Following the formerly-exclusive (and really rather good) Bomb Chicken, developer Nitrome has returned with a whole new puzzle-platformer in Gunbrick: Reloaded. Well, we say "new", but that "Reloaded" in the title should really cue you in that we're dealing with the redux of an existing game, here – and if it didn't, one look at the very mobile game-esque graphics will. That's not to criticise Gunbrick: Reloaded simply for originally being on mobile platforms – that would be ignorant. There are lots of good mobile ports on Switch already (Knights of Pen & Paper, Goblin Sword, et al) and the system can only benefit from more games so long as they eschew any predatory microtransaction nonsense, which Gunbrick: Reloaded thankfully does.
With a confusing story of sorts told in a series of attractive but baffling interstitial screens, Gunbrick's presentation is difficult to fault. It's colourful, beautifully-stylised and generally attractive to look at. The stage selection menu is a little confusing at first – "worlds" are represented by esoteric icons – but you'll quickly learn how to dive back into the game. Unfortunately, you may not be entirely keen to do so.
Platform puzzlers like Gunbrick: Reloaded tend to revolve around a central gimmick. Nitrome's own Bomb Chicken was built around the bomb-laying mechanic, which allowed for both traversal and puzzle-solving. Ditto BoxBoy! + BoxGirl!, which is based around making and throwing boxes. Gunbrick's "thing" is your player character's taking refuge in the titular Gunbrick, a cubic fortress that can only flip over square-by-square to its four sides, "rolling" clockwise or counterclockwise. On one side of the Gunbrick is a cannon that can both destroy enemies and obstacles and be used as a propellant to launch into the air or slide along the ground without flipping over. The opposite side features a reinforced shield, which you'll need to keep pointed at any projectiles coming your way, and make sure it's blocking dangerous elements such as jets of flame. The problem is, in practice, this is fundamentally finicky and unenjoyable.
Making traversal a puzzle in itself isn't a bad idea; the execution here, though, is lacking. The most basic manoeuvres become a chore, requiring precise positioning. To ascend, for examples, means you've got to ensure that the propellant side of the Gunbrick is facing the ground. This usually means you'll have to micro-adjust by flipping in another direction and blasting yourself sideways so that when you make your next movement, you'll end up in the right place. Crucially, this isn't fun. It just ends up feeling like work when you've got to think as hard as you do about simply getting around.
We found it was rare that the gameplay ever felt any less than aggravating; solving an actual puzzle of sorts involving manipulating the shield-end of the Gunbrick could have felt rewarding, but after that, we'd always find some busywork, some set of steps to climb. If getting from A to B isn't intrinsically supposed to be a puzzle, but is irritating enough to bring down the experience, why structure the game this way? More bite-sized levels focused on proper puzzling would have been preferable, rather than these ordeals that go for tiresome stretches with nothing to do but wrestle with the aggravating controls getting to the next vaguely interesting puzzle.
Collecting special green items in the levels will allow you to access bonus stages, which take on a totally different look – an isometric 3D experience much like Mobigame's Edge Extended. This doesn't do much to improve the proceedings and, if anything, it's even more frustrating rolling the Gunbrick around with another dimension to consider. There's no "ah-ha!" moment when you figure out how to get the right side of the Brick facing the correct direction; it's just a resigned "finally".
As with the rest of the game, it looks the part. Gunbrick Reloaded is graphically very appealing – the pixel art is intricate and you're never unsure exactly what you're looking at, which helps a lot when you're being asked to be so precise. There's a pleasant feeling of causing carnage where-ever you go, as you slam recklessly through and over civilians, squishing them into the ground humorously. The aesthetics are so appealingly chaotic that it just makes it even more of a shame that the moment-to-moment gameplay is so frequently tedious.
Conclusion
If you can tolerate the punctilious demands of the basic movement, you may wring some joy out of Gunbrick: Reloaded. There's definitely a clever idea here, and the later levels offer some trickier puzzling to get your teeth into which mitigates the problem a tiny bit – but getting to that point may be a bridge too far given the resolutely irritating early stages. It's a shame, because a lot of effort has clearly gone into its presentation, but Gunbrick: Reloaded just isn't want we're looking for from a puzzle-platformer.
