Oh...Sir! The Hollywood Roast Review

It’s Time for A Rematch
By Brett Wolfe
Reviewed on Xbox One
Released on June 1st, 2018 on Xbox One (Also Available on PS4, PC, IOS, and Android)
Developer: Vile Monarch/Crunching Koalas Publisher: Vile Monarch

You did it, you conquered your friends and you are the reigning insult champion. It looks like its time to retire and live an insult-free life. You settle down, plan a vacation to beautiful Hollywood, I mean you deserve it right? However, you seem to have stumbled right into the middle of the next competition, right here in the middle of sunny California. Oh…Sir! The Hollywood Roast, the signs display with a grand spectacle. What, you think we should join? I guess we don’t want to lose our title by forfeit. Oh boy, here we go again! Oh…Sir! The Hollywood Roast is a strategic party game developed and published by Vile Monarch with some good help from their buds, Crunching Koalas. It is the sequel to Oh…Sir! The Insult Simulator and tells the stories of a cast of actors trying to catch their big break by demoralizing the competition.

This title shares a majority of the mechanics that we came to know and love from its predecessor, while bring some needed flair to push it over the top. For those unfamiliar with the series, two characters are pit against one another in a battle of wits. Each player must invent the best insult imaginable with the statements provided to them. These quips are arranged in a shared pool with each player having a few secret sayings up their sleeves. The first character whose insulted so hard that their health bar diminishes loses the fight. These are all well and good and know to the series, but they weren’t done there. One thing that was added to the sequel is the comeback meter. After you get your feelings hurt a few times, you are able to activate a comeback at the end of your existing insult. These comebacks are unique to each character and deal set damage depending on how many bars you have filled, with one bar doing the least all the way up to three bars.

While the main aspect of this game comes from Roasts, one-off duels that can be done online or offline, we are presented with an interesting campaign that adds just what this game needs. Now I will admit that the campaign does not bring anything new to the table, but it does try to tell the story of these no-name and washed up performers that are just looking to make it big. Plus, they have a challenge system known as The Golden Chickens. These are awards that you can receive for doing specific tasks in each mission. These idols are honestly the only reward you actually get from doing the campaign, but they are well worth it. They unlock new comeback for each character and give you a bit of variety in your gameplay by taking a few minutes throughout each mission to complete them.
​

The campaign definitely has its ups and downs, but in the end, it is a fun experience nonetheless. My biggest gripes with the campaign would be that the setting does not change between character to character and even worse, the opponents do not change either unless you are playing as that specific individual. This becomes a bit monotonous when you fight the same person on the same set. Yeah, the dialogue changes slightly to manipulate their interaction, but it is not that much. To add, the best part would have to come down to the length. At max, you are looking at a campaign that runs about an hour to an hour and a half. Pairing that with the various characters, it allows the player to experience everything without dragging on and on. Normally, I would hate to see a short campaign on a game that I thoroughly enjoyed, but this is one exception that had components cross in such a way that it worked out in their favor.

The overall best part of Oh…Sir! The Hollywood Roast would have to be the amazing ensemble of characters. Each is a different take on iconic movie characters or actors with an ingenious twist to go above and beyond. Maybe you like playing as Dirty Potter, a down-dirty mix between everyone’s favorite wizard, Harry Potter and Dirty Harry, the guy that always asks if you are feeling lucky. Remember him, he was in that movie from the 70s, yeah him! Perhaps, you are more of a Greasy Wizard fan, the wannabe Gandalf the Grey that just can not seem to keep his cloak on. My personal favorite would have to be Ryan Reynolds, I mean Wisecrack. The aspiring Merc with the Mouth, that seems to only hurt peoples feeling instead of taking their lives.
​
The visual aesthetics of Oh…Sir! The Hollywood Roast do not deviate from the baseline established in the original. I truly like the pixelated visuals, and while simplistic, I feel that it emphasizes the humor in the characters and give them an over-the-top personality that may have been haltered by a more realistic image. While the set backgrounds are limited, the characters bring enough to the table to make up for that downside. The audio and soundtrack, on the other hand, is nearly flawless. The background music is phenomenal from the minute you launch the game. The final boss’ area actually has a song that has stuck for day upon completion. Whether you are in it for some good tunes or just a little humor, it provides a little bit of everything that you are looking for.
In the end, Oh…Sir! The Hollywood Roast is a phenomenal title for anyone. The title is priced at $5 USD, which is a steal and I would not hesitate to buy it again. The game is wacky and fun for the whole family, while providing some of those nice quips for the adults too. Do yourself a favor and pick up this amazing game, you will not regret it.

*Note: A copy of this game was provided for the purpose of the review.

Final Score: 9.5/10

+Fun Gameplay
+Awesome Party Game
+Cheap Price
+Hilarious Insults
+Awesome Soundtrack
​