The casual gaming phenomenon has been running for quite some time now, and it’s always a little bit of a surprise to see it segue into the console market.  What I’m about to say may be a little controversial, but I confess, it’s how I felt:  Facebreaker for the Xbox 360 is a casual console game.

You’re not alone in considering this odd–I certainly did.  Console games, unless they’re specifically marketed as such and generally packaged in collections, should not be so simple to play and so simple in construction that they can be called casual.  But this is the case–you play one of several boxers who’s out to win fame and glory and the right to punch a whole lot of people in the face.  And that’s ALL you do.  You punch. You have your choice of high punch and low punch, you can add dash moves to your punch, and you can even use SPECIAL punches called “Breakers” in conjunction with your regular punches.  But no matter how you slice it, you’re still just swinging a fist.

Some have criticized the game’s broken AI being unnecessarily difficult and thus unplayable.  And after playing a few rounds I can’t help but agree with them.  When the game itself actually TELLS you, even on the easiest settings, that you WILL lose and you WILL lose frequently until you figure out each boxer’s specific weak point, someone may have made a serious mistake designing the AI.  A game should never have to openly declare its own difficulty as though it were a box of cookies announcing its fat content!

This is actually pretty sad—the game itself is a good idea.  It’s clever, it’s funny, some of the boxers have really amazing backstories and are downright entertaining.  For instance, fighting Steve in the arcade pits you against a short fat kid in a ninja suit who’s the trivia king of his fantasy gaming guild.  There’s a Russian boxer by the name of Molotov who fights while wearing a belt of explosives.  There’s a certifiable lunatic, a giant with the mind of a child, a voodoo priest, a Japanese schoolgirl…and a legion of other great choices.  The whole thing is done in a cartoonish style, and the visible facial deformations are a riot to watch.   The character voices are nicely done—watching the audition tapes is a laugh and a half.

There are even celebrity boxers involved or at least scheduled to be; ever watch an episode of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” and say, wow, I wish I could just slug Kim a few good ones?  With Facebreaker, you actually CAN!  Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag can actually square off via Facebreaker.

But all of these wonders together can’t quite exempt Facebreaker from its biggest problem—an AI so damaged that it’s virtually impossible to play in single player mode.  I can’t say how the multiplayer would work out—I generally work alone.  But the key point remains: playing Facebreaker is like trying to drive a Ferrari with a busted axle.  It looks great, it sounds great, it’s a beautiful system, but man…it’s not going anywhere any time soon.  And trying to go anywhere with it will only do more damage and leave you seriously frustrated.