Gunslugs review

Orangepixel originally released Gunslugs on Steam and mobile platforms (iOS and Android) back in 2013 and 3 years later Orangepixel has decided to make a 3DS port. Another interesting thing is that Gunslugs 2 was released last year in the eShop so it was the sequel being released before the original at least in the 3DS’ case.

Gunslugs’ gameplay is like Metal Slug and Contra in which your objectives is to shoot all the enemies that get in your way in order reach the end of the level or defeat the boss in some levels. There is an ammo limit so it’s best to preserve it for either herds of enemies or the boss battles, but there are plenty of ammo/health drops and different weapons from flamethrowers to the hilarious chicken egg gun.

The players start out with 2 characters and you can unlock the other 5 characters by rescuing them during your playthrough. There are extra objectives in the game (e.g. Get 100 coins, play 5 missions in one run) that will make players want to keep on going. During the levels there are “bonus” levels like arcade themed or art themed levels in which you get loads of coins if you complete them.

Despite it’s cartoonish looks, it is a hard game in that you can be killed very easily in several way from gunfire,stepping on landmines or shooting a toxic barrel within close range. To make matters worse is that once you die it’s game over as there are no lives or continues unless you buy them during the mission. One small plus side is that each unlocked character has a different starting level so they act like checkpoints in a way.

The levels randomly re-generate each time you enter, but the differences aren’t that noticeable other than the ammo/health boxes/buildings being in different places although enough to give players the feeling of playing a new level regardless.

The graphics are your typical indie game 2D on the modern gaming system vibe similar to Shovel Knight and Mutant Mudds. But this benefits from the added depth on the 3DS which make the backgrounds stand out. The music has some catchy tunes and fits the game’s setting well.

In short, Gunslugs is a good game for those who want to get a high score whilst dealing with a challenging setting, and at £1.79 it is great value.

But it would have been great to have a easier mode added which would have extra lives and continues so that you can play though all the levels in one play through.

Pros:

• Random generated levels mix the gameplay up.
• Easy to pick up
• Great chiptune music

Cons:

• Lack of save/continues
• Difficulty can be frustrating

Final Score: 7/10

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Tags: gunslugs, orangepixel

This post was written by Cyburn, posted on July 12, 2016 Tuesday at 9:30 am