Enter the Gungeon
Released: April 5, 2016
Game Length: 20 Hours
Grade: B
Expectations: From all the advertising, this game doesn't look like much. There are plenty of people who said they sunk hours of gameplay unlocking everything. I figured that it might be a little like Hammerwatch except you use guns instead of medieval weaponry. I'd have to rule out playing with a friend this time around. I hope you advance through a series of long, drawn-out dungeons. I also want to see how the boss fights fair and how they handle ranking your character up if you fail multiple runs. Wait, Devolver Digital made this game? Oh, I hope it isn't anything like Serious Sam. Constantly running backwards from a giant mob of enemies is not what I want in a game like this.
Reality: They set you up with a little bit of nonsensical lore and 4 characters to choose from. Excited that I am to get started, I figured I would choose them one at a time. The marine had Military Training for smoother gun-play, the pilot had Trusty Lockpicks which failed the four times I used them, the convict wasn't too interesting with its ability to "rage" when hit, and the hunter had not only a crossbow but the cutest little dog that you can pet that occasionally finds stuff for you. Amusingly a chest dropped right in front of the hallway, thereby forcing me to kill myself with the convict character. After making my way through with each character and unlocking the auxiliary shop for additional items, I figured it was time to get serious. I equipped my marine with a weapon that shoots logs and a weapon that shoots bees and... completed all 5 levels in 3 hours? I did not expect to beat it so soon.
Ending: After the credits rolled, I blankly stared at the screen wondering if there was more I missed out on. So I decided to play another 5 rounds, another 3 hours, and came to the conclusion that whatever true ending there might be wasn't worth my time anymore. There was this entire sub-plot crafting the Bullet That Can Kill The Past where you had to collect 4 mysterious items and deliver them to the Forge on the bottom level. Although the Prime Primer was easy to identify at the periodical shopkeeper, the other ones were a little more obscure. Then you had to beat the final boss and the boss that came after that for each character. It didn't sound as bad as trying to free every captured NPC, but it certainly felt like a waste of time to me. I decided to watch the endings on Youtube instead.
Details: The thing that really sparked my interest was the number of subtle things that improved gameplay. For example, they added teleporters in nearly every room so you don't have to spend so much time running between areas. They made sure the weapons animated when firing, reloading, and dropped the right kind of casings onto the floor. There was even a nice tutorial that really helped explain the controls. You can look up your inventory in a database and read what each item does. Each of the enemies and bosses have some sort of cheesy pun attached to fit the overall gun theme of the game. There are numeral references to other games from the characters you rescue, the weapons you fire, and the quests you partake in. You can destroy chests, uncover secret passageways, and unlock shortcuts to each of the levels. The only thing I wish this game had was a proper Statistics page with various miscellaneous facts from your overall runs. Instead, all you get is some details of your current run and total number of deaths. There isn't a way to see your total played time. Funny, people playing on the Playstation 4 found more creative ways to figure out your total time spent.
Unlocks: Perhaps one of the biggest things that have people coming back to the game is the ability to discover new things. In my very limited time playing this game, I only managed to unlock 66 guns and 66 items out of 243 guns and 271 items. Then you have I don't know how many Synergies there are between weapons and items. The game also preys on your ability to find secrets upon secrets without fully explaining anything. How do you work one of these shrines? How do you retrieve Ox's Arm? What am I supposed to do with this busted television? Is there a way to fight the Resourceful Rat? The game never tells you about the curse or coolness mechanics. No wonder the website said that it took on average 157 Hours for a Completionist. There is no way you could do everything in anything less than 100 Hours I wager.
Opinion: For a $15 game (or free through the Epic Store promotions), I expected a little more than rotating between the same five stages just to find more stuff to use that fills up that database book. Though, I do give credit for the team with their consistent updates. For those who want a slight challenge and a different perspective on the dungeon crawler, I say go for it. It was definitely a game I enjoyed.
11-20-2020