REVIEW : Guntastic (PC)
It’s a really hard time at the moment for those game creators that prominently highlight couch co-op in their titles. This is, of course, due to a near-total ban on all social mixing thanks to the Coronavirus. Some households will still be capable to take the benefit of local multiplayer, however, everyone other will have to make do with online play. This, sadly, limits the potential of plays meant to be enjoyed fully by getting your friends all around the one TV.
Enter Guntastic then – a quickfire party brawler in which the one shot, one kill cycles only last for a maximum of 30 seconds. You can play head-to-head, or with four players with the strength to throw CPU players into the mix too. However, there are no team options here; it’s every man for himself.
You can pick certain battle conditions, such as how many kills are required to win or how long each round lasts. Options are admittedly pretty limited, however, it’s all about getting stuck in with Guntastic, so it’s not the most significant problem.
There are six steps to battle across, and eight varying characters to play as. Each only varies cosmetically, as it’s all about the defences and drops in the match that mix everything up. The scenes are all pretty similar if truth be told, however, a few have some unusual variants such as lifts and teleporters to navigate, but the differences are minimal. Rather disappointingly, all of these are unfastened from the very start, which takes away any sort of reward and progression factor, and by extension limits replayability.
In terms of weaponry, there are a fair few to pick from, all of which do their own thing. For instance, you can don spring-loaded boxing gloves to beat your opponents, or you can shoot out little Bob-omb types who will scurry to blast next to the nearest opponent. All are delightfully absurd, which match the madcap, frantic tone of the game flawlessly.
There are also other items to make use of as you play, such as invisibility and shield pick-ups. These present a very brief break from the action, but will most likely only increase your lifespan a few seconds if that. In Guntastic however, seconds can make all the difference between winning and losing.
Despite consisting of short, brutal affairs, Guntastic is fun to play. It will test your reactions but feels well-balanced between skill and blind luck for the most part. Your characters are light and floaty, but still fairly easy to direct, with the control layout being nice and easy. You can move, jump, pick up items and use said items. That’s all there is to it. Sometimes less is more.
The game harks back to the 16-bit era, and the arcade-style visuals and Street Fighter II-eque menu music work well in bringing this to life. Each character avatar is simple, but distinct enough in the same way as the six battle arenas are all unique. Overall, Guntastic pretty much hits the nail on the head with the theme it pitches.
However, as with so many indie titles, there is a drawback.Guntastic also features online play for up to four players and, despite several attempts, I found it impossible to matchmake with even one opponent. The servers, unfortunately, seem to be deserted. The only redeeming factor here is that you can set up online private games, so you can still play with your mates.
This brings me to my biggest issue with Guntastic – the price. For this, I would have liked to see more characters and stages, and perhaps another game mode or two. Also, given that online play is struggling seemingly due to a lack of players, it suddenly feels like a price tag hard to justify.
