Neighbors: Suburban Warfare Review (Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 & PC)

For years I had no problems with Doreen from across the cul-de-sac. That was, of course, until she decided to spear through the chimney and smash the hell out of my television with a pair of boxing gloves. It wasn’t long after that that I experienced a momentary relapse in ethical reasoning. If it were a simple yard dispute, then I would have swept it from the shoulder, laughed it off and continued along my path. But Doreen was persistent, and Doreen needed to be taught a thing or two about neighborly conduct. And yet, weirdly, the only solution I could chalk up at the time was to fling a pellet at her forehead with a slingshot. And then I smashed her television. Swings and roundabouts, you know how it is.

The feud with Doreen was just one of dozens of yard disputes I had in Neighbors: Suburban Warfare and its mayhem-fueled sandbox. Elsewhere, I had quarrels with mischievous kids, vacuum-hogging bean sprouts, and several other neighbors who couldn’t care less about keeping the peace or settling matters over a cup of coffee. Because that just wasn’t Neighbors. In an ideal world, it would have been a civilized matter of trading insurance details. In this particular cul-de-sac, however, nothing was simple, and every individual and their rightful neighbor were a little, well, bent out of shape.

In what felt like a blink of eye, all of a would-be idyllic neighborhood gathered to wreak havoc on the streets. And I, too, felt that I had something to prove, something to gain, and of course, something to break. Because that was all that Neighbors was: a free-for-all in which neighbors could totally obliterate their own community. It was never going to be about shaking hands and taking the moral high ground. Rather, it would primarily consist of ruthless battles, unhinged chaos, and a lot of broken furniture.

A free-to-play chaos simulator at heart, Neighbors: Suburban Warfare pits you against other unruly folk in fast-paced 4v4 PvPvE brawls in which all players have a simple objective: to demolish their opponent’s private property. Think Home Alone, complete with all of the questionable traps, weapons, and antics, and you should have a vague idea of what we’re getting at here. Only, you are not filling the shoes of Kevin, but rather, the Wet Bandits. Well, sort of.

The general setup of Neighbors unfolds in a similar fashion as your typical free-to-play party brawler. At first, you select your character archetype, which of course includes boxing grannies, slingshot-wielding youths, vacuum-flaunting loners, and so on and so forth. Regardless of who you choose to side with, the game rolls out in a familiar, albeit unpredictable way, with each player having their own abilities and tools, and a highly destructible environment that allows you to manipulate traps, pummel opponents, and, well, smash things to smithereens.

Of course, you don’t need to be a tactician to unleash havoc in a game like Neighbors. To an extent, it’s a game that plays best when you’re positively clueless about the ins, the outs, and the destination that you are aiming to reach. Button mashing, for example, is an excellent technique that tends to work in most situations. Given that you haven’t the slightest clue what is happening around you most of the time, it is often as simple as hitting prompts and seeing how certain events will pan out. Naturally, you will see priceless furniture break, faces bruise, and pellets fly. Really, there is little you can do to prevent the chaos from escalating, other than roll with the punches and add your own two cents.

For a game that bases its rulebook on a simple break-things-and-find out formula, Neighbors does have a good amount of weight to it. For example, the game comes equipped with four modes to choose from: Destruction, which tasks you with smashing priceless possessions; Brawl, which allows you to bloody your knuckles and participate in quick-fire street battles; Prop Hunt, which grants you freedom to manipulate a wide variety of objects and engage in sly bouts of hide-and-seek; and Robot Invasion, which effectively pits you against waves of, well, robots as they aim to attack your home.

There’s a perfectly nonsensical party game here that, at least in the company of friends, is a lot of fun to fool around with for short bursts of time. Paired with a solo-oriented player-versus-AI mode and a sizable roster of characters, Neighbors certainly fits into the PvPvE space nicely. While it might still be a far cry from a perfect, bug-free online brawler, its 1.0 release and its well-overdue cross-play feature both ensure that there’s a perfectly accessible sandbox to dip in and out of. And that’s all you need from a game like this: an opportunity to slip in, conjure a bit of drama, and slip out before the colors run dry.

With all of the above said, Neighbors: Suburban Warfare does harbor its fair share of unruly residents. Gameplay-wise, there are a couple of issues here that could do with a major technical overhaul. Alongside its frequent server de-syncing issues and drawn-out matchmaking times, it also suffers from frame rate jitters and a lack of graphical stability. For example, in certain areas—Paradise Cove, being one of the key maps in the game—it isn’t uncommon to spot objects darting through closed doors, or even invisible walls. Granted, these are minor issues that ought to be fixed in future updates. That being said, to call Neighbors an airtight online brawler just wouldn’t be true.

All in all, Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is a chaotic and ridiculously entertaining game that has a firm and perfectly moldable backbone to evolve from. While it does suffer from a few teething issues in its current state, it does make for a genuinely enjoyable online multiplayer brawler that, with the right guidance and support, will surely secure its place as a brilliant entry in the PvP field. Here’s hoping, anyway.

Verdict

Neighbors: Suburban Warfare takes a classic yard dispute to a whole new level with a well-oiled cocktail of unhinged and morally questionable characters, slapstick battle sequences, and a generously crafted cul-de-sac that produces more chaotic energy than righteous resolutions. Granted, it doesn’t quite hit the nail on the head in terms of graphical or technical design. However, it is an absolute blast to watch unfold alongside a few like-minded friends. It might not frame neighborly conduct in a positive light I’ll admit, but for what it’s worth, it does bring you closer together as a community. Well, sort of.