on the Pain is a game about attitude, and this game has plenty. If you like your game with attitude, then this is your game. Else, it's just another shooter/beat-em-up.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: lots of attitude, varied challenges, both shooter AND beat-em-up
Cons: gameplay is a little thin under all the attitude