BROK: The Brawl Bar arrives on PlayStation 5 as a standalone slice of brawling chaos, spun out from what originally began life as planned DLC. That origin is still felt in its structure: this is a compact, challenge-driven offshoot rather than a narrative continuation of Brok’s detective escapades, trading mystery for arcade-style mayhem. Its premise is simple but appealing – Brok stumbles upon a hidden underground bar, slips back into fighting instinct, and climbs a ladder of increasingly outlandish trials. The setup isn’t trying to deliver big dramatic turns, but it has enough gritty humour and personality to give the action a backdrop with charm.
Once inside the Brawl Bar, the story becomes little more than a light connective thread, but it compensates with characterful encounters and a comedic tone that fits the world’s scruffy energy. The writing injects bounce into dialogue sequences, and expressive voice performances give each inhabitant of the bar real presence, ensuring conversations land with the right comedic lift even when the stakes stay low. The lively setting and interactions make returning to Brok’s universe feel natural and cohesive.
The game places nearly all its emphasis on the challenges themselves – more than sixty of them, each with a distinct twist. Combat feels satisfyingly responsive, with tight hit detection and clean attack animations that create a polished foundation. The variety keeps players guessing, shifting from straight brawls to puzzle-like rulesets, hazard-filled arenas and quick, high-pressure trials that bend traditional beat ’em up rhythms. The structure continually refreshes itself with new conditions and modifiers, helped further by multiple playable characters whose differing abilities encourage experimentation.
That variety also introduces inconsistency. Some stages demand precise platforming or strict timing rather than tactical brawling, breaking the momentum of the stronger combat-focused challenges. The more punishing rooms – including one-hit-KO sequences – can tip from tense to frustrating, compounded by occasional difficulty spikes that push players toward skipping stages using the C-Token system. On PS5 the fundamentals remain solid, but the abruptness of these spikes doesn’t soften, even with responsive controls.
Visually, The Brawl Bar embraces the bold, comic-book style seen in the main game. Thick outlines, exaggerated poses and vibrant colours give the underground locale a lively, grimy personality. The strong linework and expressive animation ensure that even quick encounters carry a sense of identity. Audio matches that energy, with punchy effects, upbeat bar-room tracks and an enthusiastic voice cast that elevates the lighter narrative beats.
As an experience, the game leans firmly into arcade sensibilities. The core run is short, and much of its long-term appeal depends on whether players enjoy retrying challenges or exploring its additional modes. The breadth of challenges provides high replay, and local multiplayer remains a natural fit for this style of quickfire action, while relaxed difficulty options offer a welcome layer of accessibility.
Taken as a standalone release, BROK: The Brawl Bar delivers a lively, rough-edged but entertaining detour from the original game’s investigative approach. Its strongest moments stem from inventive quickfire brawls that make full use of tight combat fundamentals, supported by expressive presentation and a cast that continues to shine. Yet its uneven challenge design, abrupt difficulty jumps and lightweight story mean it’s best aimed at those who already enjoyed the fighting in the base game. For fans eager to return to Brok’s world – especially with friends beside them – this chaotic underground bar has plenty to offer. For players seeking something deeper or more consistent, it may not land every punch.
Score: 7.0/10
Press Play Media 