Enter the Gungeon Review

Enter The Gungeon is an upcoming indie plat former due for release on the 5th of April. This title is full of vigorous gunfights and action packed brawls, all taking place in the depths of one huge dungeon down below. It has been some time since I have had the opportunity to play an indie game such as this, and I can honestly say that it has revived my love for the genre. The developers at Dodge Roll should give themselves a good old pat on the back, as this little dungeon crawler has most certainly won my vote.

On your journey with Enter the Gungeon you will choose from a band of misfits, and one will accompany you to explore and discover the gun that will kill the past! Once I was introduced to the characters I immediately wanted to learn more about them. You will discover each one of these little misfits hold their own title, including the hunter, the convict, the pilot and the marine. Each one of these characters hold a number of different weapons which are well suited to their role in the game. Personally, I thought this was a great feature, as I always want to learn more about who I am taking with me on my digital journey.

The first stage in my endeavour was to complete a short tutorial which engrossed me even more into the elements of gameplay for Enter the Gungeon. You will learn how to fight, defend, kick over tables and most importantly, kill the colossal boss! As I had not played an indie title for a while, this definitely helped me to learn more about the controls and overall features of the game.  It’s kind of teaching me to never take tutorials for granted, especially when being introduced to new genres. So keep that in mind!

Enter the Gungeon is all about room to room play which applies an element of mystery throughout. You will encounter a number of different enemies as you explore the vast areas throughout the dungeon with only your gun and those all important extras to help you along the way! Despite the repetitive nature of this title, I always found each room to apply another element of excitement and satisfaction with every encounter I had with an enemy. It always applied more and more action throughout, which kept me enthralled and engaged with the game and the story as a whole. I did find myself getting slightly frustrated at the start of my journey, as I had a hard time finding health which was a big obstacle for me. However, I did eventually discover the shopkeepers, where you can purchase little hearts for your health, new weapons and ammo to keep you stocked up for your journey.

Another great feature to this title is the little teleport platforms which are available in each room within the dungeon, however this only becomes available to you once all of the enemies have been executed. This was extremely useful for me, as I found myself traveling back and forth to the shop keepers from time to time. You will also carry a book around the dungeon with you, named the ammonomicon. This allows you to keep a log of each weapon, item, enemy and boss you find and fight throughout your journey.

This title really does take me to back to the classic days of gaming, with a very simple yet bold display of digital imagery which really does compliment the indie genre. Enter the Gungeon is creative and bold and is certainly very appealing in terms of aesthetics. The only thing that disappointed me was the lack of narration. Despite the simplicity, I would have loved to hear voices to accompany the eccentric characters presented in this title. However, I thought the speech bubble dialogue was a great feature and added more depth into the personalities featured in this title.

Overall I had a great experience playing this game despite the urge to rage quit from time to time, which is to be expected with a game such as Enter the Gungeon. This is a great little indie title with great elements of combat and exploration. I had great fun playing this game and I will definitely be recommending this to anyone who is a big indie gaming guru.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.