Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch Review: An Awkward Trip Through the View Askewniverse

Back in the 1990s, a kid from New Jersey with a dream and a few maxed-out credit cards made a little black-and-white indie film that would start its own cinematic universe well before anyone even knew that was a thing. Kevin Smith's film debut, Clerks, introduced the characters of Jay and Silent Bob, with Bob being played by Smith himself. These two lovable dolts would become the centerpiece of what Smith called the View Askewniverse.

Over thirty years after the release of Clerks, video games set in the View Askewniverse aren't exactly common, but the few that have been released have been fairly entertaining. Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch is the next combatant in the View Askewniverse video game spin-offs, and in spite of how much obvious love it has for Kevin Smith's unique cinematic universe, it fails to reach any of the highs of those films.

Chronic Blunt Punch is a 2D beat 'em up that feels like a love letter to Kevin Smith's movie universe, but it just doesn't have the in-game pedigree to back up its world design. It has the spirit of the Kevin Smith cinematic world, but feels so appallingly unappealing to play that it almost makes Jay and Silent Bob Reboot feel like a cinematic masterpiece.

A Jay and Silent Bob Game? Who Would Pay to Play That?

Chronic Blunt Punch begins with Jay and Silent Bob finding the QuickStop being vandalized, then sends them off on an adventure across the View Askewniverse. Not one to let criminality go unpunished, the two spring into action. This is such a fun setup, and it plays into one of the game's genuine strengths. The characters all feel the way they should, and there's an honesty to the way they speak that feels genuine to the films.

It's something the game really could have done even more. In all honesty, it makes me yearn for a more traditional adventure game in this world that could take full advantage of the crazy nonsensical silliness of the films. Chronic Blunt Punch's strongest effort is in its dialogue and writing, as it all feels remarkably in line with Kevin Smith's unhinged style.

It's rife with references to all of Smith's films. Dogma, Clerks, Chasing Amy, and nearly all his films are represented. There are even shout-outs to Smith's own real-life comic book store, The Secret Stash, which is located in New Jersey. It's all very well aligned with the aesthetics and trappings of the View Askewniverse, and that's fun to see in action.

That's ultimately where the good ends, as the combat is painful in both its execution and how it feels. Contact doesn't have a ton of weight, and it just doesn't feel very engaging to play. There's something to say about the mindless, almost zen-like state that beat 'em ups can create, and the way you can find yourself getting lost in the momentum of it. Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch feels mindless in all the worst ways.

Animations look good, but they also have a severe input delay. Movement also suffers from the same problem, as moving around and throwing punches feels incredibly slow for a game of this type. The best beat 'em ups are built around speed and responsive movement, but Chronic Blunt Punch just feels so sluggish and awkward.

Combat actions take a frustratingly long amount of time to come out. What's unfortunate is that some of the animations are genuinely delightful, and the game does have some fun animations. Once again, the game really does have a strong handle on the outlandish nature of the movies, with some animations that feel so wonderfully in tune with the characters. They look great, but everything just feels so slow in the way it unfolds.

A Technical Nightmare

Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch has some rather unfortunate technical issues. The game has full support for controllers, but I was unable to get a controller to work after launching the game. Every button would work except the one to progress, and the game seems to default to a keyboard.

Once in-game, I was able to get everything to work, but this level of bizarre technical mayhem is not a good first impression. It's just incredibly disappointing, and getting the game to run with a controller shouldn't take this much effort. When you do get the controller to work, it all plays as normal, but it's not a great feeling.

In addition to the controller oddities, the game has some incredibly disappointing audio. The music is not engaging at all, and good music tends to be a pretty important part of the genre. In the long history of beat 'em ups, good music is one of the boxes that gets ticked first. Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, the list goes on.

Pick any great beat 'em up franchise, and music will likely be one of the things that gets brought up first. It's a pretty important part of the genre, and the music in Chronic Blunt Punch simply doesn't pass the test. It's not the worst part of the game's audio, but when you stack it up against other games in the genre, it's going to feel like a bit of a downgrade.

I've always been of the mind that if you're going to have any recorded lines in your game, doing it inconsistently is just not the move. At that point, the best move is to just not have any voice acting, as the rapid jump from having voiced dialogue to not is so incredibly jarring. The random one-liners seem to come out for no apparent reason, and while the delivery of them is on-point, the rest of the story is so inconsistent in its audio design, which is rather disappointing.

If you spent any of your youth watching Kevin Smith movies the way I did, chances are that this game was one that you got pretty excited about. Unfortunately, while it hits all the right notes when it comes to capturing the surreal world of the View Askewniverse, the poor combat and bewildering technical issues are going to leave you feeling like you'd rather just sit down and watch the movies with a friend.

Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch is a mediocre beat 'em up that tries its hardest to capture the spirit of Kevin Smith's filmography. In many ways, it does do that, and has elements that feel like they are right out of a View Askewniverse movie. Sadly, the combat in Chronic Blunt Punch is so bland and lifeless, and is an absolute technical nightmare. Fans of View Askewniverse will likely crack a smile at the game's absurd story, but that's where the good times come to an end.