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Greedy Guns Review – Guns and Runs and More Guns

Greedy Guns Review – Guns and Runs and More Guns
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Platforms: Windows PC, Mac, Linux, Steam

Game Name: Greedy Guns

Publisher: Tio Atum

Developer: Tio Atum

Genre: Action, Adventure

Release Date: September 1st, 2017

Greedy Guns from Tio Atum

Great platformers have something that makes them stand out, makes them unique, and provides players with a memorable experience. They may even feel familiar, but thanks to a great narrative or fantastic gameplay, mediocre design aspects can be overlooked. Greedy Guns by Tio Atum is a 2D platformer looking to capture your attention in a crowded genre.

Run and Gun, and Run and Gun Some More

Greedy Guns is all about action. It’s heavily focused on giving the player an action sidescroller similar to games like Metal Slug. There is less of an emphasis on platforming, exploration and narrative. The game’s main focus is on giving you weapons to kill everything in sight. At times, it feels like a more linear Metroidvania with a lot of bullet hell added in for good measure.

There are places you can’t reach without certain abilities, but for the most part the game tunnels you through towards your next objective. There are also no puzzles or many hidden items to collect, besides a couple of small health upgrades.

The game allows you to dispatch enemies easily by using a dual stick shooting mechanic, which allows you to line up shots accurately with ease. It’s a familiar mechanic that requires more skill from the player. This is coupled with the many enemy projectiles you must dodge. The game even feels like a bullet hell during boss fights. Thankfully, the bullet hell elements here don’t necessarily mean “difficult.” Since the game has a very generous checkpoint system, you won’t be pulling your hair out of frustration.

Choose Your Weapon

Since Greedy Guns focuses so heavily on combat, the game thankfully does a good job mixing up the moment-to-moment action. One of the main mechanics is the ability to unlock and purchase a nice collection of guns, ranging from long range rifles to grenade launchers – nothing fancy or extraordinary, but they get the job done.

Herein lie some of the strategic aspects of this game. Do you want a powerful but easily overheating gun? Or a fast-firing machine gun with lower damage-per-second? This is how the game allows you to choose what type of experience you want to have, as some guns work better than others with certain enemies and bosses.

One by One You Pick Your Guns

The minor issue I had with this mechanic is that you can only carry two guns at once. You can swap out which guns you want to carry at kiosks scattered around the map, but the inability to switch through all of the guns at will makes for a more constricting experience.

There are areas within the game where your favorite guns aren’t as effective. This forces you to mix up your play style, which adds some overall challenge, but kiosks are not as plentiful as I would have liked.

Although the game’s overall map design is run of the mill, it does its best to mix up the scenarios you find yourself in. For example, there is an instance where you become trapped in a linear corridor and have to run away from small enemies that are chasing you. There is also a section where you have to keep jumping on platforms while avoiding invulnerable enemies. There are rooms where you have to fight waves of enemies in order to progress.

Greedy Guns also has a good number of great bosses. Without this map design diversity, the gameplay would feel too repetitive. But again this is all dependent on how much you like the bullet hell, dual-stick shooting gameplay that Greedy Guns has to offer.

Greed Is Good

With a title like Greedy Guns, I feel like “greed” is a concept that could have been woven more elegantly within the game’s overall experience. Every time you kill an enemy, they drop money that you can use to buy weapons. But weapons are slowly unlocked, and there is nothing else to splurge on. You can’t buy other upgrades or equipment to outfit your character. The money then feels inconsequential in the end, because it’s not necessarily something you need to worry about to progress through the game.

Overall, this game left me wanting more since I could see that there was so much potential to deliver something that truly stood out. It all feels a little too familiar. A sense of “been there, done that” will creep up in players’ minds plenty of times. Since it’s jumping into a genre with stiff competition, I wish it was able to grab me as much as others did. At the end of the day, Greedy Guns is a good game for people looking for an action platformer, but don’t expect it to offer up any surprises.

Greedy Guns is available via Steam.

Watch the official trailer for Greedy Guns below: