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February 2017

Enter the Gungeon

Enter the Gungeon is a roguelike dungeon crawler, somewhat like The Binding of Isaac, but more difficult.  You play as an adventurer who ventures into the gungeon to find an ancient artifact that can turn back time.  (Almost) all of the enemies of the gungeon are based off of bullets, and the bullets they shoot are generally based off of the enemy itself; for example, a shotgun casing shoots a shotgun-like burst of bullets.  The objective, of course, is to survive the gungeon and retrieve the artifact.

 

You start the game with three hearts, and each time you get hit you generally lose half a heart.  You can find health in the gungeon but it's rare.  You can choose to play as one of four characters, and most of them start out with a weak weapon with infinite ammo - if you want something better you'll either have to find it or buy it.  All guns have limited ammo, so you'll want to prioritize how you spend it.  For example, you may want to save the Ghostbusters-style Proton Pack for the boss and take care of the regular enemies with the shotgun.  The bosses are no joke - the odds are that the first time you encounter one it will end your journey and you'll have to start again.  The Cannonballrog is about as tough as an actual Balrog!

 

All of this to say that Enter the Gungeon is a difficult game.  Each time you play the stages, enemies, bosses, and items are all randomized, so the only real way to progress further is to improve your skills.  If you defeat a boss you will earn a few pieces of currency that can be used in the world hub; however, the things you buy only unlock the possibility that they'll appear in the gungeon, so it's not too big of an advantage.  Even so, it gives the game a sense of continually being fresh because you'll regularly find items and weapons that you've never seen before.  There are also secrets the game holds that I didn't find until my thirtieth run, and I'm sure there's plenty I haven't found.

 

The game can be played in co-op, either in person or online.  I never got a chance to try this out, but hopefully it makes the hordes of enemies more manageable.  The bosses are so difficult that I wonder if they were designed with multiplayer in mind - especially the final boss.

 

Enter the Gungeon is a unique game that may not appeal to everybody, but if it sounds like your type of game then I think you'll be pleased.

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The ultimate gun.

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When you fight a boss their health is at the bottom. Mine at in the top left.

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The Ammoconda.

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This boss has a bunch of different bullet patterns, all of the difficult to navigate.

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Zap!

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An inventory screen. If you're not sure what an item does you can check here.

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This wall is very tough and there are bullets everywhere, but somehow I've never died while fighting it.

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This was the farthest I'd ever gotten at the time, and I got here with lots of health. For some reason I totally forgot that you can roll across gaps and I just kep walking into the lava. By the time I realized what an idiot I was, I had almost no health left. My brain must have been fried.

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Another boss.

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There are warp points throughout the gungeon which make navigation much more manageable. You can warp to a warp point from any room, and if you re-enter the portal then you'll go back where you came from.

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This boss is actually four bosses. That some Dark Souls nonsense right there.

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When you die a weapon sight appears over you to deliver one final bullet.

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A game over screen. Seriously, how could I have avoided all of that?!

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The Proton Pack.

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Oh Link!

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You can stumble across various shops.

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This boss is absurdly tough.

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No need to make it personal, game.

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Some of the item descriptions are pretty awesome.

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Shooting a battery.

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There are several captive characters that you'll find throughout the gungeon, and if you have the right key to rescue them you might get some new items in the future.

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I thought this line was pretty funny. I had to unlock a lock to get to this sentient lock.

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Some floor panels shoot out fire.

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After at least 10 hours of play I encountered my first mimic!

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This tank is a pain in the buttocks.

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One of the shops where you can "purchase" items to make them available in the gungeon.

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Navi is vicious.

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Bought everything . . .

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"These guns were once used to make pianos out of teeth."

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There is always a similar room on the first floor, and if you can discover it's secret another secret room will open. If you have two keys then you can find a secret floor of the gungeon.

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If an enemy drops ammo and you leave the room, a rival will appear and steal it.

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