I will admit I am quite an easy person to make laugh. Even the worst jokes will at least get a small giggle out of me. So it might seem like an understatement when I say that Enter the Gungeon made me laugh quite a lot, but trust me, it earned each and every chuckle I gave it.
Enter the Gungeon is a 2D pixelated roguelike bullet hell where everything is either a pun about guns or a reference to something else. Developed by Dodge Roll Studios and published by Devolver Digital. This is the second game from Dodge Roll Studios, the first being a game called Fork Parker’s Holiday Profit Hike. Development for Enter the Gungeon started in 2014 and was released two years later on April 5th, 2016. The game is available on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.
You play as one of four “gungeoneers” (five if you count the co-op character) who have come to the Gungeon is search of the gun that can kill the past in order to change their past mistakes. There are two extra “gungeoneers” who can be unlocked by completing some requirements while exploring the gungeon. Each has a different set of starting equipment and weapons.
Each floor of the gungeon is randomly generated with a variety of traps and enemies populating it. Each floor also has one of several different bosses you can face on that floor, this way you won’t be fighting the same boss every time on the same level.
Enter the Gungeon truly has quite a large amount of possible variations. As of writing this, there are 205 different guns, 236 different items, 25 different bosses, and 103 different enemies. With all these variations, there is a seemingly infinite amount of combinations that will keep the game interesting.
One of the things that has really engrossed me about Enter the Gungeon is the music. I have listened to the title theme many times even when I’m playing something else just because I love it so much. The soundtrack is full of music that is perfect for all the firefights you’ll find yourself in. It is intense and makes sure that you know you are in a fight, but it’s not so intense that it discourages you. If anything, the music makes you feel like you’re the hero in an awesome action movie.
Another thing that makes me love this game is that it means to be a sort of comedy satire full of intentional cliches, but these satire mechanics work along with the game and make it more fun instead of working against the player just so that the developers could include a joke.
A perfect example of this would be the table flipping and dodge rolling. In most of the rooms of the gungeon, you’ll find a couple table which you can flip and use as temporary cover from a hail of enemy bullets. You can also simply dodge roll out of the way of incoming fire by simply jumping out of the way or over the bullet itself. These action movie cliches are quite funny, but also works some of the main mechanics of the game.
Of course I do have some issues with the game. For example, there are certain enemies who have attacks that almost fill the screen, but because of the randomization of a roguelike, you may have to face such enemies in a very small room that leaves you no chance to evade their attacks.
There is also the issue of the joke weapons. While I can appreciate a good joke, it gets annoying when the one weapon you find on the first floor is just in the game for giggles and you’re left chipping away at the bosses health for a fair amount of time.
Even though Enter the Gungeon was released almost two years ago, Dodge Roll Studios is still adding more things into the game. While I may have just been made cynical from my years playing games that were swiftly abandoned by their developers, it is still nice to see when a studio takes pride in their creation and wants to continue to make it bigger. They are working on a large update that they have decided to call Advanced Gungeons and Dragons. You have to appreciate the commitment to word play.
Though the Advanced Gungeons and Dragons update has been delayed due to the Nintendo Switch port and the people at Dodge Roll being too creative, it is sure to come soon and I will be sure to be here to greet it with open arms.
If you like roguelikes or bullet hells, or maybe even you just enjoy some good puns, then I would definitely recommend Enter the Gungeon. While it can be frustrating at times, it will always bring you back for more.
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