Comments 23
I rarely disagree with reviews but I wholeheartedly disagree with this one. I don't find traversal to be finicky, since, in my opinion, its' not hard to figure out how to force the Gunbrick to face a certain way.
For instance, if you need to be facing downwards, yet you're facing to the right, he needs to do an extra rotation, hence you push him left once using the recoil of the gun. But, each to their own, I guess.
The real tediousness was scrolling past 5 “Pure Xbox” ads in the single article.
@Noble_Haltmann
I got five Minecraft ads
Don’t know what baffles me more, scoring Gunbrick 4/10 or the use of where-ever (instead of wherever) in the final paragraph before the conclusion?
@Noble_Haltmann Just the SIX Pure Xbox ads here! 🙄
Bomb Chicken was definitely the much, much better game, but 4 seems a bit harsh to me.
3 Kimonoshi, 2 Amazon Fresh, 1 SHFigurarts Vegito Special Edition Pre-Order.
Haven’t seen the bonus levels, but I played through the main campaign on mobile, and never had any issues with traversing through the levels. The awkward movement is part of the mechanic - it just requires a little patience and consideration. For me, the game was fine: it’s one of the better 6/10s or one of the worse 7/10s.
I give this review a 4/10. 👎
To everyone with ads: just use adblock.
Never seen people so passionate about some generic low rated game.
@JayJ I was surprised by the comment section myself!
I will follow the rest of the gang here and give the reviewer a 4/10 instead of the game. And frankly, I don't give a damn if this review expresses only the reviewer's opinion and blah, blah. He should pick another game to review if he did not understand how to play it.
What the...? I'm a little biased as a longtime Nitrome fan, but come on. I found it to be a fantastic little puzzle game that builds on its concept brilliantly. It's not the greatest thing in the world but I found it immensely satisfying. As a reviewer myself, I know there's a very clear difference between a game being bad and just not knowing how to play it. Appreciate a game for what it is.
Oh? I'm rather fond of it. Some of the puzzles are really clever.
Looks like a spiritual sequel to Somer Assault for the TG16. I'll definitely check it out at some point.
Strange review going on here. Might want to check your controller wasn't broken or you weren't given a dodgy copy somehow (if that's even possible). Metro have given this a solid 8 and they're usually very reliable, not to mention quite harsh by most standards.
Okay. The comments seem to disagree with the low rating..
Maybe every game has its big fans and they are just more likely to comment. Personally i love this game so it's prob just an individual thing. Since i know my gf isn't a fan despite a gamer.
@Brightlight Yeah I have observed this occurance quite often when it comes to indie developers that have a cult like following. The game can have it's merits but quite often fans will overlook the shortcomings because they are trying to find a way to enjoy it. To each their own which is the nature of media reviews.
Other sites have given the game good to excellent review scores so NL is definitely an outlier in their opinion.
Agree with about 75% of the comments here.
Interesting to see the split of opinions here. I've always liked Nitrome games so I'm still interested in giving this a go at some point. In fact, the original version of the game can still be played for free on Nitrome's website, so there's a way to try it out before buying the new Switch version.
Edit: Actually the original Flash version seems to be quite different to the mobile game that this Switch version is based on, but you can still get a feel for the gameplay by playing the Flash version.
Haven’t tried this game, but I think the comments here demonstrate two points:
1. Each person’s experience of a given game (or film, book, etc.) is highly subjective. People might react very differently to the same thing, for any number of reasons.
2. With great love and respect to dearest Alex — given the above, the idea that numerical scores grant reviews some measure of objectivity is pretty silly. A measurement of 4 meters is objective; we can agree on the criteria. A score of 4/10 for a game is anything but. Ultimately it’s a gut call — which is totally OK, so long as we recognize it as such.
Loved this game on iOS so was shocked to see the 4/10 review here for the Switch version. It never was updated to full screen on newer phones so was thinking of picking it up. Guess as other comments here suggest, I’ll just ignore the review. 😃
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