Gunpie Adventure Review - Bullets and zombies and mummies
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| Gunpie Adventure

When the world around you is going to hell, the rule of thumb is that you've got to shoot something.

Sometimes those things are zombies, sometimes those things are Egyptian mummy-ish things, but in Gunpie Adventures you've got a bit of everything mixed together in a big mobile bucket.

Pair that with big guns and a moving car and you've got yourself an arcade shooter straight out of the 90s.

Drive, drive, drive

Gunpie Adventures is a first-person shooter with RPG elements. Through upgrading your characters, crafting new weapons, unlocking items, and more, there's a ton to concentrate on.

Though it's good to have variety, sometimes you can go overboard on it and this has definitely stepped over the 'too much' line.

Before even getting into the game you've got a ton of stuff to check up on, from daily rewards, messages, upgrades - all sorts, really.

Had they made the interface a little less bitty, or maybe put fewer options in, it might have felt a bit more bearable. But right off the bat having so many options was just suffocating.

Shoot, shoot, shoot

Despite those initial negatives, the actual game is entertaining. Or at least it is once you've got past the five minutes of loading screens.

In all honesty, the game feels really unbalanced time-wise. You have to wait so long to be able to play that once you're in, the fun's over before it's even really begun.

Sadly, the story isn't enough to save it as you tend to want to skip past bits of the dialogue when you can, especially when it's told in bursts. Watching the characters standing and pointing at each other (when they're supposed to be driving in a car) breaks whatever immersion there is here.

Looking at the positives, the controls are very nice. The left side of the screen controls your aim, and the right side controls your gunfire. There's a dodge button, and a sort-of auto-aim in play too. It's definitely a fluid system.

But the enjoyment you actually have whilst playing the short rounds is quickly dampened by the aftermath of loading screens, upgrading things you don't really understand, and more loading screens.

Wait, wait, wait

Gunpie Adventures is extremely frustrating to review. Buried under the mound of unnecessary tat lies the body of a decent game.

Its FPS qualities and design really do bring out the nostalgic arcade factor of the 90s, it's just such a shame it's been brought down by the flash-ups of IAPs, wait times, and the general direction of it all.

There's no doubt that some people will really enjoy the game for its business, but it's just a little too much to keep the attention of this humble writer.

Gunpie Adventure Review - Bullets and zombies and mummies

Gunpie Adventure has the body of a decent game but it's been badly dampened by confusing menus, loose storylines, and lengthy loading screens
Score
Emily Sowden
Emily Sowden
Emily is Pocket Gamer's News Editor and writes about all kinds of game-related things. She needs coffee to function and begrudgingly loves her Switch more than she lets on.