Bomberman: Act Zero was notable for being a radical departure for the series in terms of character design. Instead of the familiar depiction of White Bomber, the characters in this game resemble mechanical cyborgs based on the original game's boxart. The player can choose between a male or female Bomberman, as well as his or her armor color.
Act Zero is the traditional 2D styled gameplay that the Bomberman series is known for. One of the few changes in the game is FPB mode (first person battle). Despite the title, the game mode plays in a 3rd person perspective, where the player is given control of the camera which follows the character being played. The player still has the option of playing on standard mode, which sets the camera to an overhead view like other various 2D bomberman titles.
The game also features a life meter in the FPB mode which depletes if the player is hit by a blast. The player can take multiple hits from the same explosion if the blast lingers for a while. Players can collect various power ups which allows them to lay more bombs, have stronger and longer blasts, and can give the player higher speeds. The standard mode still operates on a one-hit death rule, with each hit depleting a single Heart item or killing the player.
The single player campaign contains both FPB and standard modes with a total of 99 levels. The player has no option to save in between levels unless they are connected online, and if the player dies, they must restart at the beginning, making it the most challenging single player experience for a Bomberman game. The game features an online battle mode called world battle which supports up to 8 players at once on Xbox live. There is no system link available or local multiplayer option to play on the same system.
Source: Wikipedia, Bomberman: Act Zero , available under the CC-BY-SA License.
