Beat-em-ups have gradually returned to the gaming scene, which has to do with the indie developers keeping it alive. Castle Crashers from 2008 proved addictive and showed the world that there was still a lot that could be done in the genre. Since then, there has been a Kunio revival, Streets of Rage came back, and even the Turtles made a triumphant return.
Big Helmet Heroes isn’t coy about its Castle Crashers influences, but dares to take the formula to the third dimension. Compounded with a sleek and dazzling coat of Unreal Engine, this beat-em-up promises an amusing and action-packed adventure with a bunch of little dudes hitting each other. How does it all come together? Find out in our Big Helmet Heroes review!
Big Helmet Heroes
Developer: Exalted Studio
Publisher: Dear Villagers
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 (reviewed)
Release Date: February 6, 2025
Price: $24.99
Big Helmet Heroes makes no pretenses about its intentions. At the start, the story is kept basic and focused on having as many sight gags as possible. There are a few amusing twists along the way, but nobody will ever play Big Helmet Heroes for its story. Even the characters are broad and the characters are no more complex than the costume they wear.
The reason why anybody would pick this up is for wanton violence and action. Thankfully, Big Helmet Heroes is stuffed with breakable objects and even crunchable, smashable necks, shins, and skulls. It’s a premise as old as the genre itself: make your way to the end of the level alive while beating the crap out of every guy that gets in your way and beat the boss at the end.
Big Helmet Heroes‘ gameplay is very old school in its simplicity. What makes this unique is the massive number of playable characters to earn. Between all the characters are four possible classes: the warrior is your standard “sword and board” fighter with balanced stats. The brute is the heavy and slow class, but crazy-strong, charges like a bull, and can tank a lot of damage.
The rogue class characters all dual wield and prioritize speed above all else, making them ideal for combo-driven gameplay. The monk class uses staves that smack multiple foes and has a lot of i-frames when dodging. The monks are the least fun because of how weak they are and their elaborate animations make it hard to tell what they’re doing due to everyone having large heads.
Thankfully, players don’t need to commit to a single character or play style. Every stage allows gamers to pick two characters that can be swapped instantly as the stages unfurl. If you find other guys out in the level, they get added to the party until the level ends and anyone on standby gradually restores their health slowly. Knowing who to bench and who to use at the moment offers a bit of strategy to break up the chaos.
It’s always exciting when finding a new character to unlock, but Big Helmet Heroes for some reason will have previously unlocked guys reappearing in later stages. It feels bad and is a waste to set free a dude you already saved and unlocked. This comes across like the developers are spreading the already large cast too thin.
The stages are varied which is impressive since there are a lot of them. Some levels are sprawling, some are dense and maze-like, and sometimes they are jam-packed with traps and pitfalls. No matter what, all areas have some amusing design choices. At times, Big Helmet Heroes feels less like a fantasy setting and more like a bunch of Renaissance fair larpers doing some Monty Python-esque shenanigans.
Big Helmet Heroes is a very good-looking game. It has a consummate vision for its art style and sticks to landing. There are some parts where the designers went overboard with the post-processing effects and made the image very murky and hazy. The characters are already very stubby little dudes and clouding the picture compromises readability.
Not all of Big Helmet Heroes stick to landing. Sadly, it has surprisingly weak kinesthetic feedback. Foes lack defined audible cues and when attacking; it feels off because of unconvincing sound design and limp animation. The combat features a decent amount of moves and a variety, but they don’t have the appropriate bite or satisfying crunch.
The disappointing feedback for the basic attacks is perplexing because the random temporary weapon pick-ups have effective sensory reactions. Using an electric fly swatter to taze some knights has an explosive charge when they’re shocked. Smacking guys with frying pans have a delicious “ping” sound when it connect. The basic attacks don’t have the same level of care.
If you felt the Lego games were the cure for insomnia due to their sluggish pace and grind, then Big Helmet Heroes will reinvigorate you. It isn’t the best beat-em-up, but it looks great, is a lot of fun when playing local co-op, and offers enough variety to keep it fresh.
Big Helmet Heroes is a very safe choice for young gamers who are new to the genre that won’t overwhelm them with complex mechanics. Being able to pick up weapons allows flexibility to mix and match fighting styles with different classes on the fly while still playing as your favorite character. The toy-like aesthetic will certainly please kids.
Big Helmet Heroes was reviewed on a PlayStation 5 using a code provided by Dear Villagers. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here. Big Helmet Heroes is now available for PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store), Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
