#1
Guns,Gore & Cannoli
Year Of Release: 2015
Studio: Crazy Monkey Studio
Genre: 2D Side Scroller Shooter
Time Played: 6 Hours
Platforms: PS4,Xbox One,PC
The start of a new journey has begun.
So technically this wasn't the first game I finished,I finished a few vita games first but I wanted to kick this off with a PS4 review to set a format, complete with videos and get some feedback.
I'm an avid fan of indies. I adore them. Honestly I could survive on just nothing but indies and smaller games. It's just pure gameplay and fun.
So we begin with an indie.
I bought this title on the last flash sale and the allure of playing a 2D shoot em up was too great to wait.
This is a game in the vein of metal slug and contra and the like. I played the whole game co-op,as it allows up to 4 players at once.
You play as Vinnie Cannoli,a hitman for the mob. The cut scenes are done in I believe flash animation. The story is at best serviceable but you probably won't pay attention. You're an Italian gangster and there's a zombie outbreak. That's the jist of it.
The gunplay is frenetic yet calculated. You can literally see your bullets travelling. This makes planning out headshots a priority as the game can and does throw waves of enemies at you and a well placed head shot can be the difference between life or death.
You are mostly fighting zombies and they come at you at both sides of the screen. Each location/level introducing new enemies and it adds a nice sense of variety to always stave away feelings of repetitive design.
You're mainly fighting zombies throughout the campaign,however they do add some nice ripples.
Other than a variety of zombies you will also find yourself fighting other gangsters and soldiers.
I played the game on hard and the soldiers throwing grenades and taking you out with bazookas was a constant source of frustration.
Luckily the game is constantly throwing new weapons at you to keep things fresh and not feeling overwhelmed.
Now back to the co-op feature. Local co-op is nowadays a rare thing and I am always finding myself buying every single one that offers it just to support it.
If one of you dies, you have a shirt respawn period then you come back. However, you aren't brought back at full health. You come back and split whatever health the still alive player as. And if you both die before one respawns you both die.
The game doesn't just involve shooting though.
As the game ramps up they throw in some platforming.
The jumping itself is a bit floaty and never really feels natural,more thrown in rather than thought out.
The sound and music was a highlight for me. I found myself humming stage music the next day at work and all the combat sounds and bloodshed sounds real and visceral.
All in all I enjoyed my time with the game. It's not perfect,the difficulty can spike and there's pacing issues. The art style is nice but the cut scenes leave a lot to be desired. Boss fights are rare with not a lot of meat to them.
If you loved 2D shoot em ups I recommend it.
And just as I finished up I see a sequel was literally just announced
Final Score: 7.5/10
