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Twisted Pixel's Kinect Game "The Gunstringer" Announced

Finally, a game where you can control an undead cowboy by waving your hands around.

Another one of Splosion Man creator Twisted Pixel’s in-development projects has been revealed. IGN has the scoop on the The Gunnstringer, a Kinect-supported Western shooter that stars a skeleton puppet looking for revenge on the dudes who made him a skeleton.

It looks like Gunstringer is taking more than a few cues from Twisted Pixel's last Xbox Live Arcade downloadable Comic Jumper, as it’ll feature 2D side-scrolling action as well as double-fisted, perhaps on-rails shooting sections created in full 3D. And as for the controls, it appears as if you’ll be holding out your hands above the action, acting as if you were controlling a character on strings (which makes sense, strangely). 
  

  
The game’s development blog has a few more details on the Kinect support in general, soothing some fears out of the gate. Lead designer Dan Teasdale promises that you’ll be able to play the game sitting down. Also, he says that won’t be any motion-controlled shenanigans like mini-games, impromptu photos, or dumb gestures.  

The blog post also gets into the look and feel of the game. As you’d expect, Twisted Pixel is going a bit unconventional with the aesthetic. The game will feature handcrafted “actors” and props and even some actual people if that video shoot in Texas last weekend is any indication of what to expect.  
 

No Caption Provided
 
“The Gunstringer marries all of this with really fresh and fun gameplay mechanics,” the post reads. “From the start of this project, we’ve focused on getting across the feel of marionetting a puppet’s movement through a 3D world, then mixing that with the fun and mayhem of targeting-focused shooters like Rez."  
 
"One minute you’ll be navigating the Gunstringer over tricky ravines or towards secret paths, the next you’ll be ducking behind cover to take out a half-dozen clockwork alligators with your six shooter.”

83 Comments

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meshelleee

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Edited By meshelleee

TBH i am really really excited about this one. The music is great, the narrator is great. If you get a chance to play it at PAX East i think you will enjoy it. The controls are a new concept so I'm curious to see what they go with, but I think this will be awesome. YAY FOR GUNSTRINGER!!!!
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meshelleee

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Edited By meshelleee
@shoddyrobot said:
"a friend of mine did some music for this. should be good!"


aww niiiice!!! Did they let you hear it? Western themes are so much fun to play with
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coryrx8

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Edited By coryrx8

Wow, a lot of hate for this one. I'm intrigued by it. I'm a fan of Twisted Pixel's work. Comic Jumper didn't live up to 'Splosion Man (or The Maw for that matter) by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a solid game that I for one enjoyed playing. I'll be giving The Gunstringer a shot when it comes out.
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Andheez

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Edited By Andheez

Have to see the pan out reveal of him 'riding' a horse did make me laugh.  I dont buy motion controllers or games associated with them, but Id be curious too see it in action.

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zityz

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Edited By zityz

You know. I have to say from all the games that these guys put out. They always have great art styles.

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bed

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Edited By bed

it doesn't look good at all 

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iamthemoneyj

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Edited By iamthemoneyj
@RockmanBionics said:
" Funny how there was a Wii-mote in there. "
What are you talking about yes there was.
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iamthemoneyj

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Edited By iamthemoneyj

looks similar to poop from a butt

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stafax

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Edited By stafax

wow, so they make fun of the input devices for the other platforms, but then the game turns out to be a light gun game? that's pretty sad

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TheMoD

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Edited By TheMoD

That game looks like it would play alot better with any sort of input device. Controller, Wiimote, anything.. That's probably why the guy tried them all out in the beginning, just to make sure xD
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ajamafalous

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Edited By ajamafalous

Damnit, I missed the chance to be an extra in this game?

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chriskelly123

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Edited By chriskelly123

erm..

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teh_pwnzorer

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Edited By teh_pwnzorer
@ryanwho said:
" Kinect lightgun game. Ew. "
I hear Kinect is all the rage with stupid people.  Luckily for Microsoft, there are a lot of stupid people.
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Slaker117

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Edited By Slaker117

I'm interested to see what this is, but I won't be surprised when it turns out to either be ok but boring or just kind of bad.

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deactivated-5de441812a230

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This looks like the sort of mockup of a videogame someone would put together to have running in the background of some shot of a living room in an animated film, like a poor facsimile of a game that you're just supposed to glance over and never think about. It looks just dreadful.

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jonnyboy

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Edited By jonnyboy

Looks great, not 'spend £120/furniture removal/move out of London flat' great, but great none the less.

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buft

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Edited By buft

I already have a kinect and as far as full priced games go i don't think any of them really give great value for money, i'm hoping this is downloadable and if it is i will definitely buy this. 

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deactivated-5865c6a5c9438

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meh

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SuperfluousMoniker

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Rail shooters are fun and seem to be pretty much the only genre you can do with the Kinect that doesn't involve dancing or minigame bullshit, but given Twisted Pixel's history of games with cool concepts and mediocre gameplay I doubt this can hang with the big boys.

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guthwulf

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Edited By guthwulf
@byrjun
first? 
 
