Max Brass, new ARMs, game mode added to Nintendo’s brawler
Nintendo released a major update for ARMS this past Tuesday, the first of a promised series of content releases. What the later updates will be no one can say for sure yet, but ARMS Version 2.0 gave us at least a few things we certainly expected.
Max Brass, the Commissioner of the ARMS League, was added to the roster, allowing players to finally fight as the Grand Prix boss. Brass is a little like a beefier Springman in that his punches immediately charge up when he reaches low health. However, Brass also has the unique ability to “beef up” after a charged dash, automatically charging his ARMs and granting him resistance to flinching, for a time.
Along with the Commish himself was added his signature stage and three signature ARMs. The “Nade”, “Roaster” and “Kablammer” were added for all characters, though these will have to be unlocked beyond Max Brass. While “Sky Arena” is added as an additional playable stage to all non-ranked modes, it now also replaces Kid Cobra’s “Snake Park” stage in ranked matches.
Normal matches can now also include “Hedlok Scramble”, a fast-paced ‘King-of-the-Hill’-style mode that sees players fight for control over Hedlok’s mask. Obtaining Hedlok’s mask briefly allows a fighter to play as Hedlok, with the ability to throw six punches at a time and the option to use Hedlok’s fiery special in place of their own.
Beyond these additions, 2.0 also introduced a series of much-needed balance changes. Of particular note are the nerfs to Kid Cobra and the Hydra ARM, as well as the buffs of the Revolver and Boomerang ARMs. For a full list of these balance changes, see Nintendo’s patch notes.
Version 2.0 is a good sign of Nintendo’s commitment to ARMS, and it’s likely we’ll see similarly large updates to the game in the future.
