So I Tried... Enter The Gungeon

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never tried before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time I went for the PC version of Enter The Gungeon.

What I thought it was?

There was no speculation on my end in the run up to playing Enter The Gungeon, I had been well aware of its impending release, and was well versed on what to expect. I’m an absolute sucker for roguelike titles with The Binding of Isaac and FTL ranking among my favourite games of all time. So with the excitement of a dog chasing a stick, I ventured forward into the Gungeon.

What it actually was

Enter The Gungeon is a top down twin stick roguelike shooter, with unlockable weapons and power ups scattered through its procedurally generated levels. From the very off, the game’s pixel aesthetics are instantly pleasing. While pixel art is a fairly saturated visual medium in gaming, Enter The Gungeon is on another level. Minor details like knocking tables over for cover, and books flying up in the air along with sheets of paper. These minor details create a unique visual experience that show the true calibre of Enter The Gungeon. Gameplay is a fun mix of evasion and aggressive gunplay, you will spend most of your time evading bullets via a roll, before plucking up the courage to shoot the enemies attacking. It’s definitely inspired by The Binding of Isaac, but feels more akin to the bullet hell games found in Japanese arcade cabinets. I died a lot during my short time with the game, usually succumbing the boss at the end of each level.

Will I keep playing?

Oh hell yeah (that’s a wrestling reference). I’ve got to the point with The Binding of Isaac that I’m starting to get a little bored, I’m waiting for Afterbirth to release on PS4, so Enter The Gungeon will more than keep me entertained until then. I absolutely love the gameplay and can imagine myself sinking several hundred hours into this world of guns and pretty pixels. Ready, Aim, Gungeon