Bandai Namco
If you ’re a fan of Pac - Man , you ’re in fortune . On May 9,Pac - Man Mega Tunnel Battle : Chomp Champs(not the catchiest name , is it ? ) off PC and all major consoles . The online - only multiplayer release is abattle royale gamewhere 64 player fight to survive across interconnected mazes . It ’s a chaotic use of the Pac - Man formula that fans of the series should enjoy .
If all of this voice queerly familiar , it ’s because the plot to begin with launched nearly four years ago … as a now - lostGoogle Stadiaexclusive .
Bandai Namco
Originally release on November 17 , 2020,Pac - Man Mega Tunnel Battlewas shoot a line as one of Stadia ’s Francis Scott Key exclusives . Like so many other games , it was near lost to sentence when Stadiashuttered on January 18 , 2023 . Since it was a unfeigned exclusive for the service , it seemed like lover would never get a prospect to toy it again . gratefully , it ’s back . And that ’s secure tidings , because the newly update version is a fun multiplayer peculiarity that deserved a 2d chance .
InPac - Man Mega Tunnel Battle , 64 players champ through mazes at the same time and fight to be the last Pac standing . That idea would be explored afterward in the Nintendo Switch exclusivePac - Man 99(another biz that ’s now defunct ) , but the thought is much more successful here . The gravid difference is that players get more opportunities to interact with one another . At dissimilar intervals , paths will open that lead to rival players ’ mazes . Players can mess up with one another , stealing their valuable fruit or gobbling up one another ’s tycoon pellets . It ’s all a bit more tense and cutthroat than the comparatively lonelyPac - Man 99 .
It ’s also a turn more puzzling . There ’s a lot pass on silver screen , and the in - game tutorial only explain so much . Power - ups can appear in tangle from time to time . Some are straightforward , like an detail that freezes ghosts ( and any other humans in the maze ) in post . Others are n’t terribly well explained , which can make early struggle finger a lilliputian feverish . Its scoring organization can be hard to figure out too , as it ’s not initially clear if players need to get the in high spirits musical score to win or survive . An odd mission organisation that gives players sure task to complete only mare’s nest it more .
While there ’s a learning curve here , Chomp Champsis undecomposed playfulness once you get a horse sense of how it all put to work . The core Pac - Man gameplay is as soused as it take to be and it has a creative path of ramping up in complexity . Anytime instrumentalist clear a board , the difficultness rise . The ghost AI gets smart and the maze becomes tricky to navigate . That infuse some rising tension into fight as the final player will demand to showcase some serious skills to outwit one another .
My right match came down to a long one - on - one duel where my challenger and I spent a undecomposed 10 minutes battling it out in one maze . I kept trying to taunt them into corners so I could take hold of a power shot and bite away one of their lives . It ’s ruthless fun , though the endgame can drag once it ’s down to two equally skilled players who do n’t croak easy ( mogul - ups like extra lives drag that time out even more ) . It ’s not the most elegant version of Pac - Man , but it ’s a gravid test of survival for pros .
As a re - press release , Chomp Champsdoesn’t convey too many new ideas to the table . It ’s a fair stripped - down multiplayer package with one nucleus mode , a graded play list , and some cosmetic to buy with coin earn from playing . The new variation does add crossplay support , though , which should aid it reach a more consistent player count than Stadia ever could . Its $ 20 price tag end does feel a sense of touch gamy for what ’s declare oneself here , but there ’s some firm multiplayer action to be find here for those who want to plunk in .
Even if it ’s not a revelatory Pac - Man game , I ’m thrilled to seeMega Tunnel Battlerescued from Stadia gaol . Stadia ’s sudden closing in 2023 make a true preservation crisis for games like this . Every exclusive on the platform merit tomake its way to modern political program , but that ’s ultimately up to developers to decide if it’sworth the resources . In the case ofMega Tunnel Battle , I ’d say the effort is deserving it when you ’re dealing with one of gaming ’s most iconic franchise . Here ’s hoping thatPac - Man 99can bump novel life one day , too .
Pac - Man Mega Tunnel Battle : Chomp Champslaunches on May 9 for PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X / S , Nintendo Switch , and microcomputer .
