Early Access. Uttering those two words in some circles is akin to swearing. The idea of paying for something that’s incomplete is certainly a polarising one because what you’re effectively doing is paying for a demo that’s coupled with the promise of becoming a game. Personally, I don’t see what the problem is. Devs don’t have bottomless pockets and a lot of them are just like you and I so helping them along their way seems like the right thing to do. I’m not saying a few bad eggs don’t try and spoil it for everybody by not keeping their promises but they shouldn’t stain what in essence is a very wholesome idea. Does this have anything to do with today’s bit of news? Of course, it does! The game is Guntastic and after four Early Access updates, it’s just about to appear on Xbox and Steam as a fully-fledged game. So in this case we can safely say promise kept.
Guntastic is an arena brawler with a difference. You’ll need speed and skill if you’re going to stand a chance in this game because the average match doesn’t last more than 25 seconds. That’s extraordinarily quick but these are one-shot, one-kill battles so prepare yourself for a lot of comical death. Speaking of dying…if you’re one of those sneaky players that like hiding until the dust has blown over you won’t be able to do that here. Any players that are still breathing at the end of the time limit are forcibly eliminated. So yeah…there’s that.
The arenas in Guntastic are dynamic and full of things with which to cause pain. If you’re a bit of an old-schooler like me you might want to hone your skills on a trusty rocket-launcher or timeless shotgun. If you’re looking for new and interesting ways to butcher the opposition, you’ve got wall piercing drill-heads, cute walking bombs, and energy guns to play with plus much more. Powerups will start to appear mere seconds into the bout and grant special bonuses to those fast enough to grab them.
You’ll be taking a trip back to the 16-bit era as you navigate six beautifully hand-crafted environments and are faced with the truly unforgiving nature of games of the day. A lot of love has been given to the 90s here both with the over-the-top pixelated art style and the thumping, retro soundtrack that’ll remind you of some of the arcade classics you may have played back then.
This is one of those games that’ll be great at a competitive level. Guntastic is incredibly easy to pick up and learn, only having three buttons to worry about (this is the 90s remember). The speed and skill needed to do well and make your kill count soar is what will make this title hard to master and, therefore, a sure thing for those of you that like smashing the leaderboards.
This looks like a case of Early Access done properly and Guntastic sounds like a heap of fun for those of you that like quick-fire shooters. If you’re looking for some arena-based antics, you’ve only got about a week to wait.
