Gunpoint Review
Gunpoint Review
It’s great when a plan comes together. But as it so it often goes, the best laid plans of mice and men go awry. In my recent playthrough of Tom Francis’ Gunpoint, my study into the art of stealth and infiltration was impeccable. Unfortunately, my execution was not.
Gunpoint, released by Tom Francis for PC, Mac and Linux back in 2013, is a stealth puzzle platformer in which you are tasked with retrieving various items from within the confines of often heavily guarded and fortified buildings for a variety of different people. The items are, in most cases, located behind a barrier of locked doors or on floors accessible only through isolated stairwells or lifts. As you would expect, finding a way to break or pass through these obstacles and reach your goal requires a level of Mission Impossible-like ingenuity and craft that, while at first appearing daunting, soon becomes an enjoyable exercise in logic as the matrix of interconnecting systems opens itself up to you.
The story, relayed to you over IM is delivered with tongue firmly in cheek, and is a fun little thing to role play your way through. The game begins with you retrieving CCTV footage that placed you at the scene of a murder that you did not commit, but quickly diverts into tales of corporate espionage, counter-espionage and other murderous sub-plots. You are given a certain level of freedom in how you respond to your employers, but with only one play through, I cannot be sure how much these effect the overall progression. There is a point in the game at which you are presented with a clear A/B choice of how to proceed, but this was rare in being so explicit.
The main source of enjoyment to be derived from Gunpoint though is, as I alluded to earlier, in pulling off the most intricate of infiltrations. When a well thought out setup of cross wiring (Cross-Link) and perfectly timed jumps leaves you with a clear path to your goal, it is enormously satisfying. Even if initial plans are rendered askew, the systems are flexible enough to allow you to create alternate routes on the fly. Of course, for those people who will only be satisfied at the cleanest of executions then the ability to restart the mission is there, but for those like me who appreciate the odd bit of chaos mixed in with their stealth, the game is more than adequate.
Having picked up the game for less than €5 in a recent Steam sale, I have to say I feel more than satisfied with my purchase. Even at full price (€7), I would still heartily recommend the game to anybody interested at all in what they have read or seen about the game. Its relatively short length may put some people off, but ultimately value in something subjective and I personally had no problem with the fact that I was able to complete the game in a single session.
So, if you, like me, enjoy a bit of stealth action puzzling, mixed in with a quirky bit of self-aware storytelling, complimented by a cool little soundtrack then Gunpoint is almost certainly the game for you!