It is a world now devoid of resources, dark and disturbing, which is the backdrop for the events of Gunbrella, the original action platformer developed by doinksoft. Everything in the game revolves around the mysterious umbrella-shaped weapon that the protagonist of the adventure wields and that allows him to shoot, but also perform prodigious shots, slide when necessary, use zip lines and even bounce enemy bullets.
A mix of actions that intertwine to offer us an experience of a certain depth, challenging but not too much, with the appropriate duration, seasoned with noir atmospheres and a narrative segment capable of surprising, all at a particularly accessible price.
However, there is no need to reveal everything right away: continue reading ours. gunbrella review.
Story: it's raining blood, open the umbrella.
The protagonist of Gunbrella is a lumberjack determined to avenge the massacre of his family, carried out by someone who used a truly peculiar weapon: an umbrella-shaped rifle, which he later abandoned at the crime scene. Armed with this single clue, the man heads to the big city, full of anger and unanswered questions.
You will find it waiting for you. characters different, with which to interact through a dialogue system with multiple responses capable of opening the doors to various possibilities, but also to increasingly tougher and more dangerous adversaries, ranging from mercenaries to ferocious animals, from lethal followers of a mysterious cult of monstrous creatures that feed precisely on that faith (and the associated sacrifices).
the game unfortunately It is not translated into Spanish, as is tradition at Devolver Digital, and this aspect could make it difficult to read the texts on the screen that have a very specific function and unsuspected depth, especially when this experience is approached by imagining it as a "frivolous" action platform.
In fact, the pace of the narrative seems well-reasoned, the exploratory sequences are accompanied by a dark and fascinating atmosphere (also built thanks to great work in the audio sector) and there is no shortage of unexpected twists and implications, which direct the story. history of Gunbrella even towards shades of Lovecraftian horror.
Gameplay and structure: metroidvania with passion
The metroidvania style structure With a fixed screen, which therefore encourages us to explore the scenarios and complete the different missions also to be able to access previously inaccessible areas, the game questions switches, keys, etc., asking us from time to time to find an object or a certain character but without the support of a map.
Where he controller, a little patience is needed: the correct way to interpret the design chosen by the developers is to use the left trigger to jump and the right to shoot, in combination with the directions of the right stick, while acting on the right spine. the Gunbrella to get a shot, a shield or an emergency parachute.
Combining all these movements soon becomes a necessity, also because enemies hurt a lot and the vital energy of our character, represented by the classic little hearts, is far from infinite. However, with a little practice it is possible to make truly spectacular evolutions, hitting targets on the fly thanks to the right timing.
Of course, absolute security and peace of mind regarding controls is not easy to achieve in Gunbrella, but the game proves to be complete in terms of balance between difficulty and offerings. a campfire-style control system (which restore health, but not enemies) evidently designed to ensure that you can avoid going back on beaten paths in the event of a game over.
Added to the mix of exploration, small puzzles and combat that characterizes the basic formula are some exciting ones. boss fights in which you must clearly memorize the attack patterns of the huge enemy on duty, find a way to evade them by jumping, running and finally landing blows whenever possible.
Wanting to criticize the system created by doinksoft, we can say with certainty that the game It does not delve in any way into its vocation as a platform Nor does it give much importance to the alternative firing modes, which remain somewhat in the background compared to the shotgun-style attack, lethal but only at close range, that the Gunbrella performs by default.
Gunbrella's technical achievement: a peculiar style
La pixel art graphics of Gunbrella offers us generally pleasant and well-made characters and settings, although sprinkled with some less thought-out solutions. The use of some filters emphasizes the atmospheres of certain well-differentiated places, helping to give the experience a very particular and recognizable tone, which is enriched by a good set of animations.
We talked previously about how the story represents a very important element within the game, and the sound sector helps to enhance it with a great selection of songs and a retro and functional effects approach that in many ways is reminiscent of the tradition of this type of production.
PC system requirements
Test setup
- Processor: Intel Core i5 13500
- Video card: NVIDIA RTX 4070
- Memory: 32GB RAM
- Operating system: Windows 11
Minimum requirements
- Procesador: Intel Core i3 4160, AMD FX 4350
- Video scheme: NVIDIA GT 640, AMD HD 7750
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Storage: 800 MB space required
- Operating system: Windows 7 64-bit
Conclusions
Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Vapor, Nintendo eShop Price 14,79 € Holygamerz.com 8.0 Readers (4) 8.9 your voteGunbrella is a great game: an action platformer with personality, graphically elegant (although not always perfect), with a surprising story and a very solid gameplay that puts combat first and fascinates with exploratory sessions designed to make us discover the world of the game, without press. accelerator when it comes to exploiting the platforms and character upgrades in a slightly more detailed way.
PRO
- Solid and unique gameplay.
- Amazing story
- Very interesting style
AGAINST
- Controls a little cumbersome
- Some elements put in the background.
- Localized in any language except Spanish.