EDIT: Wait, how does that quest work? I thought I finally had it!
Saying "first" certainly does not help. Actually it is an instant disqualification even if you really were the first to comment. Which, by the way, you are not.
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deactivated-65fe9421b19ac

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Gameplay and graphics both look underwhelming. I will wait and see.

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234r2we232

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Edited By 234r2we232

Okay, Twisted Pixel. You got me with Comic Jumper. I'm not falling for your promises of a fun, competent game anymore. 
 
@SirBlimE said:

" @byrjun:  all you need to do is be first.... =) what you write is up to you... "

Yeah! Spam the site! Who cares! 
 
:/
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SirBlimE

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Edited By SirBlimE
@byrjun:  all you need to do is be first.... =) what you write is up to you...
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furion45086

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Edited By furion45086

i'm ready to pull some puppet strings or at the very least run with my arms in the air and yelling like a mad man.

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Vodun

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Edited By Vodun

The game genre which requires the most precision...using the least precise of current controllers...AWESOME!

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Hizang

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Edited By Hizang

Looks like Red Dead Redemption has some SEROIUS compotition with this bad boy, or should I say, Bad Skeleton!
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Mr_Skeleton

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Edited By Mr_Skeleton
@byrjun said:
"first?  EDIT: Wait, how does that quest work? I thought I finally had it! "

You need to actually be first and I think you need to say something other than "first", better luck next time.
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kalmis

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Edited By kalmis

 Twisted Pixel or not, that didn't look good at all. 

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jacobmccourt

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Edited By jacobmccourt

Looks like the bad parts of Comic Jumper. Awesome...

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grilledcheez

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Edited By grilledcheez

I hope this turns out well

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bricewgilbert

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Edited By bricewgilbert
@gamer812: Wow your right. Needed to full screen to see them. Bad eyes.
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gamer812

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Edited By gamer812
@Cartman86: There are strings.
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Portis

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Edited By Portis

I'll have to see more obviously -- but man this really doesn't look so hot gameplay wise (the little that was shown, but if that's what most of the game will be...err yeah.) Or graphically. 
 
And I love Twisted Pixel. But, woo boy.

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virtua_ben

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Edited By virtua_ben
@Bummey said:
" Call me a naysayer, but the gameplay looks really bad. Good trailer, though. "
I agree COMPLETELY.  I liked how the trailer poked fun at the other systems, but beyond that the game didn't interest me.
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Levio

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Edited By Levio

If you shoot by making a finger gun, that would be a world-first.

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Residentrevil2

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Edited By Residentrevil2

I really do want this.

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goulash_enjoyer

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Edited By goulash_enjoyer

Call me a naysayer, but the gameplay looks really bad. Good trailer, though.

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Bloodgraiv3

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Edited By Bloodgraiv3

hopefully TP can pull it off, it seems neat. 
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gunharp

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Edited By gunharp

Well the reveal sure was surprising! But I am kind of bummed out by this Twisted Pixel powered Kinect joint. 
 
I feel like TP should do something like....what Take-Two had/let Indie Built do with Amped 3. Anyone feel me on that? 

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FinalCut

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Edited By FinalCut

That looked... kind of bad. I mean their games can be quite funny, and generally quite stylish but this is probably going to be the lowest point in TP gameplay.

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yukoasho

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Edited By yukoasho
@Skullomania said:
" @City17 said:
" The actual gameplay footage looked pretty bad to me. I hope they can show something better than that. "
Yup, looked like bad Comic Jumper. "
I was about to say, isn't that what Twisted Pixel does?  Make games that would be so amazing were it not for the part where you have to actually play the bloody thing?
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FreakAche

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Edited By FreakAche

So... is this another downloadable game?

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SockLobster

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Edited By SockLobster
@byrjun:  Make sure you put the word "First" in your comment and comment first...not second
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KillerBears

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Edited By KillerBears

I was totally with this until they showed the gameplay. It looks stale and simple, and the reticles looks terrible. The art direction on the character is 100% amazing but everything else looks pretty bland. Hopefully this is a really early version. 
 
In theory, a puppet based Kinect game could really be something special. Definitely a step in the "not just replacing a controller with gestures" direction that only dance central seems to have hit.

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Death_Unicorn

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Edited By Death_Unicorn

Too bad I don't have a kinect, nor will I be getting one any time soon...
I love Twisted Pixel...

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sgt_match

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Edited By sgt_match

Skeptical, but a different kinect approach... So... 50/50 shot on the gameplay... Twisted Pixel may figure it out.   Watched the trailer and got excited when the article mentioned Rez.
 
But good character design.  And Marionettes... who doesn't love some string puppets?

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SkinnyBlue

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Edited By SkinnyBlue

So Comic Jumper's gameplay with motion controls? No thank you.

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Edited By brehonia

At the very least we know we can trust Teasdale from his games and presentations etc, but apparently they're doing something new with the Kinect (fast, accurate, sitting down) so there's no telling whether it'll be any good. 
 
Add to that the usual Twisted Pixel flair (awkward jokes; off-putting graphics and art; a lame and tedious compulsion to insert themselves into their games), I'm pretty sure I'll hate it, but the general reception could go either way.

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ptc

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Edited By ptc
@Wiseblood said:
"Those reticules reminded me of something and it just hit me.  Those are totally the things you put into cap guns. "

Yes!  Good call